Super Bowl Car Ads - A Lesson in How Not to Connect with Your Audience

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madaise/

This is a personal review of the automobile advertising that appeared during Super Bowl XLVIII.

To be clear, I'm not a professional ad reviewer or critic. I've never worked in the automotive industry or on a car account. However, I have spent my career involved in branding, marketing, advertising and communications. All that disclosed, most of what follows was gleaned heavily from discussions during Super Bowl XLVIII between a few of my friends. 

My aforementioned friends (M/F, 50+, Middle to Upper Middle HH Income Brackets, Multi-Car, Suburban Families) presumably fall within some of the car manufacturer's target audience and as such, I considered their comments germane and insightful.

So here's how we wound up talking about why many of the Super Bowl commercials clearly missed the mark in making an impact.  

As the game began, I mentioned to the group I had registered to be a USA Today Ad Meter panelist and would be rating the commercials. This sparked a discussion about Super Bowl advertising in general, and soon everyone wanted to vote on the commercials as they aired. It added some much needed excitement to the evening as the game itself was fairly uninspiring - this considering it was rather one-sided and no one in attendance was a Seahawks fan. 

By the third quarter, as soon as a car ad began, it was followed by a chorus of, "oh no - another car commercial."

Just to make sure we weren't over-reacting, I took a look at the list of ads that appeared between kick-off and through the end of the regulation game, courtesy of Super Bowl Ad Meter Final Results. A whopping 14 commercials out of 57 - or roughly 25% of what we viewed during the game - were ads for automobiles.

The USA Today polling results seem to echo the sentiments of my fellow Super Bowl watchers - the commercials were at best, average. Excluding the highest scoring car commercial - which made it into the top 10 with a score of 6.82 on a scale of 0 to 10 - the average among all the other 15 car ads was an unimpressive 4.936 - just about dead center mediocre.

So what happened? In a nutshell, my small test group felt the advertisers were talking to themselves.

In other words, the advertiser (and their agency partner) strayed from the most basic rule of creating effective communications - connect with your audience in a meaningful, relevant way. 

The one exception was the high-scoring Hyundai "Sixth Sense" ad. It nicely connected a key product feature (auto emergency brakes) to a benefit the audience cared about (accident avoidance). This was told in a relevant manner that resonated with this target - tapping into their own experiences performing "accident avoidance" as a parents. Sure the ad used exaggeration tactics to get the attention of the audience, but hey, it is the Super Bowl after all!

Here's a quick recap of my small test audience's reactions to the remaining car ads, grouped into three main categories: Disinterested, Dumb and Disingenuous.

Disinterested
Advertisers: Maserati, Chrysler, Jeep

All these advertisers used long, sometimes disjointed, monologues coupled with arresting images delivered by a spokesperson the viewers were supposed to connect with - ultimately to demonstrate key brand attributes/values the target should care about (i.e. being a nimble company, American ingenuity, being a risk taker) . It occurred to me later that perhaps the famed "Farmer" Ram Truck Super Bowl commercial was the inspiration for this approach - but instead of coming off inspiring, each execution fell short and ended up being labeled as outright boring.

Dumb
Advertisers: See specific notations below.

Some of the brands in this group had a product attribute to tout, but the actual execution went way overboard and distracted the viewers.  The commercials were deemed too silly (Toyota Highlander, Honda), stupid (Ford, Hyundai/Nice, Kia, Jaguar), or disturbing and/or disgusting (Audi, Chevrolet/Romance).

Disingenuous
Advertiser: Chevrolet

While some might consider this harsh cynicism, the group did not warm up to any of the advertisers that highlighted corporate goodwill efforts. While those efforts are indeed laudable, the group believed advertisers who opted to use Super Bowl level exposure to highlight being a good corporate citizen were doing so only for a self-serving purpose. That said, the group agreed the Bank of America effort was a better way to execute on corporate philanthropy, since there was some level of action that could be taken immediately to benefit the particular charity/cause (free downloads turned into a donations to support (REDTM).

