Super Bowl 52 Ads - Yeah, But Where's the Personality?
You may have heard of brands having their own personalities. This isn’t anything new, per se, as we tend to identify with types of people based off their personalities. It helps us make sense of the world around us and helps brands set a sturdy foundation for everything they do from marketing to customer service.
Think of Dirty Harry or Yoda. The image of tough rugged guy, smoking a cigarette and being a bad ass comes to mind i.e. The Outlaw or Dirty Harry. Or with Yoda, the cute little green man who is a guide to young Luke Skywalker lighting his path to use the force i.e. The Sage.
The team at CPPR advises clients to choose a personality that fits with their brand and vision, mission and core values (shameless plug: if you don’t have those, come talk to us!). What does your brand stand for? What target demographic are you talking to? And, what do THEY believe in? The sooner you set your brand personality the easier it is to laser focus on your target demographic and match your brand’s tone of voice, color palette and everything in between to jive with your customer. From social to blog posts to packaging, your brand’s unique personality stands out and helps customers talk about your brand in the way you want them to.
You can find multitudes of brand personality examples and wheels to reference, such as this one. What's your brand's personality?
As I cheered the Eagles on to defeat the Pats (YAY!), I also watched carefully how some brands brought their personality to life and others who strayed away and honestly, fell flat.
First up, the winners hands down had to be Tide and Amazon. They were my favorites of the night by a long shot, but let's move into one of my other favorites and one with a perfect approach to their brand personality. JEEP!
It’s well known in our office that I LOVE Jeeps. My dream some day is to own a big, black, jacked-up Jeep with chunky tires so I can go bombing around the streets of Austin, like this one.
The Anti-Manifesto ad from Jeep NAILED it with Jeep owners and enthusiasts and really captured the spirit of the Explorer brand. Explorer brands are rugged, no frills, go out and see the world, adventure seekers. Think Indiana Jones. This ad simply shows a Jeep doing what it does best, coasting down a stream and then climbing rocks like a complete badass. Explorer at its finest. I was drooling.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum was Mercedes’ new AMG ad. Now that’s a smoking hot car, but really not my cup of Earl Grey. Mercedes has always been known as the Ruler brand – sophisticated, affluent and in control. Showing a Mercedes beating a fast Italian car, a race car and other seductive fast modes of transportation squarely landed them on the Ruler end of the brand personality wheel.
Finally, Doritos/Mountain Dew. These two are known as Jester brands. Think of the beloved Robin Williams. Funny, irreverent and never take themselves too seriously. Having two acting behemoths such as Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman rapping to Busta Ryhmes and Missy Elliot respectively, I would say they nailed it with spunk, humor and a little bit of “what the heck is going on here?” Also, does this mean Tyrion is a Targaryen? Ahhhhhhhh!!!
One miss for me was the Jeep/Jeff Goldblum/Jurassic Park ad. I love me some Jurassic Park and shirtless Jeff Goldblum y'all. As I was enjoying watching Jeff (because we're on a first name basis these days) duke it out with the T-Rex they really lost me when they cut to him inside the Jeep dealership. Why? Because I don’t need to see the Jeep in a dealership! Yes, I know you will purchase a Jeep in a dealership but I don’t need to SEE it. I felt like it took the the wild and free sense of buying a Jeep and brought it down to all other car manufacturers level – the inside of fluorescent-lit showroom. Bleh.
Back to shirtless Jeff Goldblum (you're welcome).
Finally, and to me the biggest miss of the night was the new Diet Coke ad. So, I know I’m not the target demo for this ad, but what a strange decision Coke made for their new line of products. From the copywriting to having the girl dance awkwardly for 30 seconds made me feel, well, awkward. It certainly didn’t make me want to try their new line of flavors and I felt missed the innocence and sweetness of the Coke I know. Watch and see for yourself.
Fly Eagles Fly!
Love,
Emily - President & Founder of Conversation Piece Marketing & PR