These Marketing Ideas That Didn't Need the Super Bowl to Win

It’s a reasonable bet that most senior-level marketers would like—even if it’s just once—to lead the creation of a Super Bowl ad. After all, who wouldn’t want to work with a budget that lets them drop $7 million on the most prime TV time there is? What CMO doesn’t dream of having 100 million-plus consumers riveted while their brand struts its stuff for 30 seconds? The vast majority of marketing chiefs won’t get this chance, of course. Fox only had around 80 in-game units for sale in Super Bowl 57—and the world contains some 500,000 brands, according to Nielsen data. For those on the other side of the velvet rope, however, there is consoling news: The marketing that brands do for the other 364 days of the year outside of the Super Bowl—those mid-sized, sometimes low-budget ideas that pop into the heads of capable brands and agency executives all the time—can easily be more effective in attracting and retaining customers, anyway. Consider the results of a recent study conducted by Sol Marketing, which probed the reasons why consumers become attached (“irrationally loyal” is the term) to brands. According to Sol founder and CEO Deb Gabor, a good advertising spot is effective in telling consumers about your brand—but that alone isn’t enough to win them over. “Irrational loyalty doesn’t come from knowing about a brand—it comes from actually experiencing a brand,” Gabor said. “You can skip spending a bazillion bucks on Super Bowl advertising to go straight to stimulating usage and giving people an actual experience with your brand. That gets you closer to being able to create that condition of irrational loyalty, [and] for reasonable costs.” With this idea in mind, we looked at some of the more memorable marketing efforts of the last year—complete campaigns, one-off events, pop-ups and experiential activations—and decided to revisit six of them, all with the aim of demonstrating that creativity, accessibility and engagement still matter more than exposure alone. That’s not to say that Super Bowl spots are just costly blitzes with nothing much to teach the rest of us. To the contrary, said Rudy Mawer, a serial investor and marketer who’s relaunched legacy brands including Pier 1 and Linens ’N Things. “By carefully examining the elements that made [a Super Bowl] ad successful, you can accurately replicate and re-create components that capture people’s attention,” Mawer said. “With the right strategies, businesses can re-create the excitement of a Super Bowl ad any day of the year.” Here are six examples of brands that did just that—and proved that while it might be tougher than ever to reach and engage consumers outside of Big Game spots, it's still possible to craft marketing touchdowns across a wide variety of platforms and experiences. Snoop Dogg's living wine label Snoop Dogg fans in Australia got some bad news in 2022: The legendary rapper canceled all of his tour dates outside the United States. But that didn’t mean fans Down Under (or those who failed to score tickets stateside) couldn’t see Snoop perform. In fact, for $17.99, he’d do a little number in your living room. Well, sorta. In an ongoing spotlight of its partnership with Snoop, the Australian-owned 19 Crimes wine brand debuted what it called the world’s first rapping wine label. Oenophiles who purchased a bottle of the new Snoop Cali Gold and scanned the QR code with their smartphone got to see the Doggfather come to life on the label, reprising his 1993 hit “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?” Engineered by San Francisco-based experiential content shop Tactic, this performance—moving lips, nodding head, blinking eyes, the works—was made possible by augmented reality technology. Treasury Wine Estates, parent of 19 Crimes, posted 2022 revenues of $2.5 billion AUS (about $1.8 billion U.S.) Could they afford a Super Bowl ad? Probably. But why bother with that when you’ve already created a serial “living wine label” with a fan base of its own? “When we first launched back in 2012, we caught consumers’ attention with our unique labels featuring historical artists and scholars who received punishment by transportation to Australia,” 19 Crimes global vp John Wardley told Adweek. (He’s referring to British convicts sent to Australia in the 19th century as a sentence in lieu of the death penalty.) “We found a unique way for their stories to be heard through the first augmented reality wine labels ... in an authentic way that resonated with consumers,” Wardley said. —R.K. A Happy Meal for grown-ups For the record, McDonald’s is no stranger to spending on the Super Bowl, having placed some 44 spots between 1980 and 2022. The Golden Arches even stole the show in 1993's telecast with “The Showdown,” its minutelong spot featuring Larry Bird playing Michael Jordan for his Big Mac. (They played to a draw, and nobody knows who got that burger.) But as McDonald’s learned as recently as last year’s Super Bowl—in which it hired the now-radioactive Ye for a cameo—there are safer and more durable ways to spend on marketing. In fact, it proved as much in October with what became known as the adult Happy Meal. Themed after the retro-hipster clothing brand for which it’s named, the Cactus Plant Flea Market Box featured grown-up menu items (10-piece McNuggets, large fries, etc.) and thematically suitable premiums, as well: McDonaldland characters like Grimace, along with a newcomer named Cactus Buddy. (The figures sported four eyeballs each, a Cactus Plant signature.) This meal deal was clearly a nostalgia play. Kids who were, say, 10 years old when the Happy Meal debuted in 1979 are 55 now. “We're taking one of the most nostalgic McDonald's experiences,” explained CMO Tariq Hassan at the time, “and literally repackaging it … for our adult fans.” And in the view of CMO adviser Lola Bakare, author of the upcoming book Responsible Marketing, it was a deft maneuver. “What I loved most about the adult Happy Meals was that they tapped into two powerful consumer insights—interest in the democratization of luxury-like indulgence, and cultural nostalgia,” Bakare said. “Like all the most successful creative marketing initiatives, two seemingly disparate ideas came together to create something fully new and urgently desirable.” Make that still desirable. Though the promo ran only a month, a set of four figures now sells for around $200 on eBay.—R.K. Taylor Swift reverse-engineers virality With 11 Grammys on her shelf, Taylor Swift obviously knows how to give her army of devotees what they want to hear. And in a social media landscape that rewards fanaticism, Swift also understood that the job of generating buzz was one she had to take on, too. Daniel Sander, chief commercial officer at music marketing platform Feature.fm, called Swift’s strategy a masterclass in connecting with a target audience. Swift already had a history of using Easter eggs and hint-laden messages to gin up speculation about new material. But the varied, carefully timed marketing for her 2022 album Midnights exploited those tactics to the fullest, satisfying her fans’ desire for connection, suspense and personalization. Fifty-four days before the record’s Oct. 21 release, Swift used her acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards to announce that new material was on the way. “I’ll tell you more at midnight,” she said—sending millions of Swifties rushing to the artist’s social networks at the stroke of 12 o'clock, when she disclosed more details. Rather than announce all of Midnights’ new song titles at once, Swift created a 13-part TikTok series that revealed them one at a time. Billboard ads featuring cryptic morsels of lyrics (for example, “I should not be left to my own devices”) built anticipation even higher. And when Midnights finally appeared, fans discovered that Swift had also released the material on four varicolored album covers that, when assembled as quadrants, created a clockface. (Unsurprisingly, the vocalist also sold a mechanism that fans could use to turn their albums into working clocks.) With lyrics like “It’s me/I’m the problem, it’s me,” which immediately went viral on TikTok, Swift has a proven understanding of the relatability and self-deprecating humor that fits the platform. Sara Wilson, the founder of digital strategy firm SW Projects, emphasized how Swift engaged with Gen Z by reverse-engineering virality—generating attention in stages instead of letting it explode all at once. “She has intimate knowledge on how conversations unfold on social,” Wilson said. “She is really savvy with releasing clips and understands how to drive excitement.”—E.L. Axe sniffs out a metaverse game Axe could easily have paid young male influencers to assure other members of its core demographic that buying a can of its body spray will make them more attractive. (And with a $128 billion company like Unilever as its parent, it could easily buy time in the Super Bowl, too, as it did in 2014.) Instead, in 2022 the brand recruited leading Fortnite streamer Kyle Giersdorf (known by gamers as “Bugha”) to make an entrance into the metaverse that didn’t feel like an entertainment interruption. Inspired by conversations on social media that pointed out the similarities between Axe and Med-Mist, a Fortnite spray that heals players down on their luck, the brand created a Capture the Flag game set on a custom virtual island. Jamie Brooks, Axe’s global brand manager, said the brand took its time to create a high-concept online experience instead of “rushing to be the first” deodorant to market in the metaverse. Paul Dyer, CEO of marketing agency Lippe Taylor, said Axe’s activation derives much of its impact from the same force that tends to favor Super Bowl spots: “costly signaling,” or a way of convincing consumers that a campaign’s high price tag means it is worthy of their attention or approval. Karl Keating, brand and creative strategy lead at creativity agency Hijinx, observed that Axe skillfully adopted the achievement-based gamification model that provokes consumer anticipation and engagement. “Being playful with consumers,” he said, “is critical to marketing.” “Gaming is a key building block for the metaverse, driven by communities hungry for new virtual experiences,” added Brad May, vice president of strategy at The Reach Agency, who lauded Axe for deepening community ties by working with a creator instead of a game developer. “Gamers are eager to engage with the brands that help build their worlds in authentic ways."