In the world of advertising, the pressure is highest at Super Bowl time. Aside from the $5 million dollar ante just to run a 30-second spot, the attention of the entire world is oddly focused as much on the commercials that run during the game as it is the players on both sides of pigskin.
And this week, we’re talking about what radio can learn from the brilliance and bombast that has become the Big Game.
Yesterday, the burning question revolved around why radio seems to have trouble seizing the monetary moment by cashing in on its version of the Super Bowl – all-holiday music. You can read that post here.
Today, we’re focusing on the multi-million dollar advertising efforts we see and talk about before, during, and after the Super Bowl. Whether you believe these ads are as good as they used to be is beside the point. The amazing thing about this bigger-than-life event is that America debates the commercials for two weeks leading up to the game, watches them during the game, and then analyzes them after the game.
I’m sure you’ve seen this phenomenon in action at Super Bowl parties these past many years, as some people who could care less about Cam Newton and Von Miller stop eating and talking during the commercial breaks so they can enjoy the ads. Truly amazing.
So as is always the case, the quality of Super Bowl commercials varies widely, despite the millions of dollars, time, and effort that go into conceiving and creating them. There’s a lot riding on creative teams to hit a Super Bowl home run, as it were, by nailing an ad that gets America (and the world) talking. Every detail matters, from casting to lighting to special effects to writing to music.
So when I saw the ad below for the reboot of the new Acura NSX, it was a reminder to me how off-based we can sometimes be in radio about what truly constitutes mass appeal, great ambience, and the emotional response.
The NSX is no ordinary sports car. Acura has put a $156,000 price tag on the 2017 version of its super car, which can rise to more than $205,000 depending on how it’s equipped. Acura’s VP and General Manager, Jon Ikeda, told Edmunds.com the “next generation NSX supercar is about to make its market debut as the pinnacle expression of Acura performance and prestige.”
So what soundtrack would you pair up with a hot video montage of the NSX?
The decision was simple: the hard rock strains of Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth. Bits and shards from “Runnin’ With The Devil” provide the audio accompaniment to hot ad and bigger than life car, the first time the song has been used to market any product. Here’s how it came out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfsZ9tXnv5M
When you consider the target market for the NSX has to be ultra-wealthy males who covet fast, prestige cars, the campaign’s creators didn’t choose Country, Triple A, Indie, or any other genre. They made their statement about the car with a hard rock classic.
Leila Cesario, national ad manager for Acura, worked with their agency, Interpublic Group in L.A., to craft the commercial. She told Variety the Acura spirit was about picking a loud, hard rock song to go along with the striking Acura visuals. This is an agency that has the funds to test their music and their campaign, and the decision was made that for best results, rock this car’s ass off.
When you’re marketing a bigger-than-life, over the top vehicle that has to stand out, you’d better be loud and proud. That was the Acura approach.
And it’s not the first time. Kia used Motley Crue’s “Kickstart My Heart” to launch their Optima during the Super Bowl in 2011.
But the one that may have broken down the barriers was the family singing along a cappella to the mellow strains of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” as they motored along in their Honda Pilot a couple of years ago.
But perhaps my favorite use of hard rock in a TV spot wasn’t for a car, but for Walmart. Yup, they used AC/DC’s “Back In Black” to market (wait for it) their Black Friday campaign back in 2011 featuring two wholesome young women who look to be more about Adele than Angus Young.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsytPMioSTQ
Don’t you just want to advertise on a rock station that plays these songs? They’re exuberant, energetic, fun, and they appeal to that rebel in all of us.
Ironically, sellers for Active/Mainstream stations often run into objections about their format and its listeners, sometimes on the grounds the music is too narrowly focused, out of the mainstream, or it simply rocks too hard.
Other times, the baggage is about the audience. As the format’s naysayers aver, they’re a bunch of unemployed dudes wearing black T-shirts, flashing devil horns, and getting wasted at Ozzfest. Yet, the songs and artists featured in these commercials are as mainstream as it gets.
So what do these big agencies charged with coming up with that perfect, killer $5 million Super Bowl commercial know that smaller advertisers and media buyers don’t know about the appeal of music in general, and the spirit of rock specifically?
A lot.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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And it’s not just Acura. Honda will be running a spot for their new Ridgeline truck:
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-super-bowl-commercial/
“Will it Go Round in Circles” Billy Preston…
It not only surrounds all comers it circles them. Also great line, “will it fly high like a bird up in the sky.”
Goes against expectations yet speaks to target.
Good one!
“Driving Wheel” by Foghat or “Driver’s Seat” by Sniff n’ The Tears
🙂
Gotta tell ya Fred…Acura hasn’t made an NSX in more than a decade. So they have nothing to build on and no frame of reference for a consumer. Furthermore, Acura’s mainstream vehicles have been a decade of boring cars. Good quality, nicely finished, but boring. So this car comes out of nowhere…like Budweiser making a 30-year old single malt scotch.
It’s a nice car – some might even say beautiful…but they introduce it in bits and pieces with NO emotional visual hook. You could argue that I’m left wanting more. But…not so much.
That being said…your comments about the music are pretty valid…they just don’t make the spot compelling IMHO.
Thanks for listening…
Jackson, while it may be a plus they used Van Halen to help shape the feel of the NSX, there’s no getting around the brand’s larger issues of blandness. And I’m sure that sports car enthusiasts might agree with you observation that Acuura might have showed more car in this reintroduction. Thanks for your observations and the comment.