0:01

There are three things that make a

0:03

great Super Bowl ad. It's got to

0:05

be ownable. People need to know that

0:07

it is your brand. You are spending

0:10

the money after all. It's got to

0:12

be memorable. If people can't remember that

0:14

it happened, you're missing out on the

0:16

ability to actually drive those business results.

0:19

And it's got to be relevant. because

0:21

the relevance is what allows you to

0:23

have the multiplier effect to go from

0:26

being just a 30-second spot or just

0:28

a 60-second spot to being something that

0:30

lasts longer and ultimately drives the

0:32

business impact that is needed. And

0:34

I think that this year, brands

0:36

played it safe, there was a

0:39

real lean in to nostalgia and

0:41

into what I would call Americana.

0:43

And some did it right, and

0:45

some didn't do it well. That's

0:53

Darra Trisseter, chief marketing officer of

0:56

Autodesk, formerly at Peloton and Apple

0:58

and GE and more. The morning

1:00

after the Super Bowl, Darra joined

1:02

me for a fun chat about

1:04

the best and worst of this

1:06

year's Super Bowl ads. From the

1:08

omnipresence of Matthew McConahay to the

1:10

creepy to-be spot that made everyone

1:13

get up and leave the room. Along

1:15

the way, she shares key marketing lessons

1:17

about celebrity endorsements, the ROI

1:19

on making a political statement

1:21

and more. So let's get

1:24

to it. I'm Bob Safian

1:26

and this is Rapid Response.

1:28

I'm Bob Safian. I'm here

1:30

with Director Cedar, the CMO

1:33

of Autodesk. There, welcome back

1:35

to Rapid Response. Thank you

1:37

so much for having me.

1:40

I am so thrilled. I have

1:42

been looking forward to

1:44

this conversation. We're here to talk Super

1:46

Bowl ads like we did last year at

1:48

this time. First of all we should say

1:51

congratulations to Eagles fans, condolences to Chiefs fans.

1:53

I guess the same to Kendrick Lamar and

1:55

Drake fans, right? In some ways the most

1:57

memorable night of the evening for me was...

1:59

the Serena Williams cameo in the

2:01

halftime show, which I almost missed.

2:04

You were telling me you have

2:06

a Super Bowl party now? Absolutely.

2:08

We had a Super Bowl party

2:10

at my house. It was wonderful.

2:12

It was a multi-generational party. So

2:14

it was really great to see

2:16

not only my own marketing take,

2:18

but actually see how the audience

2:21

and different demographics were responding to

2:23

the ad. So it was a

2:25

lot of fun. It was a

2:27

little focus group. Last year we

2:29

talked about sort of whether you

2:31

would buy a 30-second spot for

2:33

Autodesk. When you're watching this year,

2:35

like when you look at it

2:37

and you say, oh, maybe I

2:40

should have that would have been

2:42

a good way to spend $8

2:44

million or leave the tech messaging

2:46

to Google and meta. No, when

2:48

I was watching the game, I

2:50

was like, I am very glad

2:52

with our strategy of not buying

2:54

an ad in the Super Bowl.

2:57

Look, I think sometimes it makes

2:59

sense for your business. And I

3:01

think you really have to understand

3:03

what are we trying to accomplish?

3:05

What are the objectives? And will

3:07

this help us make that happen?

3:09

I think that Not enough brands

3:11

who showed up this year did

3:13

that calculation, I have to say.

3:16

So I think we did we

3:18

did the right math by deciding

3:20

to let our customers take center

3:22

stage. When a game is not

3:24

close, like this game was, from

3:26

a marketer's point of view, not

3:28

close, but from a marketer's point

3:30

of view, is that good like

3:32

people are going to spend more

3:35

time paying attention to the ad

3:37

or is that Bad because people

3:39

aren't like as intensely focused on

3:41

the screen. It's not good because

3:43

people are getting up and people

3:45

are leaving. Consumers start to get

3:47

distracted and you know go back

3:49

to their lives when it's not

3:52

as competitive until the very end.

3:54

So I do think that that

3:56

has an impact. You're making a

3:58

bet when you decide where. you're

4:00

gonna buy your ad where in

4:02

the show right like in some

4:04

ways it's better to be at

4:06

the end because people will remember

4:08

you more but only if the

4:11

game is close only if the

4:13

game is close so that's again

4:15

you got to think about what

4:17

is the calculus for what you're

4:19

trying to do, right? You know,

4:21

I always think that going early

4:23

and in the middle is safe.

