Every marketing pundit has to watch and weigh in on the Superbowl advertisements. So I sat down, gasped during a horrendous, mistake-laden debasement of the Star Spangled Banner, suffered through some awfully produced half time music and took notes.
First, of the sixty nine none-television ads, only ten of them had some element of Friction Marketing. Those brands included AT&T, the Ford F150, Audi, GoDaddy, Motorola, Comcast, Chrysler, and Sketchers. Notably, both Coke and Pepsi Max eschewed any mention of their competitors’ product. Bud Light’s “you have a nice rack” was predictably sexist, of course any offense taken serves to further the appeal to the Bud Light target market. Along those lines, GoDaddy’s ad was so weak it almost seemed to spoof itself. Three ads showed some remarkably clever use of Friction Marketing: Audi A8, Motorola Tablet, and the clear surprise winner of the advertising Superbowl: Chrysler.
Audi
I’ve written about Audi’s aggressive and clever friction marketing campaign before – Audi going head to head, calling out other European luxury brands. This was an extension of the theme, but executed very well and Audi has narrowed its target – putting Mercedes Benz directly in its sights. The ad was well produced, offered a great, short plot line and left a very clear message – Mercedes is what your Dad used to drive. Audi is what you should drive.
Motorola
The Motorola Automaton ad was brilliant in its subtle attack on Apple while promoting its new tablet as an alternative. For years, Apple has cleverly has used the white to makes its product stand out among a sea of gray and black boxes. Much of their print and TV advertising has focused around the white earphones and cord – a departure from the black sony walkman headphones I grew up with. Motorola cleverly stole this thunder, citing 1984 and dressing their robotic automatons in hoods of white. The final scene shows a woman pulling out her white earbuds and smiling as the screen fades out to a black Motorola tablet. Without ever directly mentioning Apple, Motorola cleverly positioned itself as a unique alternative.
Chrysler
By far, the best advertisement was the surprisingly brave and gritty spot from Chrysler – Imported From Detroit. This was a brilliant example of Friction Marketing. The target was not competitor, but instead our own preconceived notions about Detroit, blight, and the American car industry. Instead of offering excuses or taking the easy route by showing computer enhanced shots of its products like all the other automakers did, Chrysler confronted its own challenges head on. In a microcosm, it confronted America’s economic challenges. After panning through the destitute blight ridden street of Detroit Chrysler asks “What does this town know about luxury?” They answer their own question squarely: “Luxury is as much about where it’s from as who it’s for.” It seemed particularly fitting this ad aired during Superbowl XLV – when two traditional blue collar towns, Green Bay and Pittsburgh squared off. I’m a European import adherent, but Chrysler made me want to raise my flag, have a slice of Grandma’s apple pie and go test drive a Chrysler. Bravo.
