‘Impossible to say’: Marketers struggle with logistics and divining what Super Bowl ad themes will click with consumers

By Kristina Monllos

For major advertisers, plans for the Super Bowl LV were put on the back burner earlier this year. Retooling ad budgets and managing cash flow to deal with fall out from the coronavirus crisis became the top priority, especially for companies in the hardest hit sectors like restaurants and travel.

With that being the case, committing ad dollars or defining ad concepts for next year’s Big Game wasn’t top of mind for marketers. That changed in September, according to ad agency execs and seasoned PR professionals who’ve managed multiple Super Bowl campaigns, as advertisers began to reexamine their plans in the fall. And in October, Super Bowl commercial shoots got underway.

Aside from making a decision later than usual, the biggest change for Super Bowl advertisers has been figuring out the logistics of doing the commercial shoot. While managing the logistics of shoots has become more stressful overall for production companies and agencies, especially as coronavirus numbers have once again surged, doing so for a Super Bowl campaign is even more difficult. Big Game ads are generally glitzier than the average ad require more shots, locations and actors which means figuring out more locations where coronavirus restrictions will allow what a production needs as well as managing travel of the necessary talent to get to those locales.

That being said, “a lot of agencies have developed Covid-safe ways of filming elaborate commercials,” said a seasoned PR professional who works with regular Super Bowl advertisers. “The actual production process is shifting. There aren’t as many people on set. Social distancing is the main prerogative amongst all those filming commercials.”

Typically, Super Bowl shoots are already more elaborate and difficult to manage with major stars attached and more people on set as brand managers and CMOs like to attend. Finding workarounds to keep the number of people on set low as well as continue to put together work worth the over $5.6 million ad spend has called for creative solutions like using digital, crowdsourced footage or doing more remote shoots over Zoom this year.

Aside from logistics, marketers and agency execs will have a harder time predicting what Super Bowl viewers’ moods will be going into the Big Game. “The world is going to look so different — with the prospect of a vaccine and new leadership in the U.S. to go along with another winter isolating from the virus — it’s impossible to say [what consumer mindset will be],” said John Patroulis, Grey’s Worldwide CCO.

Patroulis continued: “But the longer the vaccine takes, the more I think people will crave the markers of normalcy that help anchor them in a world they recognize. The Super Bowl is one of those markers. And for at least those four hours I think people will be happy for the distraction, the entertainment, and for the reminder that even when the world is upside down, it doesn’t always have to feel that way.”

Marketers are paying more attention than years prior to what customers …read more

Source:: Digiday