4:25

Again, it comes down to calculated

4:28

risk, a clear-eyed risk, but is

4:30

a clear-eyed risk. You gather as

4:32

much data as you can. You

4:34

strip away uncertainty and then you

4:36

make a decision with conviction. Going

4:38

late is a risk that you

4:40

should only take. If you are

4:42

sure that even if consumers get

4:44

up and walk away, still that

4:47

placement makes sense for your brand.

4:49

But if you're not sure about

4:51

that, going early or going in

4:53

the middle is probably a good

4:55

way to make sure that you

4:57

gather as many eyeballs as is

4:59

needed. If you're a brand like

5:01

Autodesk and you haven't bought a

5:04

Super Bowl spot, how do you

5:06

participate in the moment, you know,

5:08

in the attention that's going on

5:10

around the Super Bowl? Or do

5:12

you just try to back away?

5:14

If you have an authentic reason

5:16

to participate in the conversation, hey,

5:18

it's a good time as any

5:20

to do that. So for us

5:23

at Autodesk, you know, our software

5:25

is used to design and make

5:27

anything, whether it is literally the

5:29

Caesar Superdome Stadium in Nola that

5:31

housed it all, or stages like

5:33

Kendrick's, or its ads, like the

5:35

the Michelob Ultra ad, right? Our

5:37

software is used to design and

5:40

make anything. So for us, being

5:42

a part of the conversation makes

5:44

sense in terms of celebrating our

5:46

customers who are playing a role

5:48

in the game. Before we get

5:50

into the specifics, do you have

5:52

any like big picture assessments from

5:54

what you saw about the tone,

5:56

the mood, the creativity? First of

5:59

all, let me say that brands

6:01

played it safe this year. I

6:03

think the biggest statement of the

6:05

night was the halftime show, right?

6:07

The Kendrick Lamar halftime show as

6:09

Serena coming and making a cameo

6:11

in there. I think that was

6:13

actually the biggest statement. Brands definitely

6:16

played it safe. leaning more into

6:18

own ability. There are three things

6:20

that make a great Super Bowl

6:22

ad. It's got to be ownable.

6:24

people need to know that it

6:26

is your brand. You are spending

6:28

the money, after all. It's got

6:30

to be memorable. If people can't

6:32

remember that it happened, you're missing

6:35

out on the ability to actually

6:37

drive those business results. And it's

6:39

got to be relevant, because the

6:41

relevance is what allows you to

6:43

have the multiplier effect to go

6:45

from being just a 30-second spot

6:47

or just a 60-second spot to

6:49

being something that lasts longer and

6:52

ultimately drives the business impact that

6:54

is needed. it safe, the over-indexed

6:56

on own ability, and some try

6:58

to dab into memorability in some

7:00

scary ways. I don't think I

7:02

needed to see seal as a

7:04

seal, for example. It didn't quite

7:06

work for me. The dancing tongue

7:08

from CoffeeMate? No. That was, you

7:11

know, there was some odd choices.

7:13

pushing creative in a way that

7:15

maybe creative does not need to

7:17

be pushed. And then I think

7:19

from a relevance standpoint, not enough

7:21

brands thought about how do I

7:23

really make this relevant. And relevance

7:25

continues to be an important factor.

7:28

I would say overall brands played

7:30

it safe. Overall, there was a

7:32

real lean in to nostalgia and

7:34

into what I would call Americana.

7:36

And some did it right, and

7:38

some didn't do it well. And

7:40

then the last theme was. brands

7:42

thinking about celebrity as a must

7:44

have. And I thought that was

7:47

not every, the celebrity needs to

7:49

make sense. And in some cases,

7:51

there was an overuse of celebrity.

7:53

Or there was an abuse of

7:55

celebrity. And it just didn't make

7:57

sense. I'm thinking, how are you

7:59

going to get the, because I

8:01

know what these celebrities cost? And

8:04

I'm like, how are you going

8:06

to get the ROI on that

8:08

cameo? Was that really worth it?

8:10

Was that the best way to

8:12

spend your marketing dollars in some.

