After viewing the Superbowl ads, I share many fellow marketer’s disappointment at the quality of the ads. The use of blatant stereotypes, typical sex, even gross and disturbing concepts led to a pretty sad showing of ads this year. I have two additional comments to make outside of what everyone else has been saying:
1. The use of urls
It seems that for the most part, adding urls to ads was an after thought and they were tacked on to the last frame in tiny font. I counted three companies(and I admit I may have missed one or two), two of which were internet-based (Go Daddy and Sales Genie), that actually verbally mentioned or pushed audiences to their website.
It seems the advertising agencies forgot that consumers tend to be busy and multi-task, often doing more than one thing at the same time – including surfing on the internet while watching tv.
Advice: Create short, simple – but memorable urls (that stick in consumers minds). You’ll have much more of an opportunity to leave a lasting effect outside of the millions of dollars spent on the ad. Once the game is over, people may talk about the ads (as we marketers do), but in order for them to remember past the ad and engage with the brand, it’s important to leave them a strong trail of breadcrumbs that will help them do so. The internet is the perfect place to continue the engagement or awareness you hoped to start with the television ad; so use it to your advantage.
2. Proofread your microsites
One of the urls I decided to visit after viewing one of the spots was NFL.com/superad, a campaign that derived from a contest held solely for NFL Players. The stories/spots are well done, but unfortunately, something stopped me dead in my tracks and I just couldn’t continue viewing anything else on the website.
Can you play spot the typo below?
Need a hint? Look at the word after 240 NFL…..
Advice: Proofread, proofread, proofread. Blatant typos like the one showcased above, absolutely discredit your brand and make your marketing efforts look rushed and amateur.
*Screenshot taken from: www.nfl.com/superad at 1 p.m. EST*
Rebecca Atkinson (Muller) is a freelance web marketing/analytics consultant with more than seven years of direct experience helping businesses create and implement online marketing and communications strategies. Her clients come from all industries including finance, technology and not-for-profit. She specializes in helping her clients determine how to improve their advertising programs, focusing on visitor behaviour – beyond the inital click-through. Full bio available