GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — While Patriots and Rams fans gathered to watch the game, Grand Haven’s advertising group, Haven, played part in a different watch party.
The creative hub hosted about 50 local students, professors and industry professionals during Sunday night’s game, paying close attention to the iconic Super Bowl commercials.
“This thing is about watching the ads, because we’re in advertising and this is really the Super Bowl of advertising,” Haven’s Chief Creative Officer, Bill McKendry said.
The NFL Super Bowl is known to produce some of the best commercial marketing strategies, something fifth-year GVSU senior, Emily Sexton said she’s excited to analyze. “My favorites are the ones that are super emotional and stand for a good cause,” Sexton said.
The party’s participants watched the advertisements throughout the game, rating them a “touchdown,” “safety” and “delay of game.”
“If an add is spectacular and people think it’s great, it is a touchdown. If it was okay, sub-par, they went a little safe, then they do the safety. If it was a total bust, like they spent $5 million on that then it’s a delay of game,” Sexton explained.
Sexton was invited by her GVSU professor and coordinator of the school’s advertising and public relations program, Dr. Tim Penning. He said the marketing trend in commercials has taken a turn this year. “There are more ads featuring women in a positive way…and this is appropriate because there’s been a problem in the industry of not enough gender disparity in terms of women working in the profession but also how women are portrayed.”
Penning also noted that many advertisers are starting to play their commercials before Super Bowl Sunday and on online networks.
“Some still will wait until the Super Bowl, because the strategy is to make a big splash that night when everyone is watching, other try to leverage that 5 million dollars they’re paying for a spot to get people talking about it, and then during the game they see it and say, ‘oh yeah I like this one,’” Penning said.
While trends reflect what’s happening socially, McKendry says there are certain strategies that have proven successful for years. “Animals always go over well, babies always goes over well, some violence always goes over well and male stupidity always goes over well,” McKendry said.
While Super Bowl advertisements are subjective to the viewer, McKendry says sometimes it could be worth taking a risk.
“Anyone who breaks that formula, really has a chance to stand out… I’ve seen a jeep spot that I think is building on the controversy of the national anthem, so we’ll see if that pays off for them,” he said.
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