Monthly Archives: January 2012

Super Bowl Ads – Trends And Lessons

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Hate the Giants? Over the Patriots? Unless “your team” is in it, a lot of people tune in to the Super Bowl simply to watch the ads. Here is a list of this year’s Super Bowl advertisers.

What can Guerrilla Marketers learn from watching Super Bowl ads? Plenty. I’ve already blogged what the NFL can teach us about marketing (and it’s a lot). I believe the ads give a serious indication about the state of our country, and the current marketing trends. Let’s face it… if you are going to spend over $3M per half minute to spread your message, you are going to try to get the most creative minds in the industry to help you tell your story in 30 seconds. Sometimes they win and, a lot of the time, they lose.

What can the ads tell us about the country and our culture? It certainly paints a picture of what we like (food, beer, cars, etc.), but it also tells us what is happening. Ten years ago? The Dot Com companies ruled the night. The last couple of years, during the recession? Soda, chips, candy bars and fast food – inexpensive comfort items – took prevalence. I guess the real question is… How many candy bars do you need to sell to recoup the $3+ million spent in advertising?

Most of us don’t have the budget to get the publicity the Super Bowl brings. So, what should the crafty Guerrilla Marketer do? Continue reading →

Reflecting Back On 2011, How To Make 2012 Better

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The New Year is a great time for reflecting on the past year and setting goals for the new one. This is great, of course, for personal issues we want to improve. But, what about your business? Have you sat down and really looked at where you’ve been and where you want to go?

Last year, did you reach your business goals (gross sales, unit sales, market share penetration, new client acquisition, new locations developed, reduce costs, increase profits)? What do you think your greatest achievements were of 2011?

There is a common saying, “Celebrate your successes and learn from your failures.” Personally, I think we can learn from anything, if we ask the right questions. So, what made your victories successful? Sit down and really analyze what made something work. Was it the extensive planning, as well as preparing for various outcomes? Was it the new personnel you hired? Was it you taking a more hands on approach… or less? Was it that social media campaign? That PR blitz? That creative direct marketing idea?

On the other hand, what didn’t work? If you could do something different in 2011, what was it? How would you do it differently?

As George Santayanna wrote in his book Reason in Common Sense, Continue reading →