Super Bowl is a massive American phenomena that is not just a football game
Most of those of us who watched the Super Bowl did it long distance. Some with big crowds and some in small groups or maybe even by ourselves. Yet in person, on television, or even on the radio, Super Bowl is a massive American phenomena that is not just a football game, which at the end of the day is just another form of entertainment. It is a complete experience.
In fact, it is such a compelling, impressive, powerful event that, for many, the things surrounding the game are more interesting. It seems as if the big half-time show should be the other big thing or the second biggest thing, but that turns out to never be the case. It seems every year the most buzz concerns the television ads shown during the game. It is no wonder the ads claim a budget busting, mind blowing $4.5 million for a 30-second spot and that doesn’t include the cost of producing the video.
Big Impact
The reason companies are willing to shell out the big bucks is, during just one 30-second period that multimillion dollar ad will be viewed by 110 million plus people. That is pretty good, but by itself would not be worth it. What makes it all hum . . . what makes it a tremendous value is that each of those ads generates tremendous BUZZ.
BUZZ
Today most ads are available in whole or part as teasers looking forward to the game. You will find them on Youtube and well everywhere. A search for Super Bowl 2015 this morning (Monday after the Super Bowl) turned up 161,000 results with headlines like:
The Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2015
Super Bowl 2015 Ad Roundup: 12 Commercials Everyone’s Talking About
Super Bowl 2015 Ads: Did Your Favorite Commercial Make the Top 10?
It is crazy. Over the next week or 10 days, people will actually go out of their way to look for and spend time watching those ads. Then, after watching them, they will spend even more time reading stories about the ads, go back and watch those ads again and again and talk about them some more.
What is perhaps the most curious thing about this whole process is that it is almost as good to be part of the list of worst Super Bowl ads as it is to be on the list of the best. At first blush you might think that you would never want to be the maker of the ad rated the worst Super Bowl Ad for 2015, but this is not true.
Those ads will be talked about more than the good and great ads. They will have longer shelf lives.
Taking Risks
Don’t get me wrong . . . being on some worst lists are terrible. It would be pretty hard to find a silver lining in a story about being one of the 10 communities with the most license violations or the subject of a story about a resident abuse lawsuit. That being said, there is a tendency to be safe when marketing . . . I guess it make sense. It is pretty difficult to get fired for doing safe events, safe ads, safe campaigns . . . and I guess you could argue that if you are safe and the building above 90% occupancy, it is well . . . safe.
But what if you were bold, you tried something cutting edge, you took a risk and your community, your company became the buzzed about senior living community in your market area or your state or your region? What if you did some bold cutting edge stuff that you actually ended up gaining you a wait list that made it possible for you to either raise rates or just know the next resident was lined up and ready to move in as soon as you had a vacancy?
What “buzz worthy” thing are you planning for 2015?
Steve Moran
