Shift on What Worked in Super Bowl Game

For years many have watched the "biggest game" of the year for the commercials. Budwiser, Geico, and Frito Lay have always been knocking themselves out to make bigger, better, and more entertaining advertisements. However, this year, I don't think most of the conversations today will be about the 30 second spots, but about the quality of the game itself.

It seemed that the games had become anti climatic. One team would go in there and simply blow the other one away. Sure, there were the occasional "close ones," but most of them seem more like coronations, rather than competitions.

The last couple of these games, however, have been among the most interesting I have seen in years. It seemed that most plays were game changers and that the final results were completely up in the air. This was particularly true after the second half when St. Louis Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner came out to win. Typically calm, cool, and collected, Warner racked up more points in five minutes than he did through the rest of the game. It was an impressive performance, but not enough to compensate for the tough calls by officials and amazing feats by the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the end. the Cardinals came up short. We will be slow to forget many of these plays.

The commercials, on the hand, were not memorable at all and may be among the least interesting lot we have seen in years. The funniest one, in my opinion, was the Doritos spot (of the "crystal ball") which was developed by participants in a $1 million dollar contest and cost around $20,000 to produce. This shouldn't surprise us in our YouTube era. In fact, that may be part of the problem, we are surrounded by so much spontaneous and web driven humor, it may take so much more to make us enjoy a good commercial. I have read that NBC was barely able to fill its commercial spots. I guess the new media has even spread to the NFL.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Fox's Super Bowl Coup

Any regular reader of this blog knows I'm a big fan of Fox. All the more so with recent success they enjoyed with the Super Bowl over the weekend.

It was, without question, one of the best games in the history of the game. In fact, it was one of the best games in the history of all games. This is certainly one that is destined to go down in history. It was one of those games where I am sure many called others saying, "you have to watch this."

I was delighted to see that Fox pulled it off without a major wardrobe dysfunction and all the Any regular reader of this blog knows I'm a big fan of Fox. All the more so with recent success they enjoyed with the Super Bowl over the weekend.

It was, without question, one of the best games in the history of the game. In fact, it was one of the best games in the history of all games. This is certainly one that is destined to go down in history. It was one of those games where I am sure many called others saying, "you have to watch this."

I was delighted to see that Fox pulled it off without a major wardrobe dysfunction and all the embarassment and cost (in fines) that can come with that. Yes, Paula Abdul was a little stiff, but she remained in clothes.

The commercials were solid and, thanks to the network's relationship to MySpace.com, people will find those spots archived. that means these commercials will have an after life like we have never seen before. Furthermore, with the commercials strategic location in the world's premeir social network, all the advertisers will be able to monitor public opinon on the spots. This will provide an unprecedented level of research.

Also, Fox had the opportunity to promote its new line up of programming both on TV and online at MySpace (where you see those ads pop up repeatedly).

In the end, Fox was great for the fans and its clients, proving once again why Murdoch is one of the most brilliant people in media today.and cost (in fines) that can come with that. Yes, Paula Abdul was a little stiff, but she remained in clothes.

The commercials were solid and, thanks to the network's relationship to MySpace.com, people will find those spots archived. that means these commercials will have an after life like we have never seen before. Furthermore, with the commercials strategic location in the world's premier social network, all the advertisers will be able to monitor public opinion on the spots. This will provide an unprecedented level of research.

In the end, Fox was great for the fans and its clients, proving once again why Murdoch is one of the most brilliant people in media today.

By the way, you can see that archive of commercials here.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

What Advertisers Could Learn from Super Bowl Commercials

I know, I'm running a little behind, but ever since the Super Bowl I have wanted to comment on an observation I have made. An observation that might unlock the secret to successful television advertising. Although recent surveys have indicated that more people watched this year for the game rather than the commercials, commercials have been a substantial driver for the big game for several years. The question is, why?

The reasons we see, read, and hear about in the news is that the companies save their best for this special occasion. We also hear about the huge amount of money being spent on these particular commercials. All of these may be true, but there is one thing that stands head and shoulders above these others -- the commercials during the Super Bowl are virtually all original and are seen for the first time during the game. Other than a few "sneak previews" in the weeks proceeding, the spots during this game have never been seen before. This is a concept that commercials can and, in my opinion, should apply as much of possible throughout the year.

Currently, two of the more successful ad campaigns are the spots for Geico and Aflac. Geico, with its current "caveman" campaign (see photo above) is providing a continuous story line that people enjoy following. Meanwhile, Aflac's spots with the duck remind me of a book a little kid would read, with each spot having a completely different storyline. What they have in common is that they both compel the viewer to check out the spot and to see what is going on in the lives of the primary characters. They are, essentially, very short TV programs with heavy product placement. The caveman is now taking his anguish of being made fun of in the Geico commercials to a therapists (the theme of the spots are that getting a rate is so easy, "even a caveman can do it") and has even defended his species on a news program. We all want to know what is going to happen next. These companies incorporate "Super Bowl" originality on an on going basis.

I believe companies should learn from Geico, Aflac, and the Super Bowl. Companies might want to turn to TV show writers or create an online forum where people could submit story ideas and make the commercials actually "customer driven." The latter could be very affordable and make perfect sense in the "YouTube" world in which we live. Consumers are very tough on media these days. They are not going to patiently trade time for programming, especially since they can increasingly get their content free online. If commercials are going to survive, they are going to have to give viewers a reason to watch.