This past Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks had a record-setting audience. That is not only great for the game, but also for the advertisers who spent about $4.5 million for 30 seconds, reaching an estimated 111.3 million viewers. We were entertained by a great game along with some Super Bowl ads that offered wonderful brand experiences. Some of the best offered not only an advertisement, but also examples of experiential marketing that add legs beyond their spots that aired during the game.
McDonald’s
One of the best examples was McDonald’s. Say what you may about their food, but there is no doubt that they are savvy marketers who understand the essence of their brand. Apart from fast food, they stand for convenience, charities and being friendly.
That friendly aspect was on display during the Super Bowl. They showed people ordering, and then when they went to pay, their meal was free. Why? Because they showed, in the ordering line, they were friendly. If the customer smiled, or showed kindness to another, McDonald’s gave them a free meal. These ads promote McDonald’s current special, that over the next two weeks they “will accept different forms of payment”, including giving someone a hug or even calling their mom to tell her, “I love you.”
Bud Light
Since December, Bud Light has been promoting their “Up For Whatever” ads. As part of that campaign, we’ve seen bar patrons ambushed by Jimmy Johnson and home makeovers by Warren Sapp. During the Super Bowl, we saw one such Bud Light fan agree that he was, indeed, up for whatever. This culminated in him playing in a life-sized Pac-Man game.
Part of Bud Light’s brand is about enjoying impromptu moments with friends. Therefore, the recent campaign highlights the fact that Bud Light bottles have fun messages and ideas for people to do if they are up for anything. This creates real experiences around the enjoyment of their beverages.
Coca-Cola
We can always count on Coke for some of the most talked about ads in a Super Bowl. And this year they, again, delivered.
Coke has always been about happiness and being positive. So, it was great seeing Coke tackle cyberbulling head on. In the ad, a worker in a server room accidentally spills some Coke into a server. As such, Coke infiltrates the Internet and transforms negative messages into positive ones. They used the hashtag #MakeItHappy.
Using Twitter, I Tweeted out a message with #MakeItHappy and got a reply from Coke about getting behind replying to negative Tweets with positive ones. They invited me to their gomakeithappy.com website. There you can sign a petition and pledge to help make the Internet more positive.
While tackling a social issue, Coke managed to deliver an experience aligned with their brand values. They encouraged people to take positive action and get involved.
How to use this information
You can always find great examples of Experiential Marketing. While they may not always be Super Bowl in size, they can have a super impact. It could be how your organization greets people when they walk in the door. It could be how your team interacts with visitors when they come to your office and how you follow up with people. All those little things, that are often taken for granted, are part of a larger Experiential Marketing mix. In fact, some of these other items are truly what can make the difference in getting someone’s business.
Call us today at 303-300-2640 to learn more about experience marketing.
