When looking at the top 10 launches from the Most Memorable New Product Launch Survey, it’s hard to believe that 69% of consumers Schneider Associates, Mintel and IRI polled could not remember a single new product that was launched in 2008.
The Super Bowl always has the most interesting and talked-about commercials of the year, but are consumers just too preoccupied to recall and act on ads they saw just once during the game? What will it take to cut through the mental clutter and the morass of bad financial news?
A recent Advertising Age Article, “Bad Times Affect Ad Recall for Bowl Sports,” supports the MMNPL’s findings. According to a 12 year Gallup & Robinson study cited in the article, “there is a direct relationship between the confidence people have in the economy and the attention they pay to Super Bowl commercials.” When the economy is bad, recall decreases. While how engaging the commercial is and the quality of the game also matter, the economy does play an important role. When people are worrying about losing their job or their house, they’re not thinking about that funny Bud commercial.
These statistics create massive problems for already struggling advertisers. Some have decided to skip the Super Bowl this year, while others are trying new strategies to break through. According to an interview from Mobile Marketer, more ads will include text message call outs to solve the recall problem and get immediate responses from viewers. This strategy, which was used in 5% of last year’s ads, including an Obama campaign ad, is rumored to be increasing to 10% or 15% this year.
We’ll just have to watch the game this Sunday to see what happens. Companies need to captivate and engage the Super Bowl audience in innovative ways. It takes a lot to motivate consumers in the best of times and far more in the worst of times so it will be fascinating to Monday morning quarterback this important advertising event.
If you had 3 million dollars would you spend it on a Super Bowl Ad?
Faced with the steady decline in sales of carbonated drinks, Pepsi Co is looking to make a splash with Gatorade G2, the brand’s biggest product launch in six years. G2, a new low-calorie version of Gatorade, is being marketed as an “off-the-field hydrator,” designed for athletes to drink when they’re not training or competing.
The launch is being supported by a massive integrated marketing campaign, as Pepsi hopes to make an impression amongst the hundreds of beverages that launch yearly in the US. Besides a prominent television ad campaign, G2 is also being promoted with print advertising, digital components, retail, sampling and cause-marketing efforts.
G2 was announced in early September 2007, but didn’t hit stores until early 2008. Fifteen-second teaser ads showing unknown pairs of legs walking through a city that slowly morphs into a baseball field and a basketball court, started appearing in December.
The full length ads, created by Element 79 Partners in Chicago, debuted during Super Bowl XLII. The agency explains that the ads are meant to show that many times the game extends beyond the field and into a sports player’s everyday life. The spots reveal that the legs in the teasers actually belong to Miami Heat’sDwayne Wade and New York Yankees’Derek Jeter, who appeared saying “The next game begins when the last one ends.”
The ads are part of a larger marketing effort launching G2 and will also include spots starring Peyton Manning and Maria Sharapova. Here’s the ad Gatorade will used to launch G2 during the Super Bowl:
Gatorade has actually tried to sell a low-calorie drink before, Gatorade Light, which failed to gain an audience when it launched in 1990.
With today’s consumers looking for more drink options, do you think G2 will succeed where Gatorade Light failed?
Posted by mmnpl 
Posted by mmnpl 
