Super Bowl XLIX (that's 49, in case you were wondering) is this Sunday, February 1st. While some of us are still recuperating from seeing our teams bow out of the game, we are excited to see the sort of shenanigans the ad world has come up with this year. After all, it ain't the Super Bowl if you don't have awesome TV ads.
Brands that cough up $4.5 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot are hoping that their efforts stick around in the consumer mind for years or unleash the creation of memes and sequel-styled ads. With around 110 million viewers expected to tune in to the Super Bowl this Sunday, the potential for an impressive return on investment is huge. The time and financial resources invested into these campaigns is equally huge, which makes them a good reflection of where marketing is at: What are people liking on social media, what are they talking about, what kinds of images, celebrities or things catch and keep our collective attention? For agents and brokers, Super Bowl ads are a great way to project how consumers will engage with your own marketing plan.
Which ads stuck from last year? You might remember M&M's "Delivery" ad featuring actor Rade Serbedzija (he was Dmitri Gredenko on the sixth season of the TV show 24); Bud Light's "Up for whatever" huge marketing campaign, which continues this year; Wonderful Pistachio's ad featuring Stephen Colbert; even U2, the band, debuted a song with Bank of America in an ad called "There is no them, only us;" and Budweiser's "Puppy love" (of course!).
Some brands have decided to release their full ads in advance of the occasion or have released teasers. Without further ado, here's what you can expect in terms of advertising for the big game.
1. Doritos
From the company that's now known for crowdsourcing — ahem — for turning the Super Bowl into a huge contest, you can expect to see another zany, maybe gross or maybe funny, Doritos ad.
Watch for:
Right now, their contest is in the voting phase and you can still vote for your favorite ad that will appear during the Super Bowl until January 28, here. (The ad above is just one of the 10 finalists.)
2. Dear Kitten
What originally started as a YouTube ad by Purina Friskies and BuzzFeed Video, the "Dear Kitten" videos feature an older, classy, indoor cat narrating an introduction of the household to a younger cat named "Kitten." The first ad, which was released last June and has more than 19 million views on YouTube, narrates human rituals, human-cat interactions and general house rules.
Watch for:
A "Dear Kitten" spot featuring a Super Bowl viewing party, what that means for the cats of the house, the different "human rituals" like Super Bowl food, and the mischief that the cat and kitten can get into before finally getting "a little private jet to the only prize worth competing for…wet food." What's interesting about this ad is that it's made for online viewers and aspires to become viral on social media, but it works for TV. It's also BuzzFeed's first TV ad and it will only air in three regional markets: Los Gatos, California; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; and Pawnee City, Nebraska, according to SuperBowlCommercials2015.com. See a trend there?
3. Wix.com
The company known for building websites using templates, Wix.com is a first-timer when it comes to Super Bowl TV ads. But after a lot of teasers on every social media outlet imaginable, they finally released their TV spot earlier this week.
Watch for:
Football's greatest stars like Bret Favre as they attempt to open a business "like everybody else." What differentiates them from the rest? Clever business names and, of course, their websites. #ItsthatEasy to create a website on Wix and anyone can do it, no matter what kind of business you have. Look out for the puns in the business names. And, did anyone else notice the "Big Easy" music playing? Was that coincidence or on purpose?
4. Skittles
With crazy TV ads that usually don't make any sense, Skittles will advertise for the first time during the Super Bowl, and is one of the official sponsors this year.
One of their ads is a press conference with Seattle Seahawks' running back Marshawn Lynch, who is known for his very aggressive running style, "Beast mode" and his antics towards the press. If you want to see what he said at his last press conference, go here. For those of you short on time, know this: It's very rare that Lynch makes appearances at press conferences, but he did it for Skittles, the candy he apparently can't live without.
Another ad features football legend Kurt Warner having a tailgate party, four weeks before the Super Bowl … in a hot tub full of Skittles. This is … awesomer!
Watch for:
Insane questions like "Would you ever want to hang out with a talking rainbow?" and "Do you prefer watching cat videos or dog videos online?" and Lynch's answers during the staged press conference. The fact that Skittles is capitalizing on an elusive figure is intriguing; what will Lynch say? While being elusive and aloof might work for Lynch, remember that advisors should be as transparent as possible with their clients. It's all about trust.
5. Kia
Three cheers for bringing Pierce Brosnan back to the 007 franchise! Wait — what?! Nope, it's just a Kia commercial, but it's so well done that it could double as a movie trailer. It's the Super Bowl, so they're pulling out all the stops.
Watch for:
