The Favorite Super Bowl Ads of 2014

For the past several years, ad agencies have done such a great job bringing us consumers a compilation of compelling commercials, that they are genius, memorable, and effective marketing for the product.

One specific commercial that not only kept my attention, but has also as stuck in my memory, is “The Force” commercial of Volkswgen Passat.

This commercial aired in 2012, and features a young boy in a Darth Vader outfit. He is attempting to use The force to start a washer and dryer, and to wake the dog.

After he is unsuccessful in those attempts, he is startled to discover he can start the car, (though his father actually did this using a remote control).

• Consumer memorability: I would say 100%. This a commercial that, after 2 years, consumers still remember what happens in it. Not to mention that, for all those Star Wars fans, it was a home run. There are still people talking about it, and the kid that lead the commercial still has requests for public appearances.
• Marketing results of past commercials:  The Passat ad appeared on YouTube the week before its TV debut on February 6, 2011. By the next morning, the video had received one million views; the number reached 8 million before the commercial aired on TV.  The online version lasted sixty seconds, compared to thirty in the broadcast version, and the long version stood out more in people’s minds. As of February 7, the video had more than 15 million views. On May 23, the Passat ad won an online competition on the CBS special Clash of the Commercials: USA vs. the World, in which people were asked to “choose the greatest commercial of all time.” By the end of 2011, Advertising Age said, “With 600 placements, the video is on pace to become one of the most-watched viral ads of all time.” In its first year the ad had over 49.4 million views. The video is also the most shared ad of all-time.   But talking about marketing results in the sense of sales, the ad was not that successful, Volskwagen did not reach the market share they predicted for that year, and they fail in the brand association part of the Ad.
• Advertising and creative strategy: The commercial aired was simple: it was engaging and it was adorable. As an outside analyzer, I would say the insight for this ad was “So easy to control, that even your kid can play with it.” its a really general insight but in my perspective, covers a little what the commercial is trying to tell us. The creative for this ad was clever, original and left a strong lasting impression, which makes the whole point of a creative strategy successful.
• What elements made each so unique: The principal element that made this commercial so unique, was the usage of a StarWar character in a kid, because it not only shows us the image of a classic villain well known by many, but they gave him an adorable look that takes away from him all the badness without taking the sense of it and the power it has always portrayed.
•  Social media engagement: As I said in a previous question, the engagement of this Ad was total, in social media it not only reached really high numbers of YouTube views, but also created a snowball of comments in social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. These were some of the twitts.

• JenniferOB: May the force be with you
• _MURPH__: Fyi google darth vader kid super bowl vw commercial…..amazing
• agelessfemme: @EW great VW star wars commercial!

Two commercials stand out to me. First, Coca-Cola, which had a emotional tone, and the art direction was simply beautiful. Secondly, although it is already famous in the social media network (but not in a good way), I would maybe have to pick the Radio Shack ad. Not only did it have an emotional tone for all those who where around in the 80’s, but also a funny tone that helped that emotional part be more effective.

In my opinion this commercial will be easily remembered, because it appeals to a really broad generation that identifies with at least half of the characters shown in the ad. This commercial brings to life all those forgotten characters that you wish they would still be around and for me this a powerful insight that will stick in peoples mind. 

As for the marketing results, I would expect that the market share will go up because the ad leaves you with the curiosity of wanting to go and experience the new RadioShack store.

If the sales are not raised, for me it would be more about engaging the consumer inside the store, and not a thing of getting them to the store, because the commercial already did.”The Wall Street Journal called it one of big game’s best ads. The Associated Press said RadioShack “got praise for its surprisingly frank acknowledgment of its dated image.” And CNN blogger Jeff Pearlman wrote: “Bruno Mars and RadioShack bail out a lame Super Bowl.”

Investors took notice too. On a day when the stock market continued to sell off, RadioShack’s stock [ticker: RSH] ended the day up more than 3 percent, or 8 cents, to $2.48.”