When you’re in the advertising/marketing business, you view things like watching television a little differently. I’ve found myself paying more and more attention to commercials and advertisements over the years, making mental notes of what works and what doesn’t, at least from my perspective.

I’m amazed at how many times I think to myself… “Do people really believe that?” or… “What does that have to do with (enter product here)?” or even… “What are they selling me, a product or its packaging?”

The first thing that comes to mind is a series of commercials Coors Brewing has run in which the apparent selling point for their beer is a can printed with thermo-sensitive ink. So there’s no more guessing about when your beer is cold…. apparently just picking up the can is no longer an accurate enough method. I was mostly intrigued that the container for their product was the focus of the ad, not the actual product.

This must be a growing trend in the beverage industry. Ads boasting about things like lined cans to preserve flavor, a so-called “Taste Protector Lid” and “vented” cans for faster, smoother pouring/consumption have been popping up lately. It makes me wonder, are people choosing what they consume based on whether they like the product or what is used to deliver it?

While all these gimmicky packages are quite creative on their own, it what’s inside the package that matters. Cheers!

I recently attended the Economic Forecast Dinner, hosted by EDASC. This event has been brought to the business community for many years and it is highly attended and anticipated. With all that has been going on of late, economically, this year’s attendance was impressive at just over 560.

We developed the logo for the Economic Forecast Dinner (among all other EDASC event logos) and it is definitely one of my favorites. I like the playfulness of it given the event’s serious nature.

This year, given our name change, we decided to become one of the sponsors. Don Wick, in his usual fashion, gave us great recognition. He is one of the best, if not the best, business promoter in Skagit County and is an asset to us all. The keynote speaker was Jim Paulsen, Ph.D., chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management and a regular on CNBC and Bloomberg Television.

I very much enjoyed his talk as it had a light tone mixed in with powerful facts. He stated that we are not seeing anything different economically than we have historically. What we are seeing however is unprecedented fear. He said “yes, we are in a nasty recession, we are not near a depression,” and I paraphrase… but because of this fear people/businesses are essentially frozen. We are not feeling confident enough to make decisions to purchase and/or moving forward with our business plans.

Much of this fear issue was created by the news media. Everyday for months they have been telling us how bad it is. We just went through a political campaign where each candidate told us how bad we have it. We are seeing huge layoffs in our largest industries. Banks and large financial institutions are failing and we are seeing unprecedented fraud. OK, that all does sound bad, but the other point he made is every decade financial institutions fail – what about the savings and loan failures of the 1980’s. The other point was that 93% of us are still working and we need to pay attention to the 93%, to help them feel confident as well.

When he made that point, something clicked in me - as much as we need to take care of our employees, we need to take care of our customers. This is a point that I always try to make with our clients. Take care of the customer first. They are the reason you are in business and probably the reason you are able to stay in business. This could be just touching base with them to know that you are still here to serve them. If you disappear (visually) in these kinds of times, they might think you have disappeared like the companies that are being displayed as failures through the media.

So I do have one regret for the evening. I really thought to stand up and ask him, “Are you saying that, in order to get this country back, what we need is a great marketing program to get people confident again?” but it seemed a little self-serving.

We see and talk to our customers every day. We are all tentative yet we keep moving forward. Don’t fall into to the fear factor trap. Innovation is always strongest following times of recession. After all, recession and necessity breed innovation and invention. And that’s nothing to be scared about.

Well, the game was the most exciting in recent memory, possibly of all time. Last minute heroics led to a come from behind win for my beloved Steelers, so I was a happy man. The commercials were another mixed bag, as is usually the case. There were, however some funnier and more interesting spots this year than I remember in recent Super Bowls. Of course this is debatable since humor and creative tastes are subjective.

I have to say, considering the doom and gloom of the ever darkening economy, it’s surprising to see so many new ads being made for the most expensive timeslots available. Of course it makes sense that if you’re going to throw down the money on a Super Bowl ad, you’d better make sure it’s worth it. It was a bit odd to see ads offering cash for your gold jewelry (a kind of mail order pawn shop) alongside commercials for pre-paid private jet hours. Both sides of the economic coin were well represented for sure.

There were a few regulars missing from the line-up this year. FedEx was absent for the first time in over 10 years. They’re usually among the most memorable ads to run during the big game, so it was a noticeable void. I think there were more local ads in place this year, possibly filling in for unsold spots.

