February 21, 2012

M&M’s win YouTube’s Super Bowl Ad Blitz Contest

I did not realise all the hype that goes on in the US as a result of the advertising during the Super Bowl. It has dominated the marketing and advertising news for at least a month.

With 111 million viewers, marketers take the opportunity to out-perform one another and get an edge – not just from the TV spot placement but the PR that is written before, during and after the event. I am not sure if the same impact could be achieved during the AFL grand final – at half time we tend to go for a beer, kick-to-kick in the back yard or line up for the loo.

The car companies put in a real effort this year to get their point of difference across with Chrysler coming second with its ‘It’s Halftime in America’ spot. In the final analysis the spot that had the biggest impact was M&Ms, ‘Just My Shell’ commercial.

The Ad Blitz Contest was put together by You Tube and allowed viewers to vote on the ads for a week. Viewers watch the Ad Blitz videos 133 million times with almost 20% coming from outside the US.

When told that M&Ms was the winner, the Chief Consumer officer of Mars Chocolate (makers of M&Ms) said, ‘You added a new character to the mix, which consumers asked us to add. We did a fair amount of teasing leading up to it, to build anticipation. And fundamentally it was fun, and, I think it bought a smile to your face, and you really want to share it with someone else’.

It goes to show that advertising that brings a smile to your face really works!