Superbowl XLIII’s Mobile Ads and Mobile Misses

As I sat down for kickoff on the big day (Superbowl commercial day) I had my phone ready by side. Determined to text in for every text offer, visit every mobile website and consume anything mobile related I figured I would be busy. Not so.

Here is my commentary on the Superbowl’s Mobile Ads and Mobile Misses. In it I award “The Best Mobile Ad of the Superbowl,” talk about which company showed they understand our love of mobile, examine how mobile is a direct response tool and point out the two big mobile misses.

Please share your thoughts about this video and what you thought of the mobile commercials.

Big thanks to Ken McCarthy of The System Seminar for producing this video with me.

15 Comments

  1. Very informative Kim! Really looking forward to getting into mobile marketing (especially with video!) in a big way.

    For your video…not that I don’t enjoy gazing at your lovely face, lol…but I think the presentation part may be a bit more effective if there was just the graphics of the slide topic. Great job of mixing in the clips. Very powerful! Overall an absolutely excellent video IMHO and nice production by Ken too.

    I’ll see you at the System!

    Lon Naylor

  2. These creative folks need to turn-up the volume. I didn’t remember seeing any call to action; but then again like most people I was at a party! Do we really think SuperBowl is a place that can generate ROI?

  3. Excellent video Kim! Universal and Denny’s commercials were enormous missed opportunities. With the emphasis on Superbowl advertising, it’s amazing that mobile call-to-actions were almost non-existent. The large (and expensive) ad agencies responsible for these ads should have known better.

  4. Thanks for your thoughts on the ads. I agreed with your comments on the companies that used mobile marketing in their ads. but you came up with some great ideas on the “misses” that never occurred to me.
    Thanks again,

  5. At the end of the Monster ad, I whipped out my phone to text in. The United Way spot came on immediately after. Unfortunate timing and too bad for UW, since there was no way I could remember both.

    Also for the Monster ad, I don’t understand why I couldn’t enter the contest by text message. The additional step of having to go to a web site to fill out a form felt lame, and in fact, I put it off for several days, almost forgetting to do it. Since such a small percentage of mobile subscribers are active users of the mobile web, forcing a switch to web cuts out lots of folks. Just advertise the URL if you just want me to go online.

    Kim, great idea for Denny’s to have a text message reminder on Tuesday for the free breakfast!

    Hey, wait a second, today is Tuesday, right? I’m on my way…

  6. Nice analysis of both mobile calls to action and just the penetration of mobile as a common-use item in everyday life.

    I hope you get compensated if Universal takes your hint. That’s a phenomenal idea.

    Regarding Denny’s: Starbucks does that, though I don’t know what the code is. The starbucks tweeter tweeted it a little while ago.

  7. Wonderful video, Kim! Excellent way to remind managers that online social media isn’t the *only* trending area in marketing. Thanks for explaining specific ways mobile implementation could have been improved…valuable lessons here.

  8. Kim – I really liked looking at how ads can be productive from companies. Seems to me that the sports commentators should prep people for the mobile opportunities (ie keep your Verizon phones close by for texting for free offers by our advertisers – double whammy because they sell the commentator plug as well)

    I will be getting your book to see how I can use mobile in my marketing efforts.

  9. Amazing video. I am fairly new to mobile marketing and your comments and ideas were very thoughtful.

    The Universal Studios ad was great but seemed to be designed for regular advertising and not mobile since there was no true call to action.

    You came up with several items that I did not even notice. Guess I need to practice my awareness skills.

  10. Thank you! Really enjoyed your video. We recently launched a mobile advertising platform and have seen so much interest… Its good to see in this climate.

    To help educate folks, we created a Mobile Advertising Handbook that some of your readers might find interesting. It is on our site and free. It can be downloaded at http://partners.chacha.com/

    Thanks Kim.

    Susan

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