CI Conversations: Super Bowl 2023 Advertising - Fun, Creative Storytelling and Dogs

Ida Gronblom, Executive Creative Director at FCB New York, Maria Pazos, Group Planning Director at Carmichael Lynch and Sam Chotiner, Executive Strategy Director at McCann join CI Conversations host Jennifer Sain to discuss Super Bowl LVII, where ads embraced the irreverent, funny and fun. 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to the Collective Intelligence Podcast from IPG. We deliver marketing insights that help modern brands thrive. In this episode, you'll hear about the latest perspectives featured at intelligence.interpublic.com. Listen then log on to find new opportunities for your brand to stand out. 

[00:00:21] Jen Sain (Host): Hello and welcome to the Collective Intelligence Podcast for another episode of CI Conversations. I'm your host, Jen Sain, and I am joined today by a stellar panel of guests to talk about all things Super Bowl 57. We have with us, Ida Gronblom, Maria Pazos, and Sam Chotiner. So glad to have you here. I would love it if you could all just take a moment to introduce yourselves. Maria, why don't you start?

[00:00:51] Maria P: Yeah. Hello everyone. Thank you, Jen, for having us. This is really exciting. My name is Maria Pazos, a group planning director working at Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis. I've been at the agency for four years now, working in an area of different brands from US Bank, OpenTable. Most recently focusing on my attention on Bush’s Beans for the past two years, helping them reposition the brand. Which has been really fun. And also for the past year working with Saputo, which is one of the top three dairy manufacturers in the country. A lot of cheese brands that have been really fun, and also helping them launch plant-based cheese, which has been a good adventure. So yeah, I'm excited to talk to you all today. 

[00:01:35] Sam C: Hello. Uh, I'm Sam Chotiner also. Thank you for having me. Uh, I'm an executive strategy director at McCann. I sit tiny little village known as Brooklyn, uh, New York. I have the privilege of working on a, a range of really interesting and fun brands and businesses from, from converse to Xbox to SaaS and Qualcomm. But I'm excited to be in this conversation with you all. 

[00:02:00] Ida G: Hi everyone. I'm Ida Gronblom. I am an executive creative director at FCB New York. I'm fairly new at the company, but I've worked, been working on Goldman Sachs, all kinds of pitches. And the ad council that's biels based in Brooklyn.

[00:02:18] Jen Sain (Host): Great. Well thank you all so much for being here. Right. So that was some game. It kind of came down to the second to see who would win, but that's not what we're here to talk about. And actually according to an August, 2021 survey amongst viewers in the us, 43% of respondents said that they tuned into the Super Bowl just to watch the commercials. And when it came down to women, this figure rose to 60%. And that doesn't need to take into account engagement with social experiential activations and all the work in the days leading up to the game. So I would love to get into all that. But before we do, what do we all think of Rihanna's halftime show. 

[00:02:57] Ida G: I loved it. I thought she did great considering she was pregnant and she was, you know, suspended mid-air. I loved how simple and bold the performance was. You know, just her all clad in red and the white dancers, you didn't know if there were men or women. I thought it was beautiful. 

[00:03:16] Maria P: I'm with you. I, I think it was fantastic. It was very Rihanna, right? We just needed her. She's so amazing. I love the Fenty little moment. I think that got a lot of attention. Uh, I think she deserved it, right? There was a lot of conversation about how she didn't get paid. So I think that was an awesome, awesome moment there. Uh, and definitely worked. I was just reading about how searches of, of Fenty of course, spiked. So I love that little moment. 

[00:03:44] Sam C: It was the third most searched brand from the game, so . Oh, that's crazy. I know. That's pretty successful. And with both of you, I'm maybe a little bit more aggressive and like, if you didn't like it, come at me. I feel like the overwhelming reaction to it as a show and to her as a performer has been so positive and uplifting. It was just a really nice moment for, honestly, for the sport too, cuz the sport's dealing with heavy stuff around it as well. 

[00:04:12] Ida G: Yeah, I also think people internationally kind of tune in or look it up afterwards cause I saw people commenting of countries, you know, and, and I don't know if they watched the game or the commercials, but they definitely watched the halftime show and there was a lot of defense, you know, for her and, cause I know people said that, oh, that was like a lackluster performance, but people really defended her. I thought that was amazing.

