At the end of the day, sometimes you have to play by your own rules

Super Bowl Sunday without the Patriots allowed me to spend all of my time focusing on the ads. While it is sad that New England was out of the running this year, I was able to follow all of the live blogging action surrounding the most expensive television placements of the year. While expansion stage companies do not have Super Bowl ads as part of their go to market strategy/budget, it is still exciting for any marketer to see the well crafted ads debuted.

But what if they are debuted early? Volkswagen made an incredibly wise decision leading up to game time. They released the :60 version of their new commercial “The Force” on YouTube days before the big game. The internet was buzzing with this advertising masterpiece long before kickoff–and what did we see during the game? The :30 version! GENIUS! VW paid for a :30 spot, saving serious cash and still generating the same amount of buzz…more than they probably would have if they ponied up the cash for the :60!

 

Here is the biggest takeaway for me. Sometimes, it is about playing by your own rules. We all know that most people can’t remember the brands associated with Super Bowl ads, but by trying an unconventional method, VW was the talk of the town for days and without any competition. Sure… Chevy, BMW, Mercedes, Chrysler and other car companies debuted great ads last night…but which was most memorable? Kudos to VW for thinking un-traditionally and making a splash!

Sure, most of us don’t have Super Bowl sized budgets, but we do have the ability to think outside of the box. Apply this type of unconventional thinking to your content marketing strategy–always be thinking of ways to break the mold!

What was your favorite ad?