In closing, I am left wondering... were the ads run through any copy testing? Perhaps my group is not in the target at all? Or maybe they are atypical of the the targets' behavior?

But I have to circle back to the USA Today results which suggest an average effort. Which is disappointing given each brand's opportunity to be a part of an exceptional event like the Super Bowl.  

Guess we will have to wait until Super Bowl XLIX to see if there is any improvement.

My Top 10 Professional Resolutions for 2014

Here we are, hours away from 2014.

And right about now, plenty of people are thinking about resolving to make changes (presumably for the better) in their lives.

Since I'm doing a lot of introspective thinking about my career, I thought this year I’d make a list of things I’d like to change or do differently in 2014 as it relates to my professional life.

Initially, it was a long list. I whittled it down to items that, for me, will hopefully result in greater satisfaction or sense of accomplishment.

Some are about getting more organized. A few have to do with the way technology has altered my life. Others involve strengthening relationships. And some are simply things I would like to do better, or more often.

What do you want to change in 2014? Please feel free add your own 2014 “professional” resolutions.

My Top 10 Professional Resolutions for 2014

10. Break out of email jail.

It’s time I heeded the advice of countless time management professionals. I need to get back to using email as a tool. Practically speaking, this means closing my email client and only checking it at specific intervals throughout the day. After all, if a matter is that urgent, I should get a call, not an email.

My success will depend on reducing self-inflicted email – by lowering the frequency (or turning off) email notifications and alerts, plus culling newsletter subscriptions down to only those I read religiously.

9. Drop the phone.

I am a mobile phone addict. Any free moment I have, I’m checking email and text messages, stocks, weather, and social media channels – even playing a few Words with Friends games. I know it’s annoying to those around me and can even be a dangerous distraction.

Most of all, I believe my idle time could be better used. As idle time. I don’t know about you, but it seems the minute I let my mind wander, great ideas come to light.

8. Delete time-sucking apps/games.

If I'm vowing to stop fiddling with my phone every waking moment, then I probably should delete some of those non-essential apps/games that are begging me to open them up.

7. Develop a more disciplined approach to consuming content.

I'm suffering from content over-load. My "articles to read later" file is bursting at the seam (metaphorically speaking of course, since I'm sure it can hold much more than I'd ever be able to save/bookmark).

It's time to develop a system to prioritize the inflow and then systematically catch up on content I'm definitely interested in reading/viewing.

6. Develop a more disciplined approach to creating content.

If I wean myself from my inbox and schedule time to read relevant content, it will free up some serious time for my “real” work. My underlying goal here is to get in the habit of writing on a more disciplined and scheduled basis.

As an added benefit, if I can lessen the number of times I am racing to finish a presentation or write a critically important document, I am sure it will have nothing but a positive impact on the quality and quantity of my work.

5. Filter out the non-essential.

Wouldn't it be great to have a pair of glasses that would only allow us to see the things that really mattered? Not the proverbial rose-colored ones, but more like a pair equipped with a yellow highlighter?

As already noted, I need to be more discerning when it comes to how I spend my time. That means skipping meetings where I’m invited as a nicety rather than necessity, resist raising my hand every the time there is a call for volunteers, more rapidly recognizing when something is a lost cause and it’s time to move on, and so on. By cutting out the extraneous, what’s important will probably shine so bright I’ll be reaching for sunglasses instead.

4. Find the time to lend a hand.

In what might seem contradictory to my previous comment about not volunteering at every opportunity, I do want to help or assist colleagues more often. Not that I haven’t in the past, but connecting with or providing support to my professional friends sometimes gets relegated to the bottom of my to-do list.

A meaningful introduction, constructive suggestion, word of encouragement or sending a hand-written note of appreciation goes a long way to show people you value that your relationship with them matters.

3. Teach.

When I was about 10 years old, I wanted to become a teacher. My parents salvaged some old desks being thrown out by a local school and I quickly set about creating a classroom in our basement for my younger siblings and kids from our neighborhood. Convincing them to “play school” after school or on a Saturday wasn’t always a popular idea, but it forced me to find ways to make education fun and engaging.