[00:04:33] Maria P: I, I agree. I'm, I'm actually originally from Columbia and I was talking with a lot of my friends who, The Super Bowl, not for the football, but for the halftime show and, and the sports and, and everyone loved Rihanna, like I'm with you. I think the international response was even maybe more positive than here, uh, which was fun to watch too. 

[00:04:56] Sam C: Yeah, it felt very different than previous halftime shows. Not just cause of her, but. Maybe I'm reading into the Apple thing, but it was so much cleaner. It was, there was less medley cast, less people, very futuristic. It felt like, yes, it made sense for her and her brand, but also it felt like it made sense for Apple and it felt refreshingly different than some of the previous Super Bowl performances. At least to me and to the people I watch the game with. 

[00:05:26] Ida G: And the amount of hits she has is kind of astonishing

[00:05:29] Sam C: Like the, the conversation that we had at, at our office afterwards was like the only hot take, negative view about it was like there weren't enough ballads. Like, uh, she has too much content. We should have let the songs run longer. And you're like, yeah, okay. That's fair. 

[00:05:49] Maria P: That's why she didn't need a guest too. Like I said, a lot of people were complaining of like, where was the guest? And she doesn't need one. Like she has so many good songs. So I, I'm with you on that one. 

[00:06:01] Ida G: She was carrying a guest actually. So, I love that. True. 

[00:06:06] Jen Sain (Host): Yes, she was.

[00:06:08] Sam C: Let's talk about predictions. Will anyone be able to top a baby reveal or pregnancy reveal at a, like what, where do home go from there? 

[00:06:16] Ida G: Well, she also didn't reveal it. I thought that was genius. You know, it wasn't like smug, like, let me rub my belly and reveal to the world. She didn't say anything about it, like she didn't touch her belly. Do anything like that. And it got, just had people guessing. And then I guess there was the press release afterwards confirming it. But I mean, I also loved that, that she didn't make a big show out of it. Cause it's such a normal part of being you know, woman and I love that.

[00:06:41] Sam C: Can we talk about the NDAs, that the dancers must have all signed the ironclad things that that never got out beforehand?

[00:06:51] Jen Sain (Host): God, Yeah True story. Yeah. Not a whiff. All right, Sam, you mentioned that the halftime show was sponsored by Apple, and that's a first because Pepsi has been the longtime sponsor of the halftime show. And that leads me to another first. So this was the first time the Mets ever launched a Super Bowl commercial, and that was done by FCB. Ida, can you talk a bit about that? 

[00:07:17] Ida G: Yeah, I think it was like very much a, a sort of late decision from what I heard. I, I didn't work on it myself. And I think it ran right before the game and it was one of those scrappy, let's put this together fast. We have an idea, let's run with it. It wasn't, there was no big budget involved that much. I know. And a lot of like, let's call this person. Know that person can't make it. It doesn't work with his schedule, you know, the players. But it came together beautifully in the end. And I think they got a lot of, you know, positive response from fans. And Twitter was like blowing up apparently. 

[00:07:49] Jen Sain (Host): Yeah, absolutely. It was. It was fun. 

[00:07:52] Sam C: That's what I thought was like so admirable about it. It was just like a really simple idea, executed well and felt genuine for the brand. 

[00:08:00] Ida G: Yeah. So many spots that have huge budgets and celebrities and just to sort of use what you have. Yeah. Granted the players are, you know, quite well known, but and there's a well-known mask involved, but I did like that, you know, you can't actually make a Super Bowl commercial very late in the game and, and not with a humongous budget.

[00:08:18] Jen Sain (Host): I was gonna ask if Mr. Met was the most, uh, the most paid? 

[00:08:20] Ida G: Yeah, probably. 

[00:08:21] Jen Sain (Host): I mean, moving on. So I felt like last year there was a huge focus on nostalgia, and we saw that a bit this year. I think. Did you all kind of perceive that too? Do you think that there was a nostalgic presence, but maybe not as big as last year? Or, or maybe there. I'm kind of thinking in the, along the lines of the, of the Clueless or Rakuten where Alicia Silver Stone reprised her, her share role. I'm just curious what you all think about that?