8:14

Some cases, the answer to that

8:16

was no. Are there ones that

8:18

come to mind that you felt

8:20

like overpacked the celebrity quotient? Well,

8:23

I think, you know, anyone where

8:25

I'm like, why is this celebrity

8:27

here? If your customers and your

8:29

prospects are confused, that's already a

8:31

no. I can tell you who

8:33

got it, right? Hellmans did a

8:35

really great job. Recreating that iconic

8:37

scene from Harry Met Sally. That

8:40

was... clutch. This iconic scene is

8:42

one that we all love and

8:44

remember and and Mayo mayonnaise making

8:46

showing up in this scene in

8:48

complete sense. So talk about that

8:50

was I think a really good

8:52

use of celebrity and the Sydney

8:54

Sweeney cameo. It was like that

8:56

mic drop moment like I have

8:59

whatever she's having you know she's

9:01

America's heart of this modern day

9:03

and so to bring her in

9:05

with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal

9:07

was very well done. helps make

9:09

it relevant is what you say.

9:11

You could understand why, you know,

9:13

Sydney's. was added to that conversation.

9:16

You know, for me, the Budweiser

9:18

and Bud Light ad sort of

9:20

perfectly reflected the moment. Bud Light

9:22

sort of red-blooded American vibe of

9:24

suburbia over the grill, you know,

9:26

and then like a hallmark channel

9:28

emotion for Budweiser with the baby

9:30

Clydesdale. It's like they were very

9:32

easy to go down, right? I

9:35

think Bud Light did a good

9:37

job. You know, I think they...

9:39

understand who their target audiences and

9:41

they spoke to their target audience

9:43

in a way that deeply resonated.

9:45

I also, you know, I think

9:47

that there's something powerful about what

9:49

Budweiser was trying to do, right?

9:52

And I think, you know, it

9:54

sort of felt like that uplifting,

9:56

community gathering vibes that we all

9:58

needed, you know, so that inspiring

10:00

story of a Kyle's. full on

10:02

a journey, right, to deliver a

10:04

Budweiser keg. I thought that was

10:06

classic. It was amusing. They understood

10:08

their demographic. They had a clear

10:11

message. They were trying to deliver,

10:13

and I think they delivered that

10:15

well. Now, you've used this expression,

10:17

uh, N-B-D-B, never been done before.

10:19

There wasn't a whole lot of

10:21

that, except for things that made

10:23

you go a little bit like

10:25

you. Let us talk about MBDB.

10:28

And for those of you that

10:30

are just tuning in, this has

10:32

never been done before, right? We

10:34

like a good MBDB. And I

10:36

thought a brand that actually did

10:38

that was rocket. So Rocket had

10:40

that wonderful ad that really talked

10:42

about owning the dream, owning the

10:44

American dream, owning the home. They

10:47

took the time to tell the

10:49

story in a way that was

10:51

so powerful, right? And I was

10:53

interesting because I was watching it

10:55

live and everybody from my father-in-law

10:57

to my daughter were like, oh,

10:59

we like this one. And you

11:01

know, and every American can remember

11:04

that song. I mean, Bob, I'm

11:06

sure. in a bar somewhere at

11:08

1am at some point or the

11:10

other you were singing about country

11:12

roads taking you home. There's no

11:14

video of that. You're neither going

11:16

to confirm nor deny. I thought

11:18

that was, the ad was great,

11:20

but what was especially awesome was

11:23

to see that connected with the

11:25

live experience of country roads playing

11:27

in the stands, right, and having

11:29

the fans in the stadium. That

11:31

was marketing magic, right, because that

11:33

was the ad. the extension was

11:35

so real, so powerful, so wonderful.

11:37

So that was an MBDB. I

11:40

don't think I've seen any ads

11:42

do that before where they connect

11:44

what is happening on the screen

11:46

to what is happening physically in

11:48

the stadium in such a powerful

11:50

integrated way. So I thought rocket

11:52

did that. They certainly owned that

11:54

MBDB category with that first of

11:56

its kind integration. the skin cowboy

11:59

had from Tubi. I didn't even

12:01

know what was going on with

12:03

that. You know, talk about an

12:05

ad that was repulsive. I mean,

12:07

that was when everyone was like,

12:09

I'm gonna go get some chips.

12:11

Nobody wants to watch that, right?

