The Super Bowl of Consequence

With the Super Bowl around the corner, many consumers and fans are frothing with excitement. Patriots and Rams fans will be vying for their team to win in what is widely deemed as the “Greatest Show on Earth. Meanwhile, many others are eagerly anticipating some of the greatest "showcases" on earth during half-time - the television commercials.

Brands have always viewed the Super Bowl as a singularly important moment in time to scale their reach. Innovative Upstarts make their first introductions to the world. New products launch with huge fanfare into lucrative markets. New customers are won. Existing existing ones are engaged. Needless to say, all of this comes at a steep price. By some estimates, brands will have spent a total of some $5.4 billion in advertising in the game's first 52 years.

With all the glitz and glamour, the reverence and irreverence, the pop culture and counter culture messages that will unfold in the storytelling through commercials, one thing is for certain. We are all in for an exciting, entertaining evening. 

And yet, as it happens year after year, after all the critics have had their say, social media has blanketed public consciousness, consumers have voted up or down, winners have celebrated and toasted, and the also-rans have lamented the deep dents in their marketing budgets, new news cycles will begin to dominate the headlines. This Super Bowl, and most of its commercials, campaigns and messages will eventually fade from public memory.

As much as I am looking forward to the entertainment as a consumer, the marketing strategist in me has been struck by the calculated, bold moves by some brands in the last few months preceding the Super Bowl. These moves have been dominated by traditional players with well-established legacies - reinventing themselves by taking strong positions on the most important issues that dominate our changing times. 

With their “Never Stop Questioning” campaign, The Economist is attempting to reach college and high school students by moving away from its long-standing positioning as an elitist brand to a distinctly human one that evokes emotion and taps into innate curiosity of inquisitive young minds. The goal? Increasing accessibility to connect to new digital audiences of the future by taking a preemptive position as the antidote to one of the most complex issues of our time - the misinformation and fake-news epidemic that is now becoming a global crisis. 

Gillette’s controversial take on “The Best A Man Can Get” has widely sparked both acclaim and rebuke. The razor company’s call to action on “Toxic Masculinity” catapulted itself into the global social dialog triggered by the #MeToo movement by ripping apart the fabric of traditional norms of what being a man means. Whether you agree or disagree with their point of view, we know for sure that it has raised the awareness of the Gillette Brand and given it new relevance in an issue of global importance, elevating it in a way that has never been done before.

A third example is that of Mastercard. Envisioning a post credit-card world of digital payments, they are counting on the fact that their well-established, global presence is already so strong that people can now visually recognize their brand with just the two overlapping circles in their logo, without the explicit use of the words, Mastercard. The two circles that make up the new logo are seen as much easier to imprint on smaller devices and screens such as mobile phones and watches that will replace credit cards in digital transactions, making it more relevant for consumers moving forward into the post-modern age.

Each of these brand moves signifies a change in business strategy or a deep recognition of sweeping changes in political, social, environmental issues that are and will continue to influence peoples’ lives. Proactively taking a position on these controversial issues is alluring but also fraught with risk. If done well, it can create category kings for years, if not decades to come.

More than 100 Million people typically watch the Super Bowl. For brands that have the fortitude and the wallets to pay for the half-time commercial, that reach alone is worth it. But can they make these commercials relevant? Instead of playing it safe, how many of them will take on strong positions on issues that really matter. How many of them will think beyond the vanity social media metrics of likes and shares? How many brands will continue to dominate the post-Bowl conversations in meaningful ways? How many will fade away like many others?

That’s what I’ll be looking for. 

@vivek_bapat