Advertising Becomes Content

As we are all sluggish this morning after staying up all to watch the Super Bowl, much of the chatter around the long line at the coffee pot about last night is around the ads.

Accounting for the main reason so many tune into the big game, Super Bowl advertisers have become TV producers creating content rather than marketers and while this is proven to create some of the most memorable ads in history, how does it translate into a compelling message for the product or company paying for the ad?

This has been more and more relevant as we move into an age with TV where it is easier to miss an advertisement than view it with breakthroughs in DVR and On-Demand, not to mention the distraction from fragmenting mobile devices as well.

Last night's ads displayed that response with content driven messages and while they maybe deemed successful for the one night millions of people tune in to actually watch the commercials, the brand recall dramatically decreases for any other time of the year despite the lack of ad recall.

Take the viral Hump Day ads that you come mid-week every office "funny guy" recites word for word. While memorable and hilarious, this campaign has nothing to do with insurance or Geico other than the three second Geico tag at the end, thus making this campaign no more than a sponsorship with low brand recall despite how many people seek this ad on YouTube or wait for it to come on during commercial breaks.

On nights other than Super Bowl Sunday, other advertisers have found more creative ways to get their message out there by collaborating with programmers and inserting their brand into content rather than create new content that may or may not be seen. By inserting a brand into the content people tune into a channel for, you are not only guaranteeing your brand will gain impressions, but you are also aligning your brand with their way of life in a way they may not even be aware of.

Probably the best example I have seen from this can be seen with Direct TV's sponsorship of FOX NFL Sunday Highlights. FOX will be showing the highlights from games across the league using the Direct TV Interface with the only NFL Sunday Ticket that allows users to watch all of the NFL Games from across the league. So not only is Direct TV's brand within the content, but it is also able to display the benefits of their product creating a commercial within the content.

This and many other examples are a sure sign of how many advertisers are consistently going back to the drawing board to put together the most powerful campaigns to compel viewers to buy a certain product and in order to adapt to the ever changing media landscape that we have come to know today, this is a reality that all advertisers and marketers must come to understand and adjust as needed.