This episode of CI Conversations features a lively conversation with FCB’s Andrés Ordóñez and Chris Walker, along with McCann’s Craig Bagno, about Super Bowl 56 advertising and what Super Bowl advertising might look like in the future.
For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence. interpublic.com.
For updates on CI’s podcasts and Thought Leadership, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
This episode of CI Conversations features a lively conversation with FCB’s Andrés Ordóñez and Chris Walker, along with McCann’s Craig Bagno, about Super Bowl 56 advertising and what Super Bowl advertising might look like in the future.
For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence. interpublic.com.
For updates on CI’s podcasts and Thought Leadership, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Intro [00:00:01] Welcome to the Collective Intelligence podcast from IPG. We deliver marketing insights that help modern brands thrive. In this episode, you'll hear about the latest perspectives featured at intelligence.interpublic.com. Listen, then log on to find new opportunities for your brand to stand out.
Jen (host) [00:00:21] Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us on the Collective Intelligence podcast for another episode of C.I Conversations. My name is Jen, and I'll be your host today talking about Super Bowl 56. And what a game it was. It was a close one, and there was some nail biting moments like the collective gas parade across the country when O'Dell was injured and it was also a big ratings game. Ratings soared 16 percent to 112 million over last year's decline. So there were a lot of eyeballs on the game this year. So let's get to what we're really here for. Super Bowl 56 advertising. So we are joined today by a stellar panel we have with us. Andres Ordonez, Chief Creative Officer of FCB Chicago, Chris Walker, SVP Creative Director, FCB Chicago, and Craig Bagnall, EVP, Global Strategy Director, McCann World Group. Thank you all so much for joining us today. So let's talk about nostalgia. There was all the nostalgia The Sopranos, Dr. Evil, the E-Trade babies, Snoop J. And Mary J. Let me open it up to the three of you. And perhaps Craig, you'd like to start. Why do you think that was why? Or relooking back? What's with the remembering one?
Craig B [00:01:44] Thanks for having me. By the way, I think there are probably, maybe two real reasons for it, and maybe a third reason that I think is not the answer. So if you talk to people in the industry, you hear people throw the phrase borrowed interest round. And I think that's a I think it's wrong. I think it's it's kind of meant pejoratively, and I don't think it's really indicative of why you see it and why we're doing it. I think the reason we're seeing so much of it now are twofold. One is think of it as a bit of a time machine. I think we're all still a little bit stuck in the last two years, which haven't been the most amazing two years for a lot of people. And I think we kind of intuitively as an industry, are attaching to things from the before times and using those as a way to kind of transport us back to a place where we all shared some of the same good experiences. I think also that's that's kind of the first one. And I think the other one is, I think what is not so much is borrowed interest, but rather like a bookmark. Almost the cost of the price of a 30 second spot in the Super Bowl is basically 10 million bucks now, all in probably more and a lot of instances. And so you're basically making like a $10 million like tiny little 30 second movie that requires a beginning in the middle and an end. And so if you use things that are a bookmark like like a throwback to a story that people already know, you can start from the middle. So it's not a it's not cheap, but it's a bit of a storytelling shortcut that allows you to skip a lot of the preamble and like Leap right into the good part, which is what your entire body has to be. It's got to be twenty nine point nine seconds of the good part.
Andres O [00:03:13] Completely agree with Craig. I think we all left these world two years ago. Seems like we got disconnected, but not. But I think what we saw in the saga is the things that will connect us back as an audience at the end of the day. Bowl is not only about sport, but it's also about pure entertainment. There are those things in entertainment that bring us all together. So seeing them back is kind of like, we're back to that. There was a lot of us a comedy brought back. There was a little bit of a brought back to the Super Bowl that we know where you have these main characters and people that we recognize and we love from the past. So I think there was a little bit of that on. The second part is media is changing and I think like we still believe that we have to spend 10 million dollars on a spot to get attention. And we know that everyone's on their on their devices or their platforms, like why wouldn't you just try to figure out a way to not hack it? But I mean, we know and I'm one of those that got into a Coinbase trap and it was not. Nostalgia was nothing else, but it was I was a bridge into the world where we all live in. So I think it's more about, you're going to spend the money, make sure that there's more to it than just a 30-second TV spot. So we had to really think about it. Like, what if you had 10 million dollars? What would you do with it or seven million? And would you spend it on a 30 second or you play around that and even bring more people into into the brand? So I think it made us rethink how we approach things.