12:13

I thought that ad was. pushing

12:15

creative direction. That's what I meant

12:18

of because people were staying away

12:20

from relevance, sometimes they turned up

12:22

the dial on own ability or

12:24

memorability in a way that didn't

12:26

always work. And I think for

12:28

that to be ad, they turned

12:30

up the memorability dial a little

12:32

too much that it didn't quite

12:35

work. I want to ask you

12:37

about the Nike ad, the Nike

12:39

so win ad with top female

12:41

athletes with Kaken Clark and. Jordan,

12:43

Charles, and others. In some ways,

12:45

it was like a throwback Nike

12:47

ad to some of the things

12:49

we'd seen from them before. So

12:51

it wasn't really never been done

12:54

before, but at the same time,

12:56

I thought it was pretty darn

12:58

effective. I think Nike was the

13:00

winner of the night. And I'll

13:02

tell you why. They did an

13:04

amazing job. of being ownable. It

13:06

was like you said, it was

13:08

it was an ownable Nike spot.

13:11

You saw that spot and you

13:13

immediately knew it was Nike because

13:15

of the athlete presence, the visual

13:17

aesthetic, the black and white aesthetic,

13:19

and the message. It showed the

13:21

power of purpose and performance. And

13:23

I have to give Nike a

13:25

lot of credit for this spot

13:27

because in a year where a

13:30

lot of brands were staying away

13:32

from saying anything, Nike said something.

13:34

They said something important. They said

13:36

something that matters. And they said

13:38

something that needed to be said.

13:40

Right? And that was the power

13:42

of women in sports and the

13:44

importance of gender equity in sports.

13:47

And I thought they said it

13:49

really well. It wasn't preachy. It

13:51

was powerful. And so talk about

13:53

being memorable and being relevant. And

13:55

many of us can remember what

13:57

was happening in the Olympics. was

13:59

running and she was ahead and

14:01

she looked to her left and

14:03

she looked to her right and

14:06

that moment was a part of

14:08

the narrative right many of us

14:10

remember the journeys that these women

14:12

athletes have had and to see

14:14

them standing on business standing on

14:16

power standing on strength it was

14:18

saying look come what may women's

14:20

sports is here to stay and

14:23

I love that and you know

14:25

just watching my daughter watch that

14:27

spot and her face light up,

14:29

it was a powerful moment. So

14:31

I think Nike did that and

14:33

they were really the only brand

14:35

that made a statement, right? You

14:37

know, a lot of brands talked

14:39

about unity and nostalgia, which I

14:42

thought was a little bit overdone

14:44

to be honest and not actually

14:46

reflective of the state of the

14:48

country. So it's felt a little

14:50

forced, but I thought Nike did

14:52

a really good job of saying,

14:54

hey. We're standing on business, we're

14:56

standing on purpose, we're not cause

14:59

led, so we're not jumping into

15:01

a political conversation, but we're standing

15:03

on what makes sense for our

15:05

business, our values remain unchanged. I

15:08

love how Dara gets right to

15:10

the heart of the business and

15:12

creative decisions that distinguish brands, whether

15:15

that's Nike or Budweiser or Tubi.

15:17

After the break, we dig into

15:19

what choosing a particular celebrity says

15:21

or doesn't say about your brand,

15:24

plus the impressions left by Open

15:26

AI, Michelope Ultra, Duncan, Jeep, and

15:28

more. Stay with us. Before

15:35

the break, Autodesk Chief Marketing

15:38

Officer Dara Trisseter talked about

15:40

what makes a successful Super

15:42

Bowl ad and why she

15:44

thinks Nike won the night.

15:46

Now Dara talks about the

15:48

good and bad of celebrity

15:50

endorsements, what Willem Defoe has

15:52

over David Beckham, and what

15:54

successfully distinguished chat GPTs ad

15:56

from the pack. Let's jump

15:59

back in. I

16:02

want to ask you a little

16:04

bit more about celebrities. In a

16:06

moment like this, were there kinds

16:09

of celebrities that are more effective

16:11

in this environment? Or is it

16:13

more just about the relationship of

16:15

that celebrity to the brand? And

16:17

the person I think about this

16:19

is Matthew McConaughey, who seems like

16:21

he's sort of everywhere as a

16:23

pitch man, but like why? Matthew

16:25

McConaughey. I have no evidence that

16:27

this happened. But I have no

16:30

evidence that this happened. But I'm

16:32

imagining Matthew McConaughey had a call

16:34

with Snoop Dog. I was like,

16:36

bro, you are everywhere. How do

16:38

I get to be everywhere to?

16:40

And he collected the baton and

16:42

kept running. So if there was

16:44

a celebrity winner of the Super

16:46

Bowl, it would be Matthew McConaughey.

16:49

So I think there was a

16:51

McCon. McConnell's happening. And look, I

16:53

think math, because again, brands were

16:55

playing it safe. Matthew McConnell, he

16:57

is one of those people that

16:59

appeals to a wide, you know,

17:01

spectra of demographics. So I think

17:03

for the brands that were playing

17:05

it safe, sort of sticking to

17:08

a Matthew McConnell, he felt like,

17:10

okay, he's relevant and interesting enough,

17:12

but broad enough that he appeals

17:14

to a wide array of folks.

17:16

Now, is that effective? That's the

17:18

question, right? You know, I know

17:20

we saw him in a sales

17:22

force ad, we saw him in

17:24

Uber, Eats, did it deliver on

17:26

the message? Was it as memorable?

17:29

I will say what I remembered

17:31

more was that Matthew McKenna, he

17:33

was in the spots and that

17:35

he was everywhere. So I think

17:37

you have to think about the

17:39

brands that got celebrity right was

17:41

where there was a deep. connection

17:43

to the brand. Like Ben Affleck

17:45

continuing to talk about Duncan Donuts

17:48

makes sense. I was scanning through

17:50

some of the best and worst

17:52

quick list. already up online USA

17:54

Today, New York Times, Fast Company,

17:56

and one of the ads that

17:58

was showing up on all of

18:00

them, which a little bit surprised

18:02

me, was the Stella Artois ad

18:04

with David Beckham and Matt Damon.

18:07

I thought that spot was good

18:09

and speaking to a specific demographic.

18:11

So this, I think brands decided,

18:13

am I going to talk to

18:15

everybody, or am I going to

18:17

talk to my people? And I

18:19

thought that was one of the

18:21

spots that was... talking to my

18:23

people but welcoming more people into

18:25

the conversation. Would I say it

18:28

was great? I don't think it

18:30

was really memorable. I don't think

18:32

it was really as relevant. So

18:34

it will be interesting to see.

18:36

I don't know that you're going

18:38

to get, for example, that celebrity

18:40

usage versus, you know, some of

18:42

the other ones we've talked about.

18:44

I don't know if you get

18:47

that same. that same multiplier effect,

18:49

that same continued conversation for a

18:51

significant period of time after the

18:53

day after the Super Bowl, right?

18:55

Okay, everyone's writing about it today,

18:57

it's Monday, but is anyone going

18:59

to be talking about it on

19:01

Friday? I don't think so. I

19:03

will tell you, another use of

19:06

celebrity that I really like was

19:08

the Michelob Ultra, because I thought

19:10

that was really smart with Willam

19:12

Defoe and Catherine O'Hara. You know,

19:14

pickleball is having a moment in

19:16

American culture. So I actually like

19:18

that spot a lot because I

19:20

thought this is a spot that

19:22

is connecting what is happening in

19:24

culture in a different way. And

19:27

it was also nice to see

19:29

Willem Defoe and Catherine O'Hara, kind

19:31

of, you know, at the top

19:33

of their game. And the spot,

19:35

one of our Autodesk customers played

19:37

a role in this, the mill.

19:39

So Willem Defoe, Catherine O'Hara, the

19:41

athletes, they were all in different

19:43

places and Autodesk visual effects. story.

