Super Bowl Canadian Ad Retention Focus Group with the Family

It started with my hilarious 8-year-old asking me at dinner last night, "Mom, what do you do?". My quick-witted 10-year-old intercepted my answer, "Mom does Marketing Analytics. You know, Miiiiiiiiix Analytics, duh." To which her sister replied, "Yeah, but what is marketing?" Our 5-