Jen (Host) [00:04:35] Excellent. So yeah, I mean, continuing with that, then tell us about the Super Bowl campaign that you created for Groupon.
Chris W [00:04:43] Yeah. So, you know, Groupon as a company is under a major shift behind their brand purpose. You know, they're very much known previously for deals and discounts, and they're they want to change their brand perception to be the go to destination for local experiences. You know, part of that big shift is we want to, you know, showcase that to the world. It takes a big audience to make a big brand shift like that. And what bigger stage to do that then in and around the Super Bowl. So this year for Groupon, we talked about a Super Bowl ad. You know, the potential of that. They've done Super Bowl ads in the past, but we felt like that might not be the right direction to go. There is substantial amount of spend, there's a lot of noise around you and in only 30 seconds, do you have the time to truly make the impact that we're going for? So we took a step back and discussed among ourselves and with the clients like, what are what do we really want to do with this? Do we just want to tell people or do we want to show people? So we came up with the campaign where we would create the ultimate Super Bowl experience, an incredible Super Bowl party at an NFL players house, and you could come in instead of just advertising what Groupon could do, you know, in the local setting. We want to bring you in to this. Amazing. Variance and have all of the US talking about us,
Jen (Host) [00:06:05] and of course, that work featured Rob Gronkowski, why Gronk?
Chris W [00:06:11] Gronk was the just the perfect partner for us. You know, it's like if Groupon is the ultimate experience expert. Well, Rob Gronkowski is the ultimate Super Bowl expert. He's won four Super Bowls. I think he's been in seven and then he's also a world famous partier. So if we're going to throw the ultimate Super Bowl party, let's go with the ultimate Super Bowl champ and party expert Rob Gronkowski.
Andres O [00:06:33] Yeah, it's one of those. The top five most loved player, I believe right now is like that third most loved player. So obviously the fans behind Gronk are incredible. But Gronk comes not only by Gronk, by the whole family. It's incredible. They're all like, You want to hang with those guys when it's about, you want to go out and have fun, you want to be with the drunks. And I think what we found out is that it was more than just Gronk into it, but it's his brothers, his father, everyone else. So and when he was open to it and it was just like, We have to go with this guy. And I mean, it didn't work really well.
Chris W [00:07:05] Yeah, the the sentiment around him is like, he's just the most fun dude, and everyone knows that about him. So if we're going to, you know, anchor our brand and experiences and fun and bring positivity to your life, like, let's go with the fun guy.
Jen (Host) [00:07:20] Absolutely. Yeah. And I think overall there was just, you know, and I think you alluded to this earlier, just this feeling of lightness and optimism. And I think even in the piece that you wrote for at age, you and you said it and you said it earlier, it's the it's appropriate at this cultural moment. I think you called it a dopamine hit in your writing. And and certainly, I think that's what's needed right now. And we did and we saw. I mean, so like you said, these spots with the cinematic quality and then the the work that you both just described about fun and partying and kind of getting back to that gathering around an event like a Super Bowl. And certainly, there was a preponderance of celebrities in this year's advertising. There is perennial value to that. But again, it seemed most appropriate this year. I'm kind of coming out of the shadow of the pandemic. Do you think that strategy will continue to be the focal point? Or do you think perhaps now as we're tiptoeing out of the pandemic that might evolve or change or shift again to some, some different tacks that we've seen in the past?
Craig B [00:08:19] This is one of those years where we land a certain thing, and then maybe the next time next year we go on and maybe push forward for kind of a new thing like we seem to go in five or seven year increments where we where we gather steam as an industry toward one sort of kind of one general type of spot. And then we hit critical mass and then we go looking for the next thing. I think the work this year was exactly right for this cultural moment. The goofy alignment that I had in an adage article was, you know, it's it's not a year for calendar year for cake. This is definitely a year for cake. And hope for the industry is that we will expand our horizons a little bit next year and maybe try a broader range of stuff. Creativity can contain an awful lot of things. And I think this year felt more more sane than not. I'd like to see more, maybe more range,
Andres O [00:09:10] one thought, and maybe it's the wrong side. But I was looking at it. I was like, Do you do we think that brands were like, Well, this is a year of L.A. is the year of Hollywood. There is a big stage where all of these artists and people over thought the use of celebrities more than ever.
