Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Brands to Watch... or Not
Page 3: User-Generated Content
Page 4: Mobile
Page 5: Online Video
Page 6: TV Drives to the Web
Page 7: The Buzz on Buzz
Ad Age named "The Consumer" its winner of the coveted "Agency of the Year Award," and all hell broke loose. Voices from slighted hopefuls were heard to say that you can't place User-Generated Content in the same category as professionally produced material... or can you?
We will find out on Sunday when Doritos airs its winning consumer-produced spot during the Super Bowl. Will it just end up a head-scratcher to the millions who were not privy to contest details, unable to hold a candle to the major productions that Super Bowl spots have become? Or will it be superb in its campiness and human appeal?
My prediction is the latter. I will stick my neck out to predict that the Doritos spot will become the most-talked-about spot that airs during the Super Bowl-- not just among us industry watchers, but across the board.
At Isobar, we believe that the brands that win will be those whose consumers tell the best stories vs. the brands who tell the best stories to their consumers. Doritos is creating a massive platform for that to happen. Hats off!
My other prediction is that Doritos will be far from the only Super Bowl advertiser to use digital engagement to further involve the audience. I know, for instance, that our client, Revlon, will use a :60 second spot to feature their new colorist sponsor, Sheryl Crow. The ad will promote a download of Crow's new song, "Not Fade Away," on iTunes, where proceeds will go to Breast Cancer awareness. My bet is that digital will play a role in most if not all spots, making their Super Bowl investments the beginning of a longer conversation.
A very interesting year for Super Bowl advertising indeed!
Sarah Fay
President
Isobar U.S.
I doubt if there's going to be a wholesale shift from offline to on because the demographics won't currently support it. There are too many boomers who don't yet think of the net as their preferred information source. For the demographic that does think of the net as a strong auxiliary -- if not primary -- information source, expect online video feeds from the stands, blogs, chatrooms, video and audio podcasts about what's happening off the field, but also at the game, inside and outside the stadium.
The winners will be those who merge brand with social elements, and the strongest social element will be entertaining gossip. Who captures the best gossip will capture the brand. The public will be publishing cell phone captures from inside and outside the stadium to anybody who'll watch, and that means there'll be a market forming, for sure.
I'm willing to bet that a radio spectrum analysis of transmissions from the game would appear like a mushroom cloud over the stadium.
The next level will be brand-supported social networks by people not physically at the game. Brands will be sponsoring open forums so that you can chat live with experts and friends about what's happening on TV, while their logos and offers enter the chat as if they were a post by someone taking part in the chat. If these brands can synchronize their online offering with what's happening on the TV? Whoosh!
The final element will be people who have webcam feeds of their in-home or in-bar celebrations of the game, so you can take part from home. That's local branding gone wild.
Joseph Carrabis
Founder & CRO
NextStage Evolution, NextStage Global
It is not news to anyone that the ad world has been turned on its head over the last few years or that many of advertising's elite have been reluctant to adapt to new advertising models.
My prediction for Super Bowl XLI is rooted in the fact that more and more clients are demanding innovative strategies and solutions that the traditional agency is ill-equipped to provide. It will come as no surprise to the readers of iMedia Connection that these strategies will largely be centered on User-Generated Content.
At best, I expect to see UGC and co-creation strategies housed in mildly amusing creative executions. At worst, many of them will be poorly executed, and brands may suffer negative reactions within the social media space that they are seeking to leverage.
Many agencies are too afraid of losing their jobs and generally more interested in impressing their clients than adding value to the brand itself. In decades past, commercials were generally considered a highlight of the Super Bowl festivities, but this year I expect football fans will use the much anticipated game breaks to attend to nature's calling.
Adam J. Broitman
Director
Emerging and Creative Strategy
Morpheus Media
This year, it will be interesting to see if anyone at the virtual water cooler -- better known as the internet -- will embrace and point to the spots that extend media reach with User-Created Content, polling and destination experiences. So as to a prediction, I predict we marketers will rush to our favorite blogs, our email, and ping our friends... just to see: do our audiences care, and are they impacted by all the new things we try?
Glen Sheehan
Group Creative Director
T-3 (The Think Tank)
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