Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
For a lot of us, the Super Bowl is pretty close to a national holiday in its own right.
But, as I am sure you know, not everyone pays all that much attention to the game. Or, it isn’t the most important thing.
Besides the game, you have the snacks, usually groups of people, but…how about the commercials?
The commercials are one of the big attractions during the game and I have been at parties where people would time their bathroom breaks so that they wouldn’t miss a commercial.
The thing about these commercials is that they are super expensive, this year around $5M per 30 second ad.
Which means that for a lot of companies, they are investing all or a lot or most of their advertising or marketing budget on one shot…hoping for the long tail of a viral hit, or buzz, or some other popular term that extends the life of that piece of advertising.
My question to you is: Is that a wise decision?
Does this kind of gamble make you a better marketer?
That all depends.
Is something like this talking about a specific value proposition?
Is something like this reaching your target buyers?
Finally, is this ad or viral video something that is going to reach people where they are making decisions?
But when I mention this stuff, I am not really talking about just the Super Bowl, I am talking about any marketing or advertising we do.
For so many of us, we can find it attractive to spend a great deal of time throwing some sort of marketing or advertising plan together that makes us feel like we are doing something. Maybe even something awesome.
When in fact we are wasting our time and money on something that has little likelihood of being successful.
That’s what I think about when I think about the Super Bowl and its commercials.
Are these companies really just wasting their time and money on these commercials?
Are they getting the increase in sales that justifies this kind of outlay?
What about you?
When you make buying decisions for your marketing and advertising, are you getting back the return that you need?
Do your actions and results justify what you are doing?
It can be tough to know sometimes. Which is why we spend so much time talking about value, buyer focus, and attacking the right areas.
Because it can be the difference between success and failure.
The point being, spending $5M doesn’t likely make you a better marketer. But thinking about the best ways to use and measure your $5M does.