[00:08:49] Maria P: I think so. I would say a lot of nostalgia and kind of referential humor, kind of again, tapping into those references that consumers love. Um, I think. Pepsi Zero Sugar was a good example that Popcorns breaking back was a good example. Caddy Shack was, again, nostalgia, but also tapping into those humor references. So yeah, definitely a, a theme this year. I would say for some brands it feels more natural than others. The coolest is a good example of that. I think most consumers just remember clueless, and again, Alicia Silverton and Cher coming. But the Rakuten connection saw like a little bit of a stretch, like they had to explain it a little bit. So again, always that group tool to connect, connect to, um, consumers, but some brands did it better than others, in my opinion.

[00:09:47] Ida G: Uber also kind of had a bunch of, you know, references to popular music from the past. I guess it's like you always get that in, in Super Bowl because you wanna reach a broad audience. So pop culture, you know, that's really cemented itself over the years is what, you know, reaches the most people. So it's, it's kind of a given. Maybe there was more yet last year, I, I can't really remember. 

[00:10:10] Sam C: I feel like thing that is maybe the value above nostalgia. That nostalgia is one of the ways into that was omnipresent was, is familiarity. Like the reason that you go to nostalgia as you're familiar and like the in saturation of celebrity. Was about familiarity about brands, and I mean, same with pop culture, same with the GM work, like with the Netflix, like there's so much of using familiar people or places or sounds or fictitious universes as a premise to communicate in. I thought actually this year might have been less nostalgia than last year, but more familiarity as a technique, if that makes sense.

[00:10:51] Jen Sain (Host): Yeah, definitely. I think that's a, that's a great distinction. 

[00:10:54] Maria P: Yeah, I was gonna say that. That's a great point, Sam. And I think we talked a little bit about humor, and again, kind of like this ear being that ear that everyone needed a little pick me up. And I think that also connects with that Sam. Again, that idea of familiarity, making us feel good about the things we lost, and connecting with those things that are just a positive for consumers. So I think that's a great. 

[00:11:19] Jen Sain (Host): Yeah. And um, actually speaking of humor, Carmichael Lynch did a regional spot this year for Bush's Beans, that kind of debut. I think it was the debut for Peyton Manning as the brand ambassador. Is that true, Maria? Can you talk more about that? 

[00:11:34] Maria P: Yeah, of course. So we partner with Peyton Manning. This has been part of kind of that repositioning that I was talking about. We now. Brand idea that is called that beautiful bean company that is looking to kind of put out spotlight on beans, uh, and kind of inviting people to things about, to think about beans differently. Uh, so part of that Peyton Manning is our new bean ambassador, bean lover , kind of helping us spread the word around beans. So what we did was kind of try to connect Peyton to bushes in a way that felt really authentic. Right. And, and I think that's kind of like a big conversation to have when you partner with celebrities. Bushes has a lot of equities that consumers love. It's kind of like an iconic brand. Uh, and kind of like an Americana brand especially again, um, when you think about the, the things they've been doing for the past 30. One of the equities they've had that we kept going back to was this phrase, uh, that's rolled that beautiful bean footage again, it's been around forever, but the more we talk to consumers, they kept bringing it back. If you go to the internet, there's love for the phrase, people keep using it. People make their own swag around it.

So there was something there that was really interesting and, and we wanted to capitalize in that. So the whole spot was built on Peyton Manning to say the phrase as again, our new bean ambassador. The teaser kind of gave a preview of that. And then again, that regional spot kind of, um, blew that up with, with a spot we called Go Bigger, which is again, Peyton just using the phrase and going a little wild with it, which was fun to watch. It got a lot of attention, which is fun to see for a regional spot, especially a teaser was kind of on the list to, uh, of spots to watch on the Drum and Forbes, which again is a conversation we've had a lot at CL like how can rant with smaller budgets can still be part of the conversation. Right. And and I think we've seen that for the past.

Five years brands trying to like steal the spotlight a little bit, even if they don't have kind of the budgets to be on the big game, right? So what can you do from a social standpoint? What can you do from a regional standpoint? So again, it was fun to, to see that it worked. Searches for bushes were up 5000%, which is awesome for a brand to see. Uh, so yeah, looking for creative ways to again, be part of the conversation even though you're not part of the game.

[00:14:05] Jen Sain (Host): Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, kind of going to the, the other end of the spectrum from humor, is that, where, is it a ton of kind of tug at the heartstrings or anthemic commercials? I mean, not as much as I feel like there have been in previous years. What do you all think about that? 

[00:14:19] Ida G: I think there was an overdose of that during covid and people got allergic to it. You know, there was so much of that. I think right now people are in the mood to be entertained and not, not be bogged down in like serious subject. I think that's just a general mood. 

[00:14:37] Sam C: Well, with one exception dogs, the farmer's dog. That's great. Like, and so well executed. So simple, so smart. And I mean, to your point, it stood out because it wasn't just manifesto state of the world after another. It actually felt like an emotional departure from the work around it, which made it more powerful to me. I, I couldn't agree with you more. The world is heavy right now and has been for a while, you know, shock, uh, , like, uh, I think that there's an appetite, especially in the context of. A football game, something that is a form of entertainment and silly, and you're socializing with friends to laugh together as opposed to, you know, sit and contemplate the existence. I'm for it. I'm all about getting back to fun. You know, funny, quirky, irreverent, weird advertising, creative. 

[00:15:33] Ida G: Yeah, I agree. I mean, I've been saying this too at, at work with , you know, that where, why has advertising become so rational? Like where's all the like, crazy and like not making sense stuff that we used to make and also love, but I think there's a, there's a comeback of that now. I, I predict that. 

[00:15:53] Sam C: It's gotta be all those strategists. Oh!

[00:15:58] Maria P: I'm gonna add something there. I'm with you too. On, we definitely needed humor and I loved seeing how brands went to absurd places. Was very fun to watch. I wonder how much that's gonna become the norm, you know, where like all the brands are getting the brief that they need to be funny and it's gonna. More challenging to be really funny, right? Like I, again, I feel for some brands, humor is, which, a natural part of, of their tone and how they talk. But there's some brands that were maybe trying too hard to be funny, and I think that's gonna be the challenge for the next two years, right? Like really defining what humor means for the brand.

And again, the Super Bowl is kind of like that perfect place where, where they can take maybe challenges that they don't take in kind of like their usual day-to-day communication. So I'm with the online humor, it was great to see, see more of it, but I would love to kind of start seeing different ranges of humor, I guess, in the next years. But, Maybe brands that are emotional and that are are a place for them. A again, the dog farmers is, is a great example of that one.

[00:17:04] Sam C: I really agree with that. I think maybe the thing that I feel is the change from last year to this year, and it's impossible to really know if this is the truth, but it feels like last year and the year prior it's work was really everyone was responding to the same brief. We can't ignore the world. The world is too important. The world is too. What is our brand's response to it? Or how does our corner of the world is affected by it or how do we talk about it? And it felt like this year it was not the same brief. There was no one pretending like societies doesn't have issues and we aren't thinking about things.

But there was still space to laugh and there was still space for brands to have personality as opposed to just being solemn and important. I'm hopeful that that's a first step to a lot of different types of brand personalities coming back and a lot of different moments demanding different emotional range. It was exciting to see that day or an evening of work that you're right was in a similar kind of emotional canon, but felt like different brands taking different takes on it versus a number of different brands all addressing the elephant in number room and that's a heavy elephant.

[00:18:17] Ida G: I also think that a lot of the spots, you know, we, we may call it humor, but I almost think that fun is a more, there were a lot of fun spots, not necessarily like laugh out loud sort of skits, you know, dialogue based. It was just like a lot of fun content that just took you on a ride and gave you the, you know, good, good feelings. I really think that's what came through. 

[00:18:39] Sam C: Can we talk about Tubi then? Like, cause that's, you said it with fun, you said it would take you on a ride. like 

[00:18:47] Ida G: Easter came early with Tubi. 

[00:18:50] Sam C: Yeah, I mean it's also, you could argue I would, that there's a Donny Darko kind of nostalgic there maybe, but I, as a strategist, I'm just like, it was just really smart. It was a really smart way to use three different moments to introduce a property to capture attention to, to wink. It felt you're right. It was fun. Not funny though. Parts of it were funny. I like that. I'll take that over Coinbase. A hundred times out of a hundred, I'll take, is it a tied ad? Like I think that type of in media in a moment. Is so much more interesting than a simple application of a technology. 

[00:19:27] Ida G: Um, it's also so important for an entertainment brand to actually be entertaining and take you on that like L ride because at first, you know, the, the rabbit didn't make sense. But then in the end, it totally did and I thought that was like great storytelling. So not just like, you know, wacky things for the sake of being wacky, but no, no, no. There's a total, you know, strategy behind this. And there's a reason for, you know, these, this, the existence of the bunny, um, or the rabbit. And then of course there was the whole moment of, uh, who's sitting on the remote, which I've heard like makes things from people.

Like, I thought it was pretty brilliant, but a lot of people said like, yeah, but if you're not in advertising, you actually thought that it was like a bit of a, you know, something happened with your TV and you, you didn't know. But I wonder what you guys think. Like, which camp are you in?

[00:20:16] Maria P: It was funny to see the reactions of people watching the game and like they recorded those moments and like a lot of those on the internet, it was just fun to watch because people were like, what's happening right now? I think regardless, it got people's attention, which is ultimately what you want in the game, and it got people talking again. I think if you were on Twitter it was exploding. Either positives or or negatives. I think we always. It's, it's about getting attention. So I think it, it was awesome. In terms of like breakthrough.

[00:20:50] Sam C: I think it's a reminder that like you can have fun with your audience without having to make fun of them. And so like, it's okay if you make, if you're a certain type of brand in a certain moment, in a certain category, if you make people uncomfortable. So long as it's brief and so long as you smile and let them smile afterwards, that's okay. And again, for some brands in certain categories, and so I actually thought it was the right. It was the right amount of, just a little bit off. And particularly the fact that they then had another buy another five or 15 later on. Yeah. Which was just a reminder and it was, oh, great, they're not gonna do anything here. Just made it feel like a safe exchange with an audience. I agree. I think ADD people were like, that was cool. And the media strategy, it's like, but I think normal people, that is a moment that they remember and then they laughed. With all of their friends at the party because they all freaked out.

[00:21:48] Ida G: It was a prank from the brand. And I think pranks are only allowed by underdogs or someone who's emerging. You know, I don't think Netflix would've gotten away with the, the prank. If you're the biggest player, you're not allowed to do that. But if you're sort of like the little guy going like, Hey, look at us, we also exist, then it's totally allowed. 

[00:22:08] Sam C: But also if they're not, pranks aren't allowed if they're mean. And so like, so long as there's a, a fun or a joy, um, otherwise it's just you turn someone into a mark without them wanting. And so I, I continue to say that I think they executed it so well. The thing that scares me is actually the exact comment you just made, which is this will be mistakenly taken as a blueprint and next year it'll be like, cool, how do we freak out audience? And that's gonna be an uncomfortable wake up for some brand

[00:22:41] Ida G: Well, to a certain degree, like Coinbase was a bit of a prank too last year. To your point, like storytelling. I think this wasn't just a prank, but it had a story behind it. Like the rabbits and the whole rabbit hole story. I think they took consumers to a journey. So when the prank came, it was funnier because again, it was not just random there. There was that story that supported it. So I think that made it definitely.

[00:23:08] Sam C: I applaud the execution. I applaud the strategy. I applaud all of it. But one of the things that I'm particularly envious of, and it often doesn't get said, is I applaud the client relationship. The fact that someone was able to convince their client to, in an incredibly public, incredibly vulnerable, incredibly high-cost moment to say, We are going to use your product demo to annoy people, and that client goes, I get it. I understand. I have trust. Like there's. That implies a real relationship, and I'm not understanding a savvy client, a, you know, real communication of trust, and I go those, those things don't happen if you're entirely risk averse. If you have never done it before, and oh, by the way, the emotional tenor that we're trying to react is a negative one and you're gonna be associated with it. Like that would scare a lot of very reasonable marketers. 

[00:24:08] Jen Sain (Host): So I wouldn't go so far as to say this was taking a risk, but I felt the tone of the auto ads and, and you know, auto ads are kind of like such a stalwart of soup, the Super Bowl commercial lineup. And I felt, I mean, in addition to just. Very obviously being focused on electric vehicles, I felt like the tone wasn't typically as, you know, sweeping and even maybe patriotic as they've been in the past. And I wonder the, you know, the premature electrification ad, it's an irreverent ad, and I think in particular for the automotive industry, what do you, what do you all think about that? 

[00:24:41] Sam C: In a previous light? I've worked for many years on, on BMW, and I can tell you, from my experience in the category and with the category, uh, the thing that I applaud about that ad is that it was written around an actual consumer problem or an actual consumer, you know, barrier, which is about charge. I really like the fact that I could see a. In a good way. Some of the strategy come through in that it wasn't a statement about electrification mass, it wasn't a comment about specifically what this brand believes and its pillars. It was a, we know a barrier that is on people's minds and so we are going to use humor, which is has always been a wonderful.

Wonderful piece of ca height medicine inside of, to let people actually think about this barrier. And so by letting people laugh at it and letting them see that solution exist, they really attacked. One of the challenges that they're facing towards electrification, which I'm like, that's fabulous. It's not just a statement about electrification. It's what are we going to do to actually move our product? And I don't think we see that many marketers using the Super Bowl, which is such an entertainment moment, to really try to overcome challenges their business because it's often not a moment for that. It's awesome that they found a way to live up to the moment and also attack a, a real barrier for.

[00:26:06] Jen Sain (Host): So another ad that stood out to me was, um, the Amazon ad, which was Saving Sawyer. And I think that kind of hearkens back a bit to what, um, Ida and Sam you were talking about earlier, about kind of blending, you know, not shying away from the, you know, real world problems that everyone's going through. And I felt kind of that it had all the things it had acknowledging that, you know, a lot of families are tr are transitioning from working at home and being home all the time. Getting back out there and going back into the office and a lot of, a lot of people got pets during the pandemic and then, you know, faced that transition afterward. And then there was the humor of the dog kind of doing its thing while they were away. And then, you know, of course, like the, the part at the end or it was kind of heartwarming. So I did think that that ad kind of bridged all three of those things. Do you agree with that? Disagree with that. Were there any others along that name that we haven't talked about?

[00:27:00] Sam C: Jen, I agree with yes. It felt topical and it referenced a real moment in time. I think they, I dunno how to say this nicely. I think it was underserved by the fact there was a vastly superior dog ad that had been 30 minutes prior, fair. So when the people I was watching the game with were saw, it was like, oh. Is this going to make me cry? Okay, good. It didn't, uh, and so it was like a sense of relief and then there was the inevitable joking, can you buy a dog on Amazon? Um, kind of thing. Not yet. Yeah. But yeah, I don't, I mean, I, I thought, I appreciate the fact that it actually told a story that it wasn't a bit. It wasn't, we're going to step back and make one joke or create a fictional universe and live out a, a gag in that, but it actually did kind of have an emotional range and then had a surprise ending. I thought that was really nice. 

[00:27:54] Maria P: Well, I think two things. Dogs, they work. Honestly, anytime there's a dog on screen, people look at it, which is really funny. Uh, but Sam, I'm, I'm with you on the storytelling and, and we've talked about it a little bit, uh, and also just simple stories. Um, again, I think sometimes brands are trying to find that voice and Either be too funny or too emotional. This felt like just a good, simple human story and it hard not to connect with those again, as an average consumer watching their screen. It's just one of those things where you like it, you smile, so it works. 

[00:28:33] Jen Sain (Host): Yeah. I wonder, I don't know if this is quite the same, but, um, I think it was Bush's ad with Sarah McLaughlin. I kind of thought that was a, like a tongue in cheek kind of. I mean, it was, I mean, I, not that I think it was, I, it was to, you know, her very sad previous, you know, animal cruelty ads. I thought that was, I thought that was really funny and successful. 

[00:28:52] Sam C: Maria, I think you said it earlier, and I agree with this. I feel like there, there was a lot of self-referential. Whether it's not even self-referential, a lot of reference, a lot of referential thing, which again, was nice and refreshing, especially in a time in which a lot of people are waking up and going back into a world, uh, and being reminded of the culture that they all share or the celebrities that they all are familiar with. Thought that was nice. I'm curious, like what Ed and Maria, what were your favorite ads? 

[00:29:22] Ida G: I really liked the Google Pixel. I have to say though, that when I, when it started playing, I was convinced it was Apple and then it was Google at the end, which is interesting that the two brands were kind of encroaching on each other's space. But I thought it was very, the sort of timing of everything within the ad and, and how the music kind of changed a little bit and then ramped up. I, I thought it was like beautifully craft. Just storytelling wise, and the humor was so relatable and it was very functional to just show, you know, what the product can do. So I thought that one was like very elegant and I, I appreciated that one. 

[00:30:02] Maria P: I have to say too, my first one is price Squarespace. It was not on the top list of favorites, but I just feel it did such a great job telling one simple thing about the product, a website that makes websites, and, and I think that was brilliant. Uh, but there's an absurdity in that that was just funny and interesting. I also feel it was a good use of, of celebrity or maybe I just. Adam driver too much. So I loved it, but I think it was funny in an absurd way. Um, I was actually reading about it and it's really interesting because a website that makes websites was actually kind of like their first elevators pitch from like one of their founders. And they found that the creative team found it and we're like, this is brilliant. This is amazing copywriting. We're just gonna use that. And I also love that story, you know, like there is something behind. That again, it just didn't come from nowhere. It had a connection with the product understory, which I love.

And then we haven't talked about this one, but I think it got top three on the, um, on the USA ad meter and is the NFL run within? I love that ad you guys from a strategy perspective, so smart n f l, tapping and told the right things, right? Like you. Women empowerment, the football flag, which is growing, and they need to grow, especially with high school, uh, and high school than, and younger consumers. So I love that. But again, from a consumer perspective, I felt it was such an emotional moment. And again, I'm a Latina woman, so maybe that's why it hit me. Uh, but I was with my sister and, and she was crying. It was like her mom is speaking Spanish, they're portraying women. And then this is a brand that has been like, I mean, it's the NFL, right? Like it's a very masculine brand. So I think there was such an interesting story there. Um, granted there, there's a lot to do in terms of, again, diversity and what they're doing, but I felt from a communication standpoint, it was hitting all the marks. Uh, it kind of felt for me like a, like a Nike ad. A little bit like one of those early 2000 World Club ads that is like very entertaining, has a story. And kind of has you cheering for this character for like the 30 seconds, 60 seconds of the spot. So I love it. I love that one. 

[00:32:21] Sam C: That was my favorite out of the night without a question and like 72 killed it. Like the, they just completely executed perfectly. I think everything you just said, and for me, the fact that that is how the NFL chooses to use their spotlight, their media spotlight during the Super Bowl. Really smart brand strategy is really smart and and important. So like there are many stories they could have told and there are many stories that they could have used that moment for, but I just thought it was masterfully done. It was smart, it was beautifully executed, it was fun and it felt like the NFL.

[00:33:01] Maria P: To your point of like, they could have gone with something different. They were between two spots and the first one was more like the formula they've used in the past, big players in action, and they decided to go with this one. And I'm with you. I, I applaud that decision. I think it was, it was bold for them and hopefully we'll see more of that.

[00:33:21] Jen Sain (Host): Just kind of going in a different vein, were there any activation non-traditional activations or any social integrations or any kind of, you know, second screen. 

[00:33:31] Ida G: There was the apple, you know, football fans singing Rihanna Stay, which was like a whole, the whole song that came out before. Right. 

[00:33:39] Jen Sain (Host): Yeah. And that was just on social, I think, right? That never actually, I think.

[00:33:44] Ida G: yeah. I mean, it was sort of sitting outside, but I mean, I, I really like that too. I thought that was like such a, a great insight of, you know, promoting Rihanna, but also like featuring all the, the fans, and especially the fans that, you know, whose teams didn't make it to the super. And sort of crying out their pain. I thought it was a beautiful execution and so simple, 

[00:34:04] Jen Sain (Host): and it was incredibly diverse. I mean, the, the representation of the fans, I thought they did a good job of inclusivity there. 

[00:34:11] Sam C: Yeah. I mean, similar theme, but different. I thought the ad for Fenty was really well done, even if it wasn't necessarily an ad. I thought the, again, we talked about this earlier, but it was. Economically seemingly very successful. It was just savvy from a Rihanna perspective. It felt organic and true. And it also felt like if you know, you know, uh, so like you're right, uh, you know, like the free stuff that they made with their, with apples a partner was beautiful. But then the, the turning her moment into something that her business benefits from, I thought that was wildly intelligent and, and well. 

[00:34:55] Jen Sain (Host): Maria, was there anything kind of non-traditional? 

[00:34:58] Maria P: I don't know. I was trying to think about it. Draft Kings did something on the course spot with where consumers could bet on the end of the ad. I'm not sure if that got a lot of attention, but I thought it was fun. Kind of like in a different way in the betting convers.

[00:35:19] Jen Sain (Host): All right, so we're kind of nearing the end of our time together. Um, I would love to kind of look toward the future with which Ida you kind of did a little while ago. Um, asking if something was, Sam was saying was the, was the future. We've talked a bit about creative storytelling. We've talked about a pivot, but maybe you pivot back to entertainment. And I love, you know, the quirkiness and the idea of well executed pranks that aligns with the brand and all that good. Do you foresee that continuing? Is there anything that we haven't seen that you might think might emerge or want to emerge?

[00:35:56] Sam C: I don't know if, if I believe what I'm about to say, but I want to believe it, so I'm gonna say it. I hope that we're moving away from a time where, First is an idea in and of itself. Uh, and so just the application of something that hasn't been done before counts as press worthy. Like I feel as though there was less of that this year. And the things that did do that without a bigger thought around them or without some sort of real technique didn't actually land. Haven't seen the metrics behind it, so maybe they did. Um, but like from a cultural conversation perspective, they were not nearly as successful. Again, I'm going back to Coinbase, just like the amount of conversation around, oh my God, a QR code with nothing else.

Open the door for people going, oh, we should use technology in this moment in a way that hasn't been used before. I think the industry is best. Leans on its craft. And when we let storytellers tell stories and funny people be funny and PE like design people make beautiful designs and strategy, people understand human beings. I feel like that's when we get our most entertaining work and when all of a sudden we go, we say there's a new technology or this has never been done before, and that becomes the idea, right? Our brand around it, the work just isn't as good. Uh, and. I don't know if I believe that this is not gonna happen again, but I hope that the seemingly lackluster performance of those types of stunts in this year's Super Bowl set a lesson and there'll be fewer of those next year and there'll be more of a return to, to creative craft the way that a lot of this year was.

[00:37:36] Ida G: Yeah, and I think there's always, you know, someone was always gonna try to hack the Super Bowl, whether that's, you know, to be doing a little prank. Coinbase, you know, having a QR code bounce around the screen, or if it's Samsung doing a selfie in the crowd of the Oscars, you know, there's always gonna be those kind of ideas, but it's hard. It's really hard to crack that. And sometimes you fail and sometimes you succeed. And it's not always. Technology could be really kind of anything, but I do, I do think a return to craft and, and maybe I'm like, there's a little bit of a lack of visual advertising where you rely on a visual story or music, you know, and less on dialogue and messaging and, and, uh, I, I'm always looking for those. And I, I think it's like in America, we tend to like, want our dialogues and it's really more prevalent outside of the US to focus on purely, you know, visual storytelling. But I'm always on the lookout for something like that. And maybe, you know, we're into going into a renaissance so of creative craft with ai, who knows? And, and that can be really exciting in the future.

[00:38:42] Maria P: I love that. I would say a couple of things, maybe dogs beating celebrities this year is telling you something. So we'll see. The second one is more of a hope, but hopefully more diverse stories. Again, the NFL one is, is setting a standard for that and I love it, but there's still a lot of work to do there. So that's more of a hope, but maybe a thing we're gonna see more of in years to. And then we've all talk about it. But yeah, back to craft and storytelling, I think those are the things that work and kind of like playing with that emotional range a little more, which you said Sam is, is not only humor, but I feel a tear or two are not, are not a bad thing. Right. And you need palette, cleanses. And hopefully seeing like different stories and a range of stories is something that we're gonna see more on. Kind of like based on this year being a little bit of a, like a one note.

[00:39:37] Jen Sain (Host): All right. Well thank you all so much for joining us today. Thank you to all of our listeners. Please be sure to like and subscribe in all the usual places. And of course, do check out intelligence.interpublic.com for this podcast in a wealth of intelligence from around the Interpublic Network. Thank you.

[00:39:55] Ida G: Yeah, thank you so much. This was fantastic. 

[00:39:56] Maria P: Yeah, thanks Jen. Thank you. This was fun.

[00:40:00] Outro: Thank you for listening to the Collective Intelligence Podcast. For more marketing insights and ideas, please subscribe to this podcast or visit intelligence.interpublic.com.