Whenever I’ve been able to be an instructor, coach or mentor into my life, it has provided me with a great deal of personal satisfaction – plus the added benefit of giving back to the individual, community or company at large.

2. Talk less. Listen more.

I have quite a bit of Italian blood coursing through my veins, and apparently the gift of gab and gesturing while speaking goes along with that part of my heritage (at least in my family). While I love telling stories to illustrate a point, I need to keep it short and concise. And occasionally sit on my hands.

Being a good listener is an essential part of being a good manager, co-worker, employee, friend, spouse or parent. Yet there are times I could listen more deeply, stifle the impulse to express my opinions or recognize that a response is not always required.

1. Learn something new every day.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

Given the amount of information that swirls around us each and every day, coming across something I did not already know is not that difficult. So what I am really after is finding or observing something will spark my curiosity and imagination. Entice me want to learn more. Ask questions. Challenge the consensus. Formulate my own opinions.

As my greatest passion is idea generation (and problem-solving), constantly learning is an occupational must and something I need to keep in front of me every day.

I would like to wish everyone a happy, and professionally satisfying, New Year. Cheers!

Trusting Your Gut

In our life's journey, we get to a point where we need to make an important decision that involves two or more potential choices. 

Typically, each option is a viable one, but each one presents positive and negative ramifications. 

How do we decide which is the best option to pick? The right path to take?

There are scores of books, articles, flow charts, processes and people ready to give an answer to that question. Interestingly enough, just like the complexity facing the decision-maker, the solution providers offer just as many choices further exasperating the task at hand.

But it seems to me that the most important driver in these important decisions tends to be a non-scientific, unjustifiable, indescribable one. Well, there is one universal term I'm aware of for it....

Your gut.

We all have had that experience. That moment when something just feels right. We are filled with a sudden sense of calm. Sereneness. A small smile may emerge or even a gentle nodding of our heads.  We might even think to ourselves - ah yes, this all makes sense now.

Sometimes it's not what we logically anticipated as the right answer at all. It might even be the polar opposite. Or an option not seriously considered or maybe one not even thought of in the first place. It may be just acknowledging that what we felt was the best option really is the best, but perhaps reconciling it will be the toughest to implement. The more difficult road versus the path of least resistance. Or visa-versa.

Of course then the question becomes - how is our gut formed and should we trust it? On this, there are scores of opinions too. 

Here's mine: our "gut" is a combination of two things - logic and intuition. Our gut is the beautiful swirling together of these aspects of our human-ness as they reconcile the struggle to unify and agree to a final decision.  

Our logical side wants the decision to be bullet-proof in it's selection rationale. This is fed by a tremendous amount of external input - our own life experiences, opinions of others, facts, data and trends that may be overlaid, intertwined and pulled apart to systematically review each option and winnow away the inferior option. Leaving just the best for last.

Our intuition wants us to solely rely on the intangibles to make the decision. Feelings and emotions. And how we "read" the feelings and emotions of others as they react to the various choices. Past experiences also come into play - but often recalling the emotional connection tied to those past decisions - not necessarily the resulting outcomes.

In the end, all this information stops swirling and comes to rest. Whether in a quiet moment or while walking among thousands on a busy city street, the decision, and realization we have made the decision, just seems to hit us in the pit of our stomach. Our gut has spoken.

Should we trust our gut? I believe so. We have read countless stories of times where individuals have made a decision despite being adamantly urged or pressured to select or choose something to the contrary. When they are proven right, the words, "it just felt like the right thing to do at the time" seem to magically appear over and over.

Can our gut be wrong? Of course. But I believe that the vast majority of times we can sense the right path to take, decision to make, future to pursue, if we dim the chorus of complexity and listen closely to what our simplistic inner-self is trying to say.

Photo By Mitya Ilyinov (originally posted to Flickr as crossroads) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons