It is reported that over a billion dollars was spent on this year's Super Bowl ads. Per AdAge.com, Fox was seeking $2.8 million and $3 million for 30 seconds of time during last night's Super Bowl XLV's game. Of all that money and the numerous ads, it only took a few minutes for the best advertisement to run. In my mind, the Audi commercial called "Release the hounds" was the best. To view it, click here.

Here are six reasons why Audi had the best ad and what advisors can learn from it.

  Defined target market. A great marketing message has to first have an audience. Audi is clearly going for two target markets. The obvious segment is the rich that come from old money. Many high net worth individuals that inherited money might have been taught by their parents and social circles that other lines of cars were the best. This focus is evidenced in the commercial's line, "Nonsense--my father owned one."  The second segment represents individuals of newer wealth that might be considering a luxury automobile for the first time.

Interestingly enough, of all the advertisements during this Super Bowl, this ad was directed at the groups most similar to who advisors look to find for new clients. A key take away for advisors is to clearly know their ideal client niche before trying to market to them.

Use of humor. The Super Bowl audience wants to be entertained. Just looking at the Hall of Fame of past commercials is proof the best ads usually deliver a laugh. I am not embarrassed to admit, I almost spit out a chicken wing when I heard the line, "Hit 'em with the Kenny G" and the music started playing. With that said, a laugh is only the starting point. Humor will work best if it is tied to a message so it becomes memorable, increasing brand awareness and possibly increasing sales.

In a relationship driven business, advisors can learn from this TV spot. Hopefully they realize they can be funny to enhance their brand personalities, making an even stronger connection with their prospects and clients.

Differentiator. If you have watched football games this season, you might not remember, but you have seen the thousands of pickup trucks ads. They brag about cargo room, horsepower, etc., which is a much more product-features related type of message. This Audi ad does no such thing. The ad takes a much more subtle approach to compare itself against the competition. It is not a feature they are selling, instead it is a benefit. The tale of this story is that if you buy an Audi you will no longer be locked up in the normal high-society life. This is even stated with a line that states "Escape the confines of old luxury."

Advisors, when crafting their marketing messages, often times are too product features focused. Their marketing should be delivering a feeling of trust and making a connection to initiate a new relationship, as opposed to trying to give a hard sell.

  Meaningful tagline. One key way to get your brand message across is to effectively use a tagline. If done well, it is a very powerful marketing tool. Audi's "Luxury has progressed" message simply states that its cars have moved beyond the other high-end auto manufacturers.

To create a powerful tagline, advisors should figure out what their brand stands for, what are the brand strengths and how they are unique. Then they need to boil all that down into a short catchy phrase. The good thing is that taglines are relatively easy to update. Still, they should be given a chance to run their course for consistency and to develop unaided brand awareness and message recall (that is when a viewer actually remembers a brand and it's message on their own, without being given hints.)

  Consistent messaging. For an advertising campaign to be successful, a message has to be repeated several times. This does not mean the ads have to be identical, but the theme and certain elements should carry through in each of them. Audi does this and even has a link to the Super Bowl ad on their website.

Advisors should look at all their marketing material, including their elevator speech, and evaluate if a strong brand message carries through each communication.

Use of social media. When you have a great message, do not keep it a secret, especially if there are free venues to promote it. Unlike prior years, many of the big companies launched their ads online before Super Bowl Sunday. Why take away the element of surprise?  One big reason... Just like how the game and players were hyped during media week, now so are the ads. The early launches are so the ads can go viral, one of the biggest benefit of social media.

A quick look at the Audi Facebook page after the Packers won showed the "Release the Hounds" ad on its landing page and it encouraged voting for the commercial. The higher the ranking, the more people will see it online, all for free.

When advisors develop their marketing strategy, they should evaluate all the marketing tools in the tool box, social media being one of them. As communications plans are built, advisors, as a whole, need to do a better job of utilizing social media to help get expanded reach and exposure.

Be A Big Fish In A Small Pond
Although individual advisors are never going to run an ad during the Super Bowl, hopefully they can take lessons from the big boys and apply them to their own marketing strategies and messages to be more successful moving forward.

Share Your Thoughts
From a business perspective, what did you think was the best Super Bowl ad?  Please share your thoughts below. For the record, I loved Volkswagen's "The Force" ad, staring a mini Darth Vador. Although the humor was great and the product launch with the car-starter feature were nice, it came in second place in my book.

Mike Byrnes founded Byrnes Consulting to provide consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. His expertise is in business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness, along with several other areas. Read more at www.byrnesconsulting.com.