Ayalla Ruvio is a professor of marketing and resident expert in applied consumer behavior in the Broad College of Business.
As long as the Super Bowl will be broadcast on TV, it will be leveraged by companies in the form of traditional commercials and marketing tactics, at least by the companies with deep enough pockets to cover this relatively expensive (but often worthwhile) medium.
However, all companies this year aim to develop creative content and social marketing strategies that go beyond traditional methods and TV, in order to facilitate their consumer’s engagement and to foster long-term relationships with them. Even big companies with generous advertising budgets enjoy when their ads “go viral,” giving the ad an extended play. And of course, creative content and social strategies are especially attractive to smaller companies that do not have big marketing budgets, but still wish to connect with their consumers effectively.
Successful brands are the ones that understand their consumers and offer a meaningful value to them, which is a message that goes beyond “buy this product.” These brands tell a compelling story that resonate with their consumers and do it in a consistent way across media channels. Budweiser and Procter & Gamble, for example, focus on creating an emotional connection with their consumers. Doritos has successfully managed to reach out to their consumers in a funny and entertaining way. These brands foster deep lasting relationships with their consumer by leveraging different events, such as the Super Bowl.
The challenge most companies will face will be to break through this crowded space in an effective way. Creativity will be key to these marketing efforts, which is where we’ll see a greater shift to social media and engagement. The Super Bowl offers a great opportunity for companies to reach out to a wider audience, and start a dialog that can (and should) continue long after this event ends. People talk about the ads Monday morning at work, more than they talk about the game!
The New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons will play each other in Super Bowl LI Feb. 5.
Adapted from a Q & A by Caroline Brooks, Broad College of Business.