Another big surprise (or little in this case) was Miller Brewing’s one-second-long commercial. If you missed it, you may have been blinking at the time. In what was the shortest commercial to ever run during the Super Bowl, the Miller High Life delivery man seen in several previous spots associated with this campaign had only enough time to boldly blurt out “HIGH LIFE!” before the second was up. Simple. Effective. Not quite epic, but it did more for me than equine love stories. Again… it’s all subjective. I’m sure people exist who’ve always wanted a pony and the Budweiser Clydesdale spots probably speak to them on a level I’ll never get.

There were some well executed cross-media ads which beckoned for your participation beyond the TV screen. An ad for Monsters vs. Aliens was broadcast in 3D, and in order to fully enjoy it, you needed a pair of 3D glasses found at display cases in stores across the country. And while you’re there, you may as well grab a refreshing soft drink… I think you see the point here. Getting potential consumers more involved, giving them more to experience, and thereby enhancing the brand is becoming more and more valuable. Another series of ads from GoDaddy.com were just as provocative as ever. Only this year, they left viewers wondering what happened AFTER the commercial ended. The audience was then directed to visit a website to find out how each scene ended. While the concept is great, leaving viewers hanging in suspense as to what happens next, GoDaddy’s execution lacks in true creativity. Relying on sexism and lowest common denominator humor is hardly the best way to expand your market. With a TRULY creative approach, this cliffhanger concept is a great way of generating interest in a product.

So, you see how having the most colorful packaging and depending on shelf presence alone is no longer enough to sell your product–you now need an entire brand experience. Companies sell their products using a broad spectrum of ideas, emotions, and tools. For me, the bizarre and funny usually work best. Like my favorites from this year:

And for more of our favorites, check the comments…

Its that time of year once again. The biggest day of television advertising, also known as the Super Bowl. This is probably the one time each year people turn on their sets and tune in, actually looking forward to watching commercials. Many don’t even know the difference between a field goal and a safety.

Being in the advertising/marketing field, I too enjoy the spectacle of commercial creativity that the big game brings. As designers and advertising professionals, we look at these ads a bit differently than the average viewer. While there is always an assortment of interesting approaches to ad content, it rarely relates directly to the product being sold. And that’s ok. In fact, the commercials that create the most buzz are usually the weirdest and most irrelevant. If it’s enough to create a memorable experience that people will be talking about for days and weeks following the broadcast, then it may be considered a success.

The creativity and uniqueness of an ad can directly affect the success of a product and even a company itself. It obviously boosts awareness and sways a percentage of people to try a brand they might normally overlook. Entire annual advertising budgets have been spent on a single 30-second spot during the Super Bowl resulting in historic sales for some companies.

So, is it worth spending massive amounts of money to air an ad during the big game? It definitely can be, especially if the product is properly supported beyond the broadcast.

The truly great campaigns may start with a Super Bowl ad, but it will need more. Marketing materials placed in stores, online, and out among the public help to keep the message fresh in minds. In-store displays featuring visuals from the commercial will help to solidify the campaign and generate sales prior to and after the ad airs. Shorter commercials creating a bit of mystery or suspense in the weeks leading up to the game can also increase the effectiveness of the big ad. So it shouldn’t be limited to an interesting 30 or 60 seconds, it should have consistency, carrying over multiple mediums such as print and web. Otherwise, the message is momentary, coming and going almost as quickly as the game itself…

Here are a few of the greatest ads from Super Bowls past. And one final thing… GO STEELERS! (Not an easy thing, being a Pittsburgh fan here in the Pacific Northwest following Super Bowl XL.)

Mean Joe Greene Coca Cola Ad

Talking Stain Tide Ad

1984 Apple Ad

The recent weather got me thinking about how, sometimes, too much of a good thing can turn very, very bad.

For example, the latest round of flooding throughout Washington reminded me of one form of bad advertising etiquette. Similar to the way too much water in a short period of time can be devastating a region, too much information can have the same effect. While flood waters overflow riverbanks and cover or destroy the path beneath it, a lack of focus can have the same overload effect on advertising.

Any given advertisement has size restraints which in turn limit the amount of information that is effective.  It is important to manage what goes in and what stays out. Granted, details are important and it is generally a good idea to provide as much information as you can when marketing a product; the problem comes when too many details are included. It becomes too much to absorb and leads to overflow with the defining point being buried among the least important details.

Revealing the message in a simple, effective and elegant manner is the road best taken. There is no need to clutter up an advertisement or smother a campaign when it can be pared down to a few valuable truths.

To give your message a clear voice and make it appealing to your audience, think about the core elements of your brand - those key items that differentiate it from the competition.  Stay focused and keep your audience safe from an overabundance of information.

Here’s an interesting video that demonstrates the drastic differences in the way two very well-known companies approach this issue - Microsoft and Apple.