Dad's Sixth Sense
It was a car commercial featuring the Hyundai Genesis. It featured a dad always saving his son from physical harm. It resonated with me, an over-protective father of two young kids, and I am sure it did the same with tons of parents all around the country. The comedy built up to the point where the product voiceover said, “Remember when only dad could save the day? Auto emergency breaking…”
Social Media Is Consistent
It is worth noting that it seems like a vast majority of ads listed a creative hashtag. It is no surprise that those running the $4 million 30-second TV ads would want the conversation to keep going. For example, #salute had a stream of great tweets, one that showed the 5-minute story behind the ad “A Hero’s Welcome.” Budweiser’s Twitter page had its background image of one of the animals from the “Puppy Love” commercial. Its icon showed its logo with #BestBuds under it.
Still, there weren’t many good promotions, besides just listing the hashtags in the commercials.
One notable exception was the ability to get a free song to support a good cause from Bank of America. A promoted tweet (which is Twitter’s advertising) showed these details in an @U2 February 2 message: Download the #NewU2Song "Invisible" FREE NOW http://smarturl.it/Connect4Red to help @RED fight AIDS (Exp 11:59pm EST 2/3)
U2’s iTunes promotion will be short lived, but videos will be watched on YouTube and other social networks in the coming months and probably for years to come. So the investment in a 30 or 60-second spot goes long into our culture.
Will one of these 2014 commercials make the Hall of Fame, like Coca-Cola’s Mean Joe Greene spot or Volkswagen’s little Darth Vader ad ? It is doubtful. Hopefully the best ads will at least help you think about how to make a connection through your own marketing messages in a way that live on long beyond their creation.
Mike Byrnes is a national speaker and owner of Byrnes Consulting LLC. His firm provides consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. Need help with business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness? Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.