If you're like myself, or millions of others across the country, you probably sat down Sunday night to watch the Super Bowl. Maybe you are a die-hard Denver Broncos fan; maybe you love the Seattle Seahawks, but maybe you're like me - maybe you love the commercials.
Each year, without fail, there is one commercial that creates a buzz. It creates excitement. It creates brand awareness. It stimulates conversation via social media. Each year there's one commercial that surpasses the value of a 60 second spot on the Super Bowl and becomes the topic of conversation amongst many. This year, it was most certainly the Budweiser "Puppy Love" commercial. Now, if you haven't seen the commercial, it's a heartwarming 60-second spot that shows a dog and horse that are in "puppy love." The dog is constantly wandering into a horse stable and away from its home at an adoption center to visit the horse. At the end of the spot, a man comes and adopts the puppy, and as he's pulling away in his sports car, he's stopped by a pack of horses and the commercial ends with the puppy leading the pack of horses back to his home.
A real heart-warmer. I'm not going to lie - I teared up a little. It's emotional and it tugs on your heartstrings. You can identify with it somehow. Maybe you had a puppy you loved, maybe you've been in puppy love, or maybe you just like to see good things happen to good people (or animals). Either way - it gets you. No one stops to think: This has nothing to do with beer. That's what Budweiser is about: beer. Yet, there was no mention of the product throughout the commercial. Only a simple "Best Buds" hashtag at the end with the product name, which no one is paying attention to because they're so caught up in the romance and hopefulness of the commercial. So what is this commercial's purpose if they show their brand for only a split second out of the entire spot?
BUZZ.
That's what Budweiser wants. This connects their brand to something more emotional, something on a deeper level. Something that makes you feel good. So, next time you're in the grocery store trying to decide which beer to buy, maybe you'll think of the cute puppy love commercial and decide to go with Bud instead of your typical Miller Light purchase.
It's all about newsworthiness. I was very impressed with the commercial and I really enjoyed it. I think the idea of tagging the commercial with "Best Buds" is a great way for Bud to transfer the spot onto social media like Twitter and Facebook. Suddenly, this is no longer a commercial, it's a news story. You can bet this commercial will be at the beginning of each of the reels highlighting the best Super Bowl commercials for 2014. There's no way it wouldn't. Suddenly, Budweiser's millions of dollars they spent on a commercial has become so much more valuable because they are getting essentially "free" publicity from news programs, newspapers, social media and look- this is one of the many blog posts that will be written about it!
I even got an email this morning (the morning after the Super Bowl) from the American Advertising Federation, whose headline read, "Budweiser's 'Puppy Love' tops USA Today's Super Bowl ad Rankings."
People are talking.
Overall, I'd say this tactic is one of the most brilliant I've seen in awhile. I've seen other brands try to use this tactic, but I'd have to say...Budweiser has surpassed them all.
To check out their Twitter account, which now has over 47,000 followers (even though you have to verify that you are 21 or older to access it), click the link below.
Budweiser
The cover photo as of Monday, Feb. 3, 2014 has now changed to a snap shot of the very end of the "Puppy Love" commercial and their profile picture is a one of the dog from the commercial with the hashtag "Best Buds."
Below is a link to the Business section of Time magazine that also published a story deeming this commercial as one of the 19 best Super Bowl ads of all time. (Also, adding that it will "Melt Your Heart.")
Time Business
No comments:
Post a Comment