Craig B [00:09:25] I'm not sure it's an L.A. thing so much. I don't think people are like big enough fans of football to remember that it's an L.A. thing. I really think there's a bit of USA Today influence factoring in here. It's become a real thing to the entire success or failure of your 10 million plus dollar investment. Be predicated on how well you did in a Snap poll with a pretty with a pretty narrow base of respondents. I think we're maybe reacting, maybe overreacting a teeny bit to the influence of USA Today as a determinant of what's good and what's bad. I think we as an industry have kind of internalized what works, what wins, wins Monday Winds USA Today. Celebrities are a way to do it. So we just kind of went there this year.
Andres O [00:10:15] Yeah, I've seen I've got a few of those briefs and sometimes that is like client request. I want to be on that list. I'm like, big time. Is that really what you want?
Craig B [00:10:22] I think that's that's becoming sometimes. I've heard instances where that was the entire brief for response this year. And no, I don't like I don't buy that. I think some of it is an industry problem. We don't have probably generally like we input the right metrics in place and the right systems and dashboards in place to help brands understand what the full range of outcomes that can be driven by bowl. So, you know, you only make what you can measure. And so we've got this easy USA Today thing and we're falling into the trap of like having that be the litmus test. I think if we had a more robust measurement system, we would probably realize that we could do a lot of things I like. I thought the thing that you guys did was amazing. What? What are the things that like we have stopped doing to a degree in the Super Bowl? I think the Super Bowl has become such an entertainment platform that we forget that we're brands and we sell stuff. I like the fact that you guys did a promotion. I got like, that's that's that's kind of that's pretty nervy in today's world. Instead of a like a giant like dance number or something like that, that's pretty cool.
Andres O [00:11:30] Thank you. Thanks. Yeah, we had we had low KPI’s from clients and we blew them because they were like, This is going to work on the guy, it's going to work.
Craig B [00:11:38] And so the thing that I would say is it's just interesting. I had a conversation with Bryan Buckley, who's kind of the preeminent Super Bowl director and has been for a generation. I was going to see if I could work a quote from him into the ad age article. In the end, it didn't work out, but he said a million like brilliant things. And one thing that he said I that was fascinating that I never would have considered is he said that because of streaming and the way that like things are working in the entertainment industry today, agents are aggressively pushing. Celebrities are fairly A-list celebrities, really A-list celebrities as actors and performers in Super Bowl spots in ways that they didn't. Five and 10 years ago.
Andres O [00:12:22] Yeah, it's funny that you mention that because I'm not going to mention the celebrity because actually, we're going to work with her. But we had reels come in like literally like films from Big Celebrity, like A-list celebrities pitching to ourselves, why they love our brands. And they will say how each brand connecting to their life, which we never saw, that we'd never seen that in the past. So, so it's it's they are definitely pushing it hard.
Craig B [00:12:49] Yeah, my response to Brian was that's fascinating, and I agree with them. I hadn't thought of it, but I totally agree with him. My other, my build on that was, I think, that I think the Super Bowl advertising has evolved to a place where it doesn't feel like selling. It feels like a hiatus from from selling stuff, and it feels like it feels like entertainment is what it really feels like. Feels like an extension of like the biggest gender like day of shared entertainment in the United States. And so I think personally, that celebrities are a little more willing maybe to do several things than they would be for a lot of other kind of marketing oriented things. Because it doesn't it doesn't come off as selling stuff. It comes off as….
Andres O [00:13:31] it feels like it's part of the show.
Craig B [00:13:33] Yeah, exactly.
Jen (Host) [00:13:35] OK, so let me ask you, we've been discussing how to measure the success of these campaigns and that rankings like the USA Today ad meter do not necessarily provide a comprehensive measure of ROI. In fact, going back to our Coinbase example from earlier, they ranked last at USA today, but did top social buzz measurements. So what does success mean today? How can how can we quantify or qualify that?
