Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

One of the interesting subplots during the last couple of years of Super Bowl advertising is how well the "consumer-generated" commercials have fared against the big-budget spots created at traditional ad agencies. Last year, the "Crystal Ball" commercial for Doritos -- created and submitted online by two unemployed brothers from Indiana -- won the coveted top spot in USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter, which measures in real-time how much viewers like the game's ads as they air. And this year, another "homemade" Dorito's ad (featuring a dog's shock collar being put on its owner) ranked second on the Ad Meter (and garnered its Cary, North Carolina-based creators a $600,000 prize from Frito-Lay for the feat).
 
Statistical and contest measurements aside, my subjective take is that these low-budget spots stand up remarkably well next to agency-created work. But having worked at some of those large shops, I think I know why that's the case. When it comes to creativity, it's a good rule of thumb that the more people that get involved in a creative project, the worse the outcome will be. And when a client is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to have an agency create their commercial -- and another $2.5 to $3 million running it on CBS -- you can imagine how many layers of approval come into play, especially in these economic times. In the process, many of these spots end up suffering a death by a thousand cuts. The consumer-generated ads, on the other hand, get created in a relatively unfettered creative environment, and get a simple "go/no-go" call from the client on their finished product.
 
It's the classic problem of Creativity by Committee. This isn't to deny the value of collaboration, of course. But it does shed a little light on the all-too-common inverse relationship between the "stakes" of a creative project and the eventual quality of the outcome. (See: Most Hollywood movies and municipal art commissions.)
 
What's the answer? Nurturing as much trust as possible between any creative "patron" and the actual creative team. That trust is built up-front, by a proven track record on the part of the creative folks, and healthy ability to "let go" (within limits) on the part of the client. When all is said and done, creativity requires many leaps of faith. Companies who excel at spotting creative talent, then giving them room to do what they do best, will usually be happiest with the end results.

If you missed Adam Cohen's Brand Bowl insights on the WRAL noon news, you can check them out here:

As a diehard football fan, the Superbowl each year brings out some mixed feelings.  It is the championship game on the biggest stage which is very exciting, but at the same time, the Superbowl brings an end to the football season and I know I am going to have a long hot summer to get through until the season starts over again. 

For this year's Superbowl I did not have a strong feeling for either of the teams which gave me the time to focus more on the commercials and the subsequent Twitter chatter.  I found it amazing to follow #sb44 and #brandbowl hashtags and see what everyone was talking about in real-time throughout the game.  So many different opinions and thoughts, midway through the game, I could not help but to think, "How cool is all this technology?!".  

Here are my opinions on the best and worst of the Superbowl commercials:

Biggest failure - Dockers - They spend millions to develop and buy a commercial during the Superbowl.  They ask everyone who is watching to go to a URL to win a free pair of pants.  People do EXACTLY what Dockers asks them to do and in the millions they type in the URL.  What happens - a big, ugly 404 error.  In this day and age, it is inexcusable to not be prepared for that kind of traffic and have the boxes and bandwidth ready to handle it.  Did they not think they would get a bolt load of traffic from the Superbowl?  Fail.  I am not even going to bring up that their commercial immediately followed a commercial that also had guys with no pants on.

Best commercial that no-one remembers what it was for - Snickers - Everyone loved the Betty White commercial, unfortunately, no-one remembered it was an ad for Snickers.  I have seen so many tweets and blog posts asking what the Betty White ad was for?  The question is does Snickers consider their commercial a success if no-one can remember their product?

Weirdest commercial - Focus on Family - The Tim Tebow commercials were a hot topic of conversations before the Superbowl.  My issue with them is what was up with Tebow tackling his mother?  That brought a whole new set of issues up when it comes to focusing on family if Tim is tackling his mom.  I did not get it and it made me feel a little awkward.

Most tired and needs to go away immediately commercial - GoDaddy -This is coming from a red-blooded American male GoDaddy, I am soooo tired of your commercials.  They are boring, they are tacky and the only thing they make me feel is dirty that I do business with your company.  To the CEO of GoDaddy, Bob Parsons, it is time you realize that you are running a multi-million dollar business and you are not on an episode of HBO's Cathouse.

My favorite commercial - It was close, but I think the one that topped all others (drum roll please) - Google!  I loved the simplicity of it. If you had never used Google or any other search engine, the commercial effectively communicated what Google does and how it can bring value to your life. 

Well now the Superbowl is behind us, it is time I start preparing for my air-conditioned hibernation until August when this whole ride starts all over again.  Please feel free to comment with your thoughts on the Superbowl commercials and if you agree or disagree with my thoughts. 

In 2009, nearly 100 million viewers made Super Bowl XLIII the most-watched Super Bowl in history. And advertisers paid more than $200 million to make sure viewers saw their ads.  As we fine tune plans for where and with whom we'll watch Super Bowl XLIV (and more importantly, the commercials), we often fail to appreciate the labor and forethought that goes into this game. And I'm not even talking about what the players do.

First, the game – do you ever stop to wonder how many people it takes to pull off an event of this magnitude? Think about the behind-the-scenes jobs like pyrotechnics, vendors, sports communications professionals, statisticians, equipment managers, cheerleading coaches and more.

And what about the commercials? As a communications professional, I'm acutely aware of the effort that goes into every piece of communications collateral produced—no matter how unimportant it may seem. From advertising buys to creative sketches to dynamic media and design, no job is done alone.

Accomplishments achieved both on and off the field take teamwork. Although the Super Bowl is a larger-than-life example of teamwork, the lesson is the same. At Capstrat or at the Super Bowl, it takes an army of individuals committed to excellence to write a press release, make a commercial or win a game.

So, as you watch the big game and its multi-million-dollar 30-second advertisements – with more Clydesdales, frogs, stock-trading babies and cavemen than you've seen all year – take a moment to appreciate not only the athleticism and teamwork that have earned the Colts and the Saints this honor, but also the countless hours, people and teamwork that make the Super Bowl such an infamous production.

(And don't forget the snacks.)

Here's my top 10 list of this year's crop of Superbowl ads. I have to say, better this year over last.

1. Doritos: Snowglobe
2. Teleflora: Talking Flowers
3. Cash4Gold.com: Heeere's Money
4. CareerBuilder.com: Tips
5. Monster: Need a new job?
6. CareerBuilder.com: Tips
7. NBC: LMAO
8. Cars.com: David Abernathy
9. Doritos: Power of the Crunch
10. Pepsi Max: I'm Good

Honorable Mention:

• Castrol Oil: Edge Monkeys
• Audi: Chase
• Pepsi: Pepsuber
• Denny's: Thugs
• Bridgestone: Hot Item
• NFL: Super Ad, Usama Young

Production Value Mention:

• Coke: Heist
• GE: Scarecrow
• Coke Classic: Avatar

There are some notable absences from this year's crop - namely, beer ads in general. And aside from the fantastically-slick 'Heist' ad, Coke let me down. That rip-off of the famous Joe Green ad was decidedly underwhelming. Cheesy award would have to go to NBC's cringe-inducing series of [WATCH THE NEW SEASON WATCH IT WATCH IT WATCH IT] Heroes plugs.

Take a look at all of the ads below - thanks Hulu - and let's discuss!