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Super Bowl Losers
Go Daddy
Now if you read my blog you know that I love the Go Daddy brand but just can’t stand the advertising. Last year’s antics might have had a few people and reporters talking but this year it drew a big yawn. Advertising that is outrageous just for the sake of being outrageous doesn’t work. I will admit they got some free publicity last year, so it seems the company CEO just ordered up more of the same for this year hoping for the same kind of buzz. No luck, the whole thing fizzled out. Go Daddy needs a powerful brand strategy and verbalization of that strategy. Currently they are using “Make a .com name with us.” Not too powerful. If you are reading this Go Daddy give me a call we would love to help you on your marketing strategy.
Career Builder
What is it with the Chimps again? When in doubt, ad agencies seem to drag out some cute and funny animals. But the real problem is that Career Builder is not the leader. The brand that owns the mind of the consumer is Monster.com a past high-profile Super Bowl advertiser. So I think that after many people saw the Career Builder ad they though, hey better post my resume on Monster. Selling the category makes people think of the leader first. So a number two brand needs to position itself against the leader (Avis, we try harder). Only the leader can sell the category in such a generic way.
Sierra Mist
The Super Bowl is not the place to advertise your loser brands. The Super Bowl is the place to show off your hot, successful brands with flashy advertising. This is why Pepsi running a Sierra Mist ad makes no sense. Nobody talks about the stuff, nobody drinks the stuff and nobody cares about the stuff. Instead I would have spent all my advertising dollars reinforcing the success of Pepsi. Coke has muffed up its brand recently, Pepsi needs to continue to ride its momentum against them.
Ameriquest
Ok, the ads are funny. But are they brand building? I don’t think so. People may talk about the funny misunderstanding but are they going to get a mortgage from Ameriquest? I doubt it. Mortgages are serious business. A house is the biggest purchase of your life. Funny advertising that doesn’t reinforce a brand’s message just doesn’t work to build the brand. Like Go Daddy, Ameriquest is not a bad brand. They actually have a unique difference: Every applicant gets a personal mortgage specialist to help them. Hey, that is a great idea. But the advertising never mentions it at all. The bottom line is advertising needs to sell to be successful. What sells are powerful brands. What builds powerful brands? Owing a word in the mind. Just being funny on the Super Bowl doesn’t lead to brand success.