Craig B [00:13:59] Well, I think the fatal flaw is sort of to to look at it in the context of an ad. So if you're if your measurement is only like, how did the ad do, you're always going to be looking at it from a short sighted perspective. So like then fine pick your thing. Like, you know, most most responses are like happiest in usa today or whatever doesn't doesn't matter. Like, you know, you're still guided by an ad as opposed to sitting in the context of the role that the brand plays in people's lives, which is, you know, that's what we think of as an agency when we think about like how to steer a brand forward. And it's not it. It's on a Monday thing or a Sunday thing, Sunday Monday thing. It's a 10 year thing kind of tenure blocks. And so what we really should be do is be doing is we have the tools to do it. So look at how a Sunday Monday Super Bowl thing fits into the broader context of like an overall brand platform. But we kind of have to. I think we have to push that approach a little bit harder because if you don't, then you fall into the easy things, which is like, you know, these dipstick like point in time measures as opposed to longitudinal measures, which is a better way to do it. But listen, I'm not denigrating the value of that day. It's the only day of the year in the US where the country stops and pays attention. It's a privilege to be in the Super Bowl. Oh, what do we do with the Super Bowl thing? It's like, Oh my goodness, can we do the Super Bowl? And if you could, if you could have America stop and pay attention for a day. But that's a it's an amazing opportunity. What do you do with it? But you want to think about what you do with it in the context of the broader spectrum, you know, the lifespan, not not tomorrow morning, only
Chris W [00:15:47] to your point, Craig, like it. The ads are less selling products now and selling the brands that they exist to build the brand. And you know, what is your objective in your goal for that day, for your brand, for Coinbase? Obviously, it's awareness. I'd never heard of Coinbase two days ago, and now I know what it is. Was that worth the $13 million media investment on their part? You know, we'll have to find out. Will people remember it? You know, two months, six months a year from now? I'm not sure. But yeah, that's that's how the Super Bowl is used now. It's like it's used to build your brand to people. Remember your brand on Monday? That's great. But to Craig's point, like, do they remember it five, 10 years from now?
Craig B [00:16:30] I thought of it in those terms, but I love that. So like when you when you think of it that way, you know, it's a it's a day, it's all about the brand. You end up with this weird dissonance, right? Where like you got a brand objective measured by an ad outcome.
Andres O [00:16:45] Yeah. To that point, I feel like as a platform to you have run with a brand. Any problem with the brand? It's a beautiful thing to try to change the way people think about you or if you have a product. I also think like there is a reason why they like so many movie trailers on Super Bowl. And I think we should look at it as a brands like look, look at the industry of film and why they're using it for that, because they're just launching something. So you're going to launch something. Yes, go for it. But in our case, for example, on Groupon, we're like, No, we're not. It's not about the brand. It's about what we give the consumers and its experiences. So let's shift to give them the ultimate experience.
Jen (Host) [00:17:23] OK, so having that bigger picture mindset, Chris and Andre's looking at your work for Groupon, what was built into your strategy to ensure that you were successful in the way that you specifically were defining success?
Chris W [00:17:38] You know how when we approached it, we wanted to make sure that we are creating, you know, this brand act that people could talk about that had talk value behind it and hoping that. Will help create remembrance. You know, it's like these winners will continue, they'll share this story for the rest of their lives. And then in the media, because the idea was so interesting and engaging and fun for 2020 to a lot of people wanted to talk about it brought was brought on to interview, I think, on 19 different programs, something like that. We had billions of media impressions like people wanted to share this story and talk about it. So it went beyond just a singular airing of a spot and became part of, you know, the cultural dialog in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.
Andres O [00:18:24] Yeah. And I also think that back to that last part of our conversation, it's it's perception we were going after like that. We were we were against the perception of the kind of experiences that we gave until now. And it was like the nail salon and the massage plays. And though it is like, No, no, we're much more than that. So the best way to put it back was like by working with Gronk doing this and also Criticwire, a client that they bet on Gronk. Even though they couldn't make the finals for a second, we were like, Oh my gosh, we're going to make the finals and we're going to be celebrating at his house. But but even though he's going to make the finals, he was just an incredible human that gave us the best experience not only to us as a brand, but also to the people that won this promo.
Jen (Host) [00:19:06] So in terms of that, almost similarly, Uber Eats kind of had a bit of of a similar challenge in terms of, you know, we're not just food and took it on in a very head on way, you know, with with these celebrities, you know, eating candles and what have you. I think was Gwyneth Paltrow, who else did it successfully?
Andres O [00:19:24] I think Pringles went back to the simplicity of everything and a pure inside. We all been on that moment and sticking our arms through that thing at the last Pringle. And I think we connected to everyone that I have heard about it. It was like, Oh my God. And it's simple humans, stupid comedy, honestly. And we kind of made that from the past, and I think they brought it product that us into all about it and how the story repeats itself at the end. So I think there was so much humanity and truth to the brand of that and something that we all have experience at some point in our lives, and I think they convey that on a really, really nice way.
Chris W [00:20:00] Yeah, building the story straight from the product benefit of it's so delicious that you'll literally cram your hands on this tiny tube to try to get the last few crumbs I thought was genius.
Craig B [00:20:11] I will say that overall, it feels to me that we're one of those moments as an industry where we've maybe arguably over indexed a little bit. You can see it so much in the Super Bowl exactly this year, you see it in can for sure. Over indexed a little bit on the newest shiniest thing, which is kind of what people tend to call purpose if they're using short end. Often when you find it's like going to the gym, like if you say you're going to get in shape and like you go to the gym like twice a day for like the first two weeks. Like, I think we're over indexing a little bit, maybe on an on brand and purpose right now and forgetting the the the product part. And I think that like it's not about saving about balance because I think that says that like you have to figure out which is more important when I think of it more as throughput and starting with the product and getting to the brand. I like the UberEats thing because it goes right at a problem, a product problem. I liked the Cheetos thing it did last year with with the dust on your on your fingers, which did well. It can do because it it starts with a product truth. I think it's interesting to just start with the product truth and then follow that through to a brand and a human truth because it encompasses the entirety of everything that we have have to offer. So I always kind of have a little bit like internal strategist is kind of like, happy for a minute when I see these things that are a little more product centric because as an industry, we kind of don't want to go there right now, it seems kind of uncool.
Andres O [00:21:42] I think we give these talks a while ago about the whole idea, how brands believe that people are arguing their backs to their brands. And it's not true, whether these like, just tell me, what's your role in my life? And I think we have forgotten about that. It just like switch the camera. So talking about yourself and tell me, what's your role in my life and connected to that level? So I think that's where, like, super interesting things happen. So it's one more character in the storytelling versus just a sponsor of a piece of advertising. So I think that's something that we're trying to put out here to make sure that is treat the brand as one more character in the story and make sure that has a role into it. So and that's where things like that happen, like Uber Eats and Pringles and things like that, you start seeing them and you enjoy them and you understand exactly who they are and where they are in our lives.
Craig B [00:22:28] You mentioned at the top, I work for McCain well and we have a thing called True Central, which is a global intelligence unit. It's been around for close to a decade now. They have millions and millions of data points, and they do it in really interesting qualitative and quantitative research around the world. Not kind of like you're like your basic stuff, but like a little bit more, a little more creative and a little. I think human that they have a ton of data that says that people want brands to believe the brands can make their lives in the world a better place. It's like eighty three percent or something like that. And it's global. It's a really big number and it really hasn't moved. It's been really stable for years now. But when you dig deeper into that, it's not like they want us to solve, you know, save the whales. It's not like they don't generally want us to be an NGO so much as to bring us, like meaningful little moments that like make our our days better. And the thing that might sometimes seem like the micro, but really is it's really the macro when you add it all up.
Chris W [00:23:31] Yeah, I think an example of a of spot and a brand that, you know, was purpose led, but didn't tell me anything about what they're truly doing. You know, on that micro level in my life was the Salesforce ad with Matthew McConaughey. Great ad talking about Mars and Metaverse. And like, let's focus on the Earth here, and then the Salesforce logo comes up at the end, and I have no idea what their role is in that, how they're impacting that or what their role in my life is.
Craig B [00:23:58] Yeah, that's where I like that spot. Just because I like the human truth, which is that we're all so focused on the future and like these big, big, big, big things we forget, like all the amazing wonder and beauty that's right there in front of our faces. I think Salesforce does play a role in making that possible. It wasn't really spelled out, but I kind of I kind of like that spot. I like things that make me see my world in a slightly different way. Like, even if it's only like three degrees. And that's why I kind of did that for me. I didn't see it coming.
Andres O [00:24:29] Yeah, I think it's Super Bowl like you expect that every piece of everything over it will make you feel something good, bad or whatever. But make me feel something. And I think and don't make me overthink where you were trying to tell me. And I think that if, if that was a filtered simplicity is key and being clear, those messages and there's a human side of pure humanity that are something that I can just trigger my emotions in a way that I'm like, You know what? I love that. And I think that's even the game and everything. That's the thing about the halftime show. Everything make me feel something. That's why we go for it. So I think it's it's all encompassed around the game.
