Q & A: Super Bowl Advertising

Now that the dust has settled on Super Bowl LI, the leadership team at Sprout Media sat down for a quick interview on their thoughts on the game's most prize victory: Advertisement of the Night. 

Who had the best ad of the night? 

Steve: 84 Lumber was by far my favorite. Kia with Melissa McCarty was a close second. 

Adam: Intel. Who doesn't like Tom Brady? Super Bowl MVP, Tom Brady!

Richard: I will pick three. Google (the first one of the night), 84 Lumber, and Kia. AirBNB was also top notch and on brand. 

Who wasted their money the most? 

Steve: Bud light.

Adam: Honda.

Richard: More than half. There are too many to name. If you're going to spend the money and have over 110 million eyes on you ... don't drop the ball! Too many did. 

What is the biggest advertising lesson from the day? 

Steve: Connectivity. Creating content; whether that is blogs, social posts, or television advertisements that resonate with people is key to winning the night.

Adam: Ads need to be 1 of 3 things. 

  1. Funny - The audience has to think it's funny.
  2. Emotional - The audience has to connect with the product you offer or the service you provide. 
  3. Sincere - The audience has to be care about your product or service.

Richard: Whatever you do, tell a story. If you're funny, be funny. If you're sentimental, be sentimental. Just own it. 

How would you spend $5.5 million? 

Steve: Push a company that gives a portion of its proceeds to a charity. That way the ad helps others and inspires others to give at the same time.

Adam: First Sprout would have a sweet office space for everyone to come visit! Then I would also be very philanthropic with the money. Organizations and charities that I care about would be a lot better off! 

Richard: Well, Steve and Adam took the question to seem as though they had the money ... if I worked with a client with a budget like that, we'd push them to be more organic with their approach and create a long-term content story with the support of small bursts of advertising. It's not buzz-worthy, but I believe in one-to-one connections. 

So, the Patriots won. Gaga killed it. And FOX made a lot of money. 

What's next for you?