KEN BANKS’BLOG MARCH 2025h
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EXPENSIVE SPOTS DON’T MEAN GREAT BRANDING”
Sorry again for the delay in getting this message out again. The recovery from Hurricane Helen is a long process but we are making progress. After listing as is for a few months, we decided to repair the major damages and that takes a lot of time and energy. However, thanks to FEMA and our insurance coverage we are moving forward. The continued support from friends and family has helped us move down the road to normality.
There certainly have been a lot of major events over the past couple months, but I won’t dwell on those. The retailing world continues to shrink with the closing of Joanne Fabrics and Family Dollar as well as major cutbacks at both major drugstore chains, Walgreen’s and CVS, who have closed thousands of stores. In the grocery category, Aldi’s takeover of Winn Dixie has resulted in many WD store closings which was not unexpected. Major retail shopping centers—once the major contributor to retail sales growth and expansion—has been downsized as many centers have now been demolished for other uses. Change as always is the most consistent trend.
It’s been interesting to see the change in high priced tv marking on major events like the Super Bowl, the awards shows, like the Grammys, Oscars etc., as well as many of the streamed series that have changed the broadcast landscape. If one records a show or series online, it’s amazing how the commercial breaks have gone for 120 to 180 (or more) seconds. A recent salute to the Grand Ole Opry had over 45 minutes of commercials (by my count) for a 3-hour special. If only the creativity of those hundreds of messages had improved as much as the frequency!
As I have every year for a while now, here is my review of some of the spots that ran in the super bowl in February. There is:30 seconds of air time. There’s no question that the media value is there, but the production costs for these spots has also gone off the charts as well. Unfortunately, the creativity, in my opinion, has not kept pace with the costs. In my experience on both the agency and advertiser side, we always set a production cost for spots based on the planned media expense for the spot. A spot that might only run for 3 days behind a weekend event certainly didn’t warrant the expense for one or more that were part of an ongoing campaign that branded the product or service over an extend schedule. Creativity and an effective branding message was just as important in all of the schedules- short and long.
I’m not sure that was the case for this year’s Super Bowl mega-spots. It seems that all that was important was to get a celebrity (or several) that may or not be consistent with the brand’s target or come up with a tie in with a major movie release. Or just come up with a message that’s so obtuse that the viewer is left asking “What are they advertising in that spot?” Effective, break-through creative is the direct result of an effective, well researched brand strategy. This holds true no matter what the media cost.
Here’s a few of this year’s spots and some brief observations.
PRINGLES MUSTACHE
I’ve always liked Pringles but honestly, I never noticed the mustache or what it has to do with the taste of the chips.
DODGE RAM GOLDYLOX PITT
I don’t know what Goldylox has to do with a big, honkin’ pickup truck but having an expensive Brad Pitt really is a stretch.
HELLMAN’S MAY-BILLY CRYSTAL. HARRY AND SALLY.
Ok, I’m a big Billy Crystal fan and I love When Harry Met Sally, especially the famous diner scene. This spot uses the celebrities and the movie reference to perfection—just like the Mayo.
INSTACART HOT DOGS RUNNING
I wasn’t sure if this was a spot for Kool Aid, Green Giant, or Oscar Meyer hot dogs and it really didn’t convince me that InstaCart was any better than Uber Eats or DoorDash.
STELLA ARTOIS. BECKHAM/DAMON. https://youtu.be/GAoeGC-eL4I
This spot uses celebrities (Matt Damon and David Beckham) with a suprising premise and it works when they both like one of my favorite beers.
ULTRA PADDLE BALL.
Another. Beer commercial with an interesting premise that appeal to a couple different age groups and capitalizes on the paddleball craze. The beer may be mediocre but the message works here.
BUDWEISER. CLYDESDALE RETURNS
Another beer commercial that probably woudn’t work with out the long history of Bud’s Clydesdale spots over the years always memorable and this is no exception—except its length makes it an epic.
DORITOS TROJAN HORSE
Doritos once again spends and spends on the Superbowl. Here are the short spots. I think the Trojan Horse was the best.
Have a great Spring
Ken
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