One-second Ad Pays Off
When MillerCoors was blocked by Anheuser-Bush’s exclusive deal to be the only beer advertiser during the Super Bowl, the company was forced to think of a creative way to get their brand in front of consumers. The solution MillerCoors came up with was to place a one-second ad on all of NBC’s affiliate stations broadcasting the game. You can still view the one-second advertisement at their Web site www.1secondad.com. Well, its now almost a month after the Super Bowl and its turns out the city of Pittsburg was not the only winner on Super Bowl Sunday – MillerCoors’s unique strategy paid off.
MillerCoors reported that sales were up 8.6% during the week after the Super Bowl. It was the highest sales increase during the week after the Super Bowl for the company in nearly two years. The company who purchased the least amount of commercial air time received some of the strongest sales results. “One of the big things for us in making the ads was that we thought we could sell more beer,” said High Life Brand Manager Kevin Oglesby. “We definitely sold more beer.” (Ad Age 2/23/09) It was not just the one-second ad that paid off for MillerCoor’s; it was their entire Super Bowl strategy.
The company started pushing advertisements for their High Life brand about two weeks before the Super Bowl. The theme of those advertisements was to discuss how stupid it is to purchase 30-seconds of air time for $3 million and introduce the one-second ad concept. They were positioning themselves as a cost-effective company which fits in exactly with what their brand stands for, a great tasting lower cost beer. It was this positioning that resonated with consumers as the company tapped into the emotional mindset of many Americans. It is no secret that our country is in a recession and by developing a campaign that discusses the irresponsibility of spending $3 million on the Super Bowl, it was a unique way to relate to the American consumer who is becoming increasingly more cost conscious.
The uniqueness of the campaign, actually trying to place a one-second commercial during the Super Bowl attracted a lot of attention. The story about the brand’s strategy was placed in a number of publications in the US (including USA Today) all helping to drive traffic to the one-second ad Web site. When reviewing this campaign, MillerCoor’s did two very important things. First, they broke the mold and disrupted the status quo. They created a one-second ad for the Super Bowl, no one has done that. They were unique. Second, they created a message and campaign strategy that perfectly fit their brand strategy and made sure their message resonated with consumers. The amount of effective attention that brought towards the brand certainly paid off the company and any marketer who is able to create something unique and effective can expect to see results similar to MillerCoors.
Tags: Coors, Miller, one-second ad, Super Bowl
