By now we’ve already met at the water cooler and discussed what ads from Super Bowl XLV we liked. By all accounts, it looks like  that Volkswagen, Doritos or Chrysler won the battle.

The Winning (old) Formula.
These advertisements won because of a simple formula. No, they didn’t involve cute animals, scantily clad women, or stupid “physical” comedy. They were popular because of what I call the “Can I watch it and “get” it in a loud crowded bar” formula. This formula simply relies on the following elements.
- You may miss a few seconds of the advertisement if you look away (while you are ordering your appetizers), but you still get it.
- You can watch this advertisement with the volume turned completely down, or you’re at  or party that is REALLY loud, and still  get it.
-  It’s simple. Let’s face it, you might have a couple cocktails on Super Bowl Sunday. Don’t make me think too hard
-  It tells a story.

Now, think back on why the Volkswagen ad was so good. We all can relate to Star Wars (simple) can watch this with the sound turned down, and tells a wonderful story. And, the bonus here was that you actually are intrigued by the new car. Remote car starter? Cool, maybe I’ll check out the new Passat…

Same goes for the Chrysler ad. Sure it would have been nice with the music (if I couldn’t hear it) but you get the general message. Chrysler is rebuilding, rethinking and “restoring” itself to the glory days. I might not even know who Eminem is, but I still “get it”.

If you still don’t believe me, take a look at Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl advertisement with the volume turned down…

Where Social Media comes in
I’m still amazed and impressed at how Social Media played such an interesting part of this year’s Super Bowl.  My favorite was BrandBowl 2011. Brain child of Mullen’s Edward Boches and a joint partnership with one of the heavy hitters in the social media measurement world, Radian 6. This year, they partnered up with the Boston Globe and enjoyed tremendous success by encouraging Super Bowl viewers to tweet about the ads using the #brandbowl hashtag during the Super Bowl. BrandBowl2011 counted up more than 300,000 tweets to calculate tweets AND sentiment. And that’s where the interesting part comes in- sentiment. They quickly (and in real-time) got a feel for what advertisements worked and perhaps why they didn’t work. Edward, you probably already know this, but we’re watching you closely here- can’t wait to see what BrandBowl 2012 has in store for us.

The Winning (NEW) formula for next year
So, let’s combine the old winning formula with new technologies and create a new recipe for advertising success…..It  should look something like this….

1 cup of story-telling
1/2 cup of simpleness
1/2 cup of GOOD images, people, scenery
4 tablespoons of  social
3 tablespoons of mobile
2 teaspoons of  instant feedback/gratification.

Here’s a quick example….

Let’s say McDonald’s wants to introduce another new hamburger called “the McSuper” …In the first quarter advertisement, there’s a simple story about the new hamburger featuring six new ingredients. At the end of the ad, there’s a call to action. Choose your favorite 3 ingredients AND what city you want the McSuper to launch in. Simple, right? Everyone breaks out their mobile phone and texts or tweets their “vote” to McDonalds. If you’re not near your mobile phone, head over to your computer and “vote” on McDonald’s facebook page or website by halftime.
For the next hour, McDonald’s scrambles to collect the data, and produces the video, a la Old Spice.  In the fourth quarter, McDonald’s releases the ingredients of the perfect McSuper sandwich and where it’s going to arrive.

Think it would work? Or are you just getting hungry?