—E.L. Coors Light chills out Miami A generation ago, Coors Light billed itself as “the silver bullet [that] won’t slow you down.” Which was fine for the time when Coors Light’s biggest problem was Bud Light. But domestic beer consumption has been slipping for 12 years now, a dynamic that’s led to some necessary scrambling. In 2019, Coors Light moved the focus away from calorie counts with a new slogan: "The beer made to chill." Not coincidentally, “chill” worked in both senses, to wit: This beer is cold, and it's made for hanging out. “In a world where millennial and Gen Z drinkers have more and more choices,” vp of marketing Ryan Reis said at the time, “we have one job to do: Give them a new reason to reach for Coors Light.” Considering the concerns and priorities of these generations, however, those reasons have also come to include the environment—which led to a project called Chillboards. Locating a 12-building apartment complex in Miami whose flat roofs broil those who live beneath them, the brand (with a creative assist from adam&eveDDB, DDB Chicago and Nord DDB) covered the tar paper with a reflective white paint that dropped temperatures by 50 degrees. “Chillboards” appeared in a custom font that covered 96% of the roofs, which were painted over completely after the promo ran. While the messaging was invisible to anyone on the street, Chillboards turned the necessary heads on social and earned media, which helped position the company not just as a brewer, but also as an environmental steward. “I like the attempted hacking of attention,” said Dustin York, associate professor of communication at St. Louis’ Maryville University. “These rooftops didn’t get the drive-by eyeballs of a traditional billboard [but] received valuable shared media exposure on social media that may have provided a better ROI than digital ads.”—R.K. Ugg gives Gen Z the feels It’s no easy feat to take a sheepskin boot introduced in 1978 and make it trendy—especially for twentysomethings whose parents wore them. But Ugg did just that with the Feel House, a collection of pop-up stores where the vibe was just as important as the footwear. With addresses in Brooklyn, N.Y., Seoul, South Korea, and Chengdu, China, Ugg’s Feel Houses were technically stores, but the experiential elements are what drew the attention. Displaying work by local artists, the temporary sites featured live music performances, spaces for meditation and an overall focus on wellness. Customers entered the Brooklyn location through a “sensory tunnel” to reach a “cozy and calming space to reset and recharge.” The industrial space also boasted turquoise sofas, pink carpeting and a profusion of plants. Steve Miller, ecd, svp and partner at Canada-based agency Fuse Create, observed that whatever Ugg might be lacking in style credentials, it made up for by creating an “emotional brand status” in the pop-up locations, using “calming activations” to weave its clunky profile into the larger concept of self-care. Ugg’s existing influencer strategy, which began with endorsements from Gigi and Bella Hadid, carried through with a roster of notables including designer Ella Emhoff and actor-model Evan Mock, whose personal appearances drew press coverage while also adding fashion credibility. By recruiting celebrities to stand behind a modest and affordable product, Ugg was also taking a page from the McDonald's Celebrity Meals and US Weekly's “They’re Just Like Us!” playbook. “Beginning with the top of the pyramid of influence also creates something to react to and brings everyone in the conversation to participate in this trend together,” said Michelle Goad, operating partner at consumer business investment firm TCG. Carole Diarra, global vp of marketing at Ugg, previously told Adweek that the goal of Feel House was to create an immersive experience that built brand equity while engaging a community of “multi-hyphenated creatives.” Wilson, who dubbed Feel House as “TikTok ASMR come to life,” said the brand understood that playing off 1970s nostalgia was not enough. Ugg had made itself relevant to internet culture and a diverse array of consumers who are looking for more than just warm boots. “Ugg is a neutral style, so it can act as a kind of blank slate,” said Wilson. “It is quite literally a platform for self-expression, unlike a sneaker, which serves the same purpose but telegraphs identity in a much more concrete way.”—E.L. This story is part of Adweek’s Advertising Redefined digital package, which spotlights all the ways that the industry is evolving as brands face greater challenges than ever in reaching consumers.

Audience Engagement

6 Touchdown Marketing Campaigns That Didn't Need the Super Bowl

With a bit of risk-taking, brands can create Big Game buzz the rest of the year as well

Emmy Liederman

Robert Klara

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Emmy Liederman

Robert Klara