First, please realize that no marketing initiative (PR, social media, advertising, word-of-mouth, etc.) can guarantee results. Some can guarantee ‘impressions’ or views, but you’d be hard pressed to guarantee results. The best way to hedge your bets with your marketing initiatives is through careful planning and starting the process as early as possible (you should start by throwing together a clear RFP that’s worthwhile. Check out our friend Hank Blank’s thoughts on that here or you can receive our RFP template here http://remedycomm.com/prcheckup/.
All that said, the Super Bowl is arguably one of the biggest moments in time in the U.S. for brands looking to make a huge splash with an ad buy, PR stunt or social media activation. On Sunday, the latest episode of H. Jon Benjamin’s “Bob’s Burgers” focused on the title character’s quest to one-up a local restaurant rival’s Super Bowl event with an ad of his own. As usual, things went wrong and for 30 or so minutes, we were entertained.
The reason we’re highlighting this episode is that there were some classic lessons to be learned or reminded of for any brand planning a new marketing initiative.
1. Budget: Your marketing budget is what it is and Bob’s budget was pretty modest. He probably would have been better served allocating it to a more sustainable campaign vs. a one-off.
2. Timing: A week before your launch date is too late to start planning and engage a marketing firm. Make a note on your calendar to start earlier.
3. Competitive research and dotting your “i’s”: Bob didn’t ask his talent for the commercial if he was going to be doing anything similar for competing brands… or what other paid endorsements the talent was considering in general. As a result, the ex-NFL star used as a spokesperson for Bob's Burgers appeared in two other ads for local eateries.
4. The idea: Bob didn’t really have an idea. Yes, he wanted an ad, but in reality, he didn’t have a vision for what the ad was going to be except to attract customers. More timing (point #2 above) could have helped.
Remedy, like many hybrid public relations / advertising / social media firms, can move quickly and deliver great results on tight budgets and deadlines. But just because a firm can move quickly and operate on a tight budget, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t plan as far in advance as possible (realizing plans will need to change) and devote adequate resources (financial and time) to making your marketing campaigns as great as possible.
Remember, results in marketing are never guaranteed, but chance favors the prepared.
The above YouTube clip doesn't do justice to the episode. A non-embeddable clip can be seen on the TV Guide's site here.