19:46

So I thought it was it's

19:48

a nice way also showing how

19:50

technology and the magic behind the

19:52

magic which often doesn't get talked

19:54

about you know in the ads

19:56

is still playing a role. Technology

19:58

is having a moment right now,

20:00

right? Literally, physically, making people, connecting

20:02

people together digitally, and seeing that

20:04

come into life in an ad

20:07

was quite powerful. I'm curious, if

20:09

you had any reactions to the

20:11

open AI ad, we haven't had

20:13

an ad before. Open AI. I

20:15

entered the chat at just the

20:17

right time. Let's put it that

20:19

way. I think the simplicity, the

20:21

anonymity of their ad really reflected

20:23

how dominant they are today. You

20:26

know, I thought there was something

20:28

cool about the pointillism and essentially

20:30

how they intentionally enlisted human animators,

20:32

right, to design the art that

20:34

kept us guessing whose ad it

20:36

was. Right. That ad itself, I

20:38

thought it perfectly embodied. its message

20:40

that AI amplifies human creativity and

20:42

human ingenuity. There was no other

20:45

ad like it. So in terms

20:47

of memorability, in terms of being

20:49

relevant to that, you know, intersection

20:51

between humans and technology, and I

20:53

think the final moment that Chad

20:55

GPT appeared on the screen, it

20:57

felt like a perfect mic drop.

20:59

You alluded to this a little

21:01

bit earlier, Ron, but I wanted

21:03

to ask you about, you know,

21:06

it's February Black History Month, and

21:08

I kept reflecting on how... white

21:10

the ads were? Like the celebrities

21:12

and the feel, whereas the halftime

21:14

show, which you referred to earlier,

21:16

was like a celebration of being

21:18

black, and it's almost like they

21:20

were for two different audiences? Isn't

21:22

that interesting? It is Black History

21:25

Month, happy Black History Month. I

21:27

think that Kendrick Lamar did a

21:29

wonderful job. of reflecting on our

21:31

history, helping us remember where we're

21:33

coming from, but also reminding us

21:35

of where we're going. His music

21:37

is like poetry, it is verse,

21:39

the words are powerful, and some

21:41

of it. is of course tongue

21:44

and cheek fun between him and

21:46

him and Drake, but some of

21:48

it really is speaking to the

21:50

the black American experience. You know,

21:52

we have had a challenging past

21:54

and even now our struggles are

21:56

not over. We are still very

21:58

much in the middle of that

22:00

struggle. And so I thought the

22:02

half-time show really spoke to that.

22:05

And I think that a lot

22:07

of brands were afraid to do

22:09

anything. that could be seen as

22:11

making a political statement. And I

22:13

think that is sad, because black

22:15

Americans are part of America. Our

22:17

black history is part of American

22:19

history. And I don't think brands

22:21

should be afraid to put black

22:24

people in their spot. They're not

22:26

afraid to take black people's money,

22:28

right? In fact, they want us

22:30

to purchase their products. I don't

22:32

think that brands should be afraid

22:34

of showcasing their diverse. Because, you

22:36

know, customer base in a spot.

22:38

Now I do think brands should

22:40

be thoughtful about what statement, if

22:43

any, they want to make. And

22:45

we don't want to be cause

22:47

led. I've been saying this for

22:49

a long time now. We want

22:51

to be purpose led, right? Because

22:53

when you're cause led, you're just,

22:55

you don't know what is important

22:57

to you. And so you are

22:59

just over here and over there

23:01

and and you're commenting on things

23:04

that you have no business commenting

23:06

on. I always, if we're not

23:08

doing something about it, if it's

23:10

not core and fundamental to our

23:12

business, we are not talking about

23:14

this as a brand. because it

23:16

makes no sense for us to

23:18

talk about it. But I do

23:20

hope that, you know, CMOs out

23:23

there aren't afraid to have anybody

23:25

that is representative of their customer

23:27

base in their spots, right? It

23:29

is okay to have your spots

23:31

reflect your customer base. In fact,

23:33

it is advisable to have your

23:35

spots reflect your customer base. Of

23:37

course, you do need to pay

23:39

attention and make sure that the

23:41

message is going to... resonate with

23:44

the audience. The ad that I

23:46

felt like sort of deftly navigated

23:48

a line between each side of

23:50

our political divide, surprised me a

23:52

little bit, was Jeep. It's like

23:54

you see the car, you see

23:56

the waving flags and soldiers with

23:58

families, which, you know, makes sense

24:00

for Jeep. But then you also

24:03

have Harrison Ford doing this voiceover

24:05

about our differences can be our

24:07

strength. you know and then they

24:09

have sort of the funny reference

24:11

to his name at the end

24:13

but it was kind of trying

24:15

to appeal to whatever wherever you

24:17

were you might feel like that

24:19

ad was for you. That was

24:22

the only commercial that my husband

24:24

commented on and you know he's

24:26

a marine so I'm always interested

24:28

to hear his perspective. It was

24:30

one of the few spots that

24:32

did unity well because I think

24:34

it didn't it didn't fake it.

