Does Your Message Deliver?

By Glen Gardner/ Marketing and Branding Consultant

As I was watching the Super Bowl the other day I couldn’t help but think about all the money that was being wasted right before my eyes. At $3.5 million for a commercial, I would have thought those who produce these messages might be more concerned about results than winning creative awards.

Many of the commercials during the game were very entertaining, but probably didn’t do much to sell anything. As a matter of fact, I had a hard time remembering any product specifically. I could remember the story line of some of the commercials, but I had a hard time connecting those story lines with any products or services.

When you design a campaign you have to be careful that you don’t get “lost” in the creative process. The commercial message still needs to sell something at some level or why bother? It can be the most entertaining 30 seconds in the universe, but that doesn’t mean it will motivate anyone to do anything.

Some of the most effective campaigns I’ve been associated with weren’t very Earth-shattering when it came to entertainment value, but they did get huge results. Because the product or service was so good and the benefit of action so evident, it didn’t require a three-ring circus. We just had to put it out there with proper frequency and the public responded.

Sometimes you just need to let your product or service be the star and leave the baby in a slingshot for someone who has a lot more money to waste than you do.