Jen (Host) [00:25:08] The one spot that really got me in the heart. I think the one thing that actually made me teary was the Toyota spot with the Paralympic athlete Brian McKeever at his brother. I think out of all of the lightness, that was the one that elicited that emotional connection.
Andres O [00:25:21] Yeah, I think I think Toyota just brought back a formula they have used in the past when it comes to Olympics and everything else. They used that before the Paralympics, and everything only works for them as a brand. I think it talks about moving forward and everything in between. So it was, well shot. Beautiful story. And obviously, as a brand for that sponsoring the Olympics, it just made all the sense to be there.
Craig B [00:25:42] If you look at the role, we got these waves, you know, like if you look at the Super Bowl five or six years ago, probably there was a lot of like really emotional stuff that landed or worked, but people went for like the heart. Brands went for the heart a lot more often five or seven years ago than they are right now. And that's why I'm just wondering if there's going to be sort of a bit of a reckoning where we take a step back. I think we've I think we've internalized what it takes to quote unquote win, quote unquote Monday. And it becomes a muscle memory thing, almost. And I think you saw a lot of that this year where people were like, I mean, if this thing this morning made me laugh, so maybe it's good. A lot of the spots this year are we're kind of like Joseph Campbell on on acid. So like the hero's journey, but on acid, like it's quintessential storytelling where like, you know, the protagonist undertakes a mission and overcomes an obstacle and finds something out about himself. And like, you know, comes back transformed. But it's weird and it's accelerated and it's wacky and like celebrities from different eras like pop in and out and like, it's madness. It's psychedelic, but it's still Joseph Campbell hero's journey. But that felt like almost the whole the Super Bowl this year was in a lot of ways. I think I'd love to see more more range come back in the coming years.
Chris W [00:27:16] Do you feel that's a reaction to this pent up yearning that we've had over the last two years of like we've been just waiting for that, you know, release of, you know, over-the-top joy and finally being, you know, free to live the life that we have, you know, sort of put off over the last two years or so. I mean, I hear that very much over indexed and funny and wacky and over-the-top psychedelic, you know, like you reference. But I think we as a culture needed that this year.
Craig B [00:27:45] Like I said, it's like cake, not kale this year. I think I think that's 80 percent of it. I think 20 percent of it is. We are without really realizing it. We've internalized what pops and we're and we're singing the same song.
Andres O [00:28:00] And maybe it's all very simple how I oversimplify sometimes content in general, no matter if it's film or whatever it is, it's like, would I give in a like, Oh, whatever, have I share it? And I think I don't know if there was a few that I would argue and I like, I don't know which ones I would have shared.
Jen (Host) [00:28:17] And actually, that's a perfect segue way to my next question because, you know, we've talked so much about solving a problem for the brand or the emotional connection. There was so much buzz in the trade press before this game about the second screen phenomenon and that six in 10 viewers were going to be, you know, watching the game while on their phones. But is that really factored into strategy so much? Is that really or is that just part? Is that just organic now in just a given? Or is that really something a component that you need to look at beyond what you were saying about the content and eliciting that emotion?
Andres O [00:28:52] Well, we can't put it in context of Super Bowl. I think that's the world we live in for and not now. Like, we believe in that one for a while. It's like you got to win them on both screens. You're winning them only on one screen. You might be flying it like, I don't know. I think everybody is different to me. You just got to know where to win them. But I do think it's not a Super Bowl thing.
Craig B [00:29:10] I think my take on that is that there are two pathways you can choose to integrate or overcome. And I think so integrate means we're going to recognize that there on two screens and we're going to create a thing that's got a layer of interactivity or something like that that allows you to take advantage of that Coinbase thing probably did that. That's probably an example of that. Or you can try to overcome, which means like blast them with so much stimuli and like callbacks and awesomeness and laughs. And, you know, whatever it is that they can't lose, like they can't rip themselves away from the television. I think a lot of the Super Bowl stuff is built to overcome instead of the great, but the growth strategies?
