It’s been a long standing tradition on this blog to provide post-game Brand-Driven Insights on the biggest ad game of the year — the Super Bowl. This year I thought I’d hone my focus just a bit. Instead of picking an overall winner in my book and a runner up, I’m selecting the ad that best built (or continued to build) a strong brand along with an honorable mention.
Overall many tried returning to some tired wells in 2012. The Coke polar bears were back with nothing super interesting to say. Volkswagen awkwardly tried to go to the Star Wars well again and Go Daddy was … well, Go Daddy. And yet it’s surprising that my pick for best brand-building ad was one that rehashed a great idea from last year …
Best Brand Building Ad — Chrysler, #HalftimeInAmerica
Was Chrysler’s ad perhaps a little mellodramatic? Of course! But this follow up to last year’s iconic spot featuring Eminem, which introduced the “Imported from Detroit” campaign, effectively built on to its predecessor’s strong foundation. Chrysler’s brand story charting the rebirth of an American icon had to continue in this year’s ad.
Rather than looking for a way to do what they did before, they actually found a way to do it differently — using the growly, gravely tones of Clint Eastwood. Beyond enriching an idea from last year, this spot was good because it was relevant. It literally ran during half-time of the Super Bowl, in which it introduced the new campaign “sub-theme” — Half-Time in America.
In addition to occurring at half-time, this spot also spoke to many different audience segments. Many — especially those in the automotive sector — are working to come back from one of the harder periods in recent history. As such, there are many of us that can take a step back and actually think of this as “half time.” The ad also generated strong social buzz as the hashtag #HalftimeInAmerica was trending almost instantly on Twitter (along with #ClintforPresident).
‘Social buzz’ might set off a car dealers’ BS meter, so what does this really translate into? A strong message that galvanizes a national audience in a moment like this can lead many who never would have thought of Chrysler to include the brand in their consideration set for their next purchase. As it turns out, the proof is in the pudding — or the tweets, rather.
To be clear, it bugged me picking the same ad winner two years in a row. Honestly that’s my only negative thought associated with #HalftimeInAmerica was realizing my post could seem a little uncreative year on year. However, there’s simply no other ad that did as much as Chrysler’s spot did (again). To recap, this strong brand message:
- Continued and built upon a previously successful theme
- Captivated audience members at parties nationwide (were many people at your party talking during this one?)
- Created immediate social buzz that in turn …
- Motivated purchase consideration
- Led most stories summing up the night’s ads
- Even wandered its way into the political zeitgeist as the talking heads debated what the ad might really mean (NOTE – too much polarizing attention can be bad but thus far its been tame and reinforcing the overal meme of the ad)
Honorable Mention — Hyundai, Rocky Theme
In a year of odd car ads where Audi killed vampires, Chevy survived the apocalypse, and Acura furthered its odd love affair with aliens, Hyundai continued its line of strong, Jeff Bridges-driven brand spots. The one worthy of mention was the one that was notably “Dude”-light featuring actual employees from the carmaker’s Montgomery, Alabama plant motivating a less-confident team member with a commanding performance of the Rocky theme.
An ad like this wins by first gaining your attention through subtle use of silence then building to an obvious crescendo. It’s also very human and makes you smile through its authenticity, which is a core tenant of the Hyundai brand. Finally, the ad’s confidence and optimism perfectly summarized their new positioning statement — New Thinking, New Possibilities.
Both top spots being taken by automakers could seem odd, however as perennial mainstays of the big game, car ads often epitomize the highs and the lows each year. Super Bowl XLVI was no exception.
What Do You Think?
Those are my picks. What’s your color commentary on this year’s ads? What insights have you heard around the water cooler? What’s the social buzz? Remember, you can view all of this year’s Super Bowl ads on the official YouTube channel.
