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Last year a record 115 million viewers watched the Super Bowl. With a marquee matchup and a potential Taylor Swift bump, this year's game is likely to match or exceed that number of viewers.
That means a lot of people will watch Super Bowl commercials, and that is why 50-plus brands are willing to spend $7 million for a 30-second spot, not counting what they spend on actually producing their commercials. (The most expensive Super Bowl ads, Google's "Loretta" and Amazon's "Before Alexa," both from 2020, reportedly cost $16.8 million each.)
Cost alone means Super Bowl ads might be interesting for entrepreneurs and small business owners, but hardly relevant.
Or not, as I discovered when I talked with Jay Kamath, a founder and chief creative officer of Haymaker, an Emmy-winning, two-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year award-winning, full-service creative agency. Last year Haymaker created a Super Bowl ad for Greenlight. This year, Haymaker is the creative force behind Pluto TV's "Couch Potato."
"Pluto TV is an amazing product," Kamath says. "They were one of the first streaming services. But now, with how crowded the streaming landscape has become, one of their goals is to ensure people know what sets them apart."
That objective led to the concept of embracing couch potatoes by treating them with respect and even reverence and highlighting the love people have for particular shows and movies. (My go-to on Pluto TV is the "This Old House" channel.)
" 'Couch potato country' felt like something different," Kamath says, "and a great vehicle and device to talk about why Pluto TV is different -- without getting too preachy. With so many Super Bowl spots, the instinct is to try to cram in as much as humanly possible, to include every product point... the goal is to be simple and entertaining."
Even so, the concept evolved as it went into production. Director Stacy Wall suggested filming with a documentary feel, an idea Haymaker immediately embraced. "His approach gave it a gentler, hopefully charming sense of humor," Kamath says, "rather than the broad humor you expect in Super Bowl ads."
That doesn't mean the ad isn't overtly funny. Take the line, "I love anything where a hot person throws a glass of wine at another hot person." But there's a tenderness as well, especially when a farmer watching the romance channel chokes up as he says, "You just can't beat that type of onscreen chemistry."
"We wanted to have moments of sharp humor," Kamath says, "blended with a heartwarming sensibility, with the takeaway that Pluto TV understands why people love TV."
Big swing? Absolutely. The stage and moment demand it. But Kamath feels you shouldn't be afraid to take your own big marketing and advertising swings.
"The size of the campaign is somewhat irrelevant," Kamath says. "Ideas that are interesting culturally, that are strategically sound... there are always opportunities to be interesting and exciting--and deliver strong business solutions, too."
The key is to focus on what you can control, which is doing the absolute best you can with the resources you have. As Rick Rubin says, "All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now." That's the goal with an ad, with a marketing campaign, with a product or service. The size of the stage doesn't matter. What matters is that you believe in what you do, and do it the best you can.
And then focus on your goal. Focus on what the "win" looks like, and is. For Pluto TV, the "win" is standing out in the streaming ecosystem: easy, free, and curated by humans who love TV as much as you do.
Your goal might be lead generation. Or to introduce new products or services. Or direct response. Or increased conversion rate. Or (my least favorite for small businesses) brand awareness.
Your goal--your "win"--should always drive strategy and creative.
Because in advertising, as with everything else, the outcome should always inform the process.
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