24:36

Nobody likes inauthentic unity, right? Because

24:38

it's almost, inauthentic unity actually highlights

24:40

our division. Let's be real. But

24:43

I thought they did, that spot

24:45

did unity well because it really

24:47

spoke to where we are. It

24:49

allowed you to see yourself in

24:51

the spot. And it also, I

24:53

think, made us just like reflect

24:55

and think, like, okay, there is

24:57

so much more that unites us

24:59

than divides us. That's just a

25:02

fact, right? Right. Our human experience.

25:04

There's so much more we have

25:06

in common. into, and I think

25:08

that spot gave us permission to

25:10

do just that. And I think

25:12

at the end of the day,

25:14

you have to ask yourself, what

25:16

do I want to say? Who

25:18

do I want to say it

25:21

to? And how long do I

25:23

want to have them think on

25:25

it? And I think the brands

25:27

that answered those three questions, well,

25:29

got it right. And the ones

25:31

that didn't. How to miss because

25:33

this year I think a lot

25:35

of brands spend a lot of

25:37

money and they're not necessarily going

25:39

to get the ROI because when

25:42

you play it safe and you

25:44

blend like I you know my

25:46

creative agency when they always say

25:48

boring is bad for business. And

25:50

it is true. No one remembers

25:52

who you are, no one remembers

25:54

what you did, no one remembers

25:56

what you said, and so you

25:58

have just spent millions, in some

26:01

cases, tens of millions, and you

26:03

don't have anything to show for

26:05

it. So I do think that

26:07

the brands that ask the right

26:09

questions, that answered it the right

26:11

way. did a good job. I

26:13

also want to give a shout

26:15

out to the brands who maybe

26:17

said, you know what, maybe this

26:20

isn't the Super Bowl that I'm

26:22

going to put my, my spot

26:24

it. Because when I ask myself

26:26

those three questions, the answer is

26:28

not a Super Bowl spot. That's

26:30

okay too. But you know, the

26:32

Super Bowl is the big leagues,

26:34

right? And so I also want

26:36

to give credit to everybody who

26:38

came because at the end of

26:41

the day you were in the

26:43

arena, you were in the hats

26:45

off to you. Well, this has

26:47

been great. Always great talking to

26:49

you. Thanks so much for doing

26:51

it. Thank you so much. We

26:53

are going to do this again.

26:55

I love this. This is so

26:57

fun. You have hot tanks with

27:00

Bob and Dara of what happened

27:02

at the Super Bowl. You could

27:04

tune in again. The

27:08

Super Bowl is such a high-wire

27:10

act for brands, the risks and

27:13

our wide calculations of spending millions

27:15

on a brief stretch of air

27:17

time. As Dar explained, some brands

27:19

played it safe in terms of

27:21

subject matter, but many of those

27:23

overcompensated in creative ways, which was

27:25

an unsuccessful way to distract from

27:27

a lack of message. Her distinction

27:30

between being purpose-led versus cause-led really

27:32

resonated with me. Brands shouldn't necessarily

27:34

speak out on everything, but at

27:36

the same time, a brand isn't

27:38

effective if it doesn't stand for

27:40

anything. That holds true not just

27:42

at the Super Bowl, but all

27:44

year long. To the Eagles, Jeep,

27:47

Nike, and all the brands that

27:49

managed to thread the needle at

27:51

this year's big game, congratulations. And

27:53

to the Chiefs and all the

27:55

brands that didn't quite hit the

27:57

mark or didn't even try. Well,

27:59

better luck next

28:02

year. year. I'm Bob Thanks

28:04

for listening listening.

28:06

Rapid response is a wait

28:08

what original. I'm Bob Safian.

28:10

Our executive producer is

28:13

is Our producer is Alex

28:15

Morris. producer is

28:17

producer is is

28:19

Alex Morris assistant

28:21

producer is

28:23

Masha and Mastering by

28:25

mastering by Aaron

28:27

Bastinelli Thee music

28:29

by Ryan Holliday.

28:31

had a of

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podcast isly Tom more

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For more, visit.com show.com.