Jen (Host) [00:29:52] I mean, yeah, speaking again with Coinbase, there was a lot of bad press afterward in terms of how it scored in the rankings. We've talked about this, but again, social buzz wise, it did very well. And just in general, there just seem to be a lot of divisiveness in terms of how these these multiscreen are multiple social touchpoint strategies. Did you guys have any any thoughts in terms of who did it really well and who really engaged well on both the traditional platform of watching something on TV? And then also the second screen?
Andres O [00:30:22] Look at the numbers on the first minute on Coinbase. How many people are going to try to win those fifteen dollars?
Jen (Host) [00:30:30] Yeah, but then they crashed the site, right?
Andres O [00:30:32] It was like 20. Actually, I was one of those that logged in and it had already crashed.
Jen (Host) [00:30:37] Yeah, some people were looking at that as a fail, do you think? Do you think that's a fail in terms?
Andres O [00:30:42] Well, no, I think well, I haven't seen the numbers honestly to see what happened on Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday so far, but they were going for that and they did it really, really well.
Chris W [00:30:53] I think if you're building your brand, any time your site crashes, you sell out of your product, like those are not problems, those are benefits.
Craig B [00:31:01] I do this for a living like, you know, I like, I watch this stuff for a living. I have opinions for a living. The fact that I have a strong opinion about anybody that did it really well says something to me.
Andres O [00:31:11] It goes back, like it goes back to the did you like it or did you share it? I mean, I didn't share the link on Coinbase.
Craig B [00:31:18] Yeah, I should have an amazing like snap answer for you about somebody that did both really well. I think I think the fact that I don't price is more about the work than me in this case. I'm not trying to cop out, obviously.
Andres O [00:31:30] And you said it Craig. We were in this world more than anyone ever. We're more focused and we look at every single detail. And I always go back to like, just look at the text messages from from from the Sunday night and people are not sharing the spots. They were more asking like, which was your favorite digit? Like, what do you think about? But wasn't that about like, Oh my god, I love this. And there's been years where we have received now, like, did you see, I mean, this guy, Skittles is like, All right. So there is there is a few spots there, like we didn't don't think we had that.
Craig B [00:32:02] Yeah. Brian Buckley had a like a line that I liked, he said. He said it's sugar. You know, there was a lot of sugar. Sugar taste great doesn't sustain you, you know, so that's why I'm like advocating for it. I'm not advocating for like, you know, the manifesto, the emotional manifesto. Like, you'd have to make me cry for it to be good. But like, I think a little more depth would maybe make me happy. Maybe going forward just to also just to see us moving in various directions. I think if we if we're always moving in the same direction, it gets, it gets unhealthy like we should, we should be taking different roads.
Jen (Host) [00:32:42] I would love to ask a generation oriented question. I was having a conversation with Mike Boone, who's IPG’s new editor in chief. And we're talking about the nostalgia, and we were kind of like, Oh, you know, Gen Xers, like we could tell where we were at those, you know, you know, those cultural references. But what about Gen Z, you know, and that's what we were thinking in it. I know there was a poll right before the Super Bowl that said only half of Gen Zers were going to watch the game. And even those that did weren't sports fans per se, that they were there for the culture and for, you know, the Monday memes and kind of, you know, the the content surrounding the game, if they're kind of an unknown quantity? Or are they did they factor into your strategy, Chris and Andres? Or did you notice any brands particularly that spoke to that demographic? Well, or and if not strategically looking forward, how would you advise your clients to try to engage this generation? That's more kind of into the gaming and e-sports than watching the Super Bowl?
Chris W [00:33:44] For us on Groupon, I think part of it was a media strategy. You know, it's like we went exclusively with online video and social content. We tapped into Gronk's, you know, social following. We used his brothers and their social following. We had them engage with the audience, a lot of whom were Gen Z, which is a really important part to them, I think when it comes to the advertising on the game. I felt like Gen Z was mostly ignored. I think the advertising was for Gen X and a lot of older millennials. You know, if you look at the Rocket Mortgage Barbie spots like every millennial grew up with that Barbie dream house, they can all relate to that. The He-Man reference at the end was like, We all know what that is. I don't think Gen Z knows what he meant is, you know, at all. So a lot of the references, you know, bringing back Sopranos, bringing back the E-Trade baby, it's like they were literally babies when those spots came out and wouldn't remember them or even know that it's a reference. So I think they were ignored mostly.
Craig B [00:34:46] There were certainly side lined. I totally agree with that. Whether that's the right or wrong choice is another another question, given probably the the demographics of who is watching it felt very geared toward the audience. It probably was already there. So in some ways, I want to knock it. But in other ways, I kind of actually think it was probably the right thing to do. It feels a bit narrow cast for something that's so theoretically mass, but he's not watching that game, really. So I guess maybe it's OK.
Andres O [00:35:18] Yeah, I think it's actually that's exactly why. Like, why would I spend that money if I know they're not there? I might as well just go do something somewhere else with the same line and get them.
Jen (Host) [00:35:28] I think a good way to wrap up is to look something that's kind of to you, Chris and Andre's into your DNA at FCB kind of have this mantra never finished? And I would love to know how this project illustrated that and what that means for their future for you and Super Bowl advertising.
Andres O [00:35:45] Well, I think it's for us. It's like there are brands with other agencies that they were doing a spot for Super Bowl and then Monday came and that's it in our mentality of never finish. It's like, All right, what are we going to do on the game? So the next day we can do this and the following we can do this and we can do this. So it's an ongoing thing that we have with Groupon and the things that come after that. And to change this, that I think we're going to keep doing every year. I mean, last year we did it with Michelob Ultra with contract for change as well. So we're trying to make sure that every time we hit the Super Bowl one way or another, it doesn't finish on a list on Monday. But there is some other things coming after that will keep consumers engaged with the brand.
Chris W [00:36:27] And Groupon as a brand has been, you know, so excited with the success of this campaign that we're literally already talking about Super Bowl next year, what we're going to do.
Andres O [00:36:36] So finding more spikes through the year to create this kind of experience is to keep working around it.
Chris W [00:36:41] Yeah, I think additionally, for never finished, you know, the there were a lot of challenges of production wise, et cetera, going into this experience in this campaign. COVID had, you know, gave us a lot of speed bumps along the way. We had, you know, all of our actors who had dialog on the day of the shoot tested positive for COVID and we got to re concept the entire commercial and campaign on set. So that was that was never finished. We also got to shoot it. You know, we had created every single aspect of the campaign two ways because Rob, you know, could be at the party and hanging out with our AR winners. Or he could be in the big game. And we had to make sure that every piece of communication all the way through the process, you know, had both outcomes encapsulated. So there was a lot of never finished mentality that went through, you know, from concept all the way through production and post Super Bowl.
Jen (Host) [00:37:41] Excellent. Thank you. Yeah. And so I would just offer one more question to the panel. I mean, just if there is one one thing, one tiny little nugget to advise your clients going into next year's game, what would it be?
Andres O [00:37:54] I think do you want fame between your friends or do you want to get more consumers to your brand? I feel a lot of people are following the fame and are less on Monday versus having an impact moving forward on the brand that it can be bigger.
Chris W [00:38:08] Yeah, I agree with that. I think, you know, be clear on your objectives like what are you really, truly trying to accomplish and then look at all options. You know, a 30 second spot on the game is one way to accomplish, you know, a certain set of objectives. But we're in such a new world and a wide media landscape, and there's so many different ways to skin a cat. As they say. It's like, don't don't focus in, you know, like Craig was saying on winning that USA Today ad pulled like, that's that's only one thing that you can do. There's a lot of other ways you can accomplish great success for your brand in and around the super.
Andres O [00:38:42] Yeah, and I also. It's not about not making the list, but it's not the is not the destination. You should join the list than usual when everything but you should use the Super Bowl as a springboard. Then just the thing to know, we'll stick to two or three days and then go to the next thing.
Craig B [00:39:01] Yeah, I like all that I would say. I know it's a cluttered environment. I know it's like noisy and crazy, and I know that it's become a playground for kind of a certain kind of expression of ideas. But remember, like how big human's hearts are and how many different things we can feel? Somebody said earlier, like, I really believe that if you touch people, you're going to you're going to do well, it's going to end well. Think about all the ways that we can touch people as opposed to all the ways we can win the Super Bowl. I think if you did that first thing, the second thing will happen.
Andres O [00:39:35] And I'll just say it. I say to my clients, You want to be like, Do you want to be shared?
Craig B [00:39:39] Yeah, it's a cool way to think of it.
Jen (host) [00:39:41] Yeah. Well, thank you all so much.
Outro [00:39:43] Thank you for listening to the Collective Intelligence podcast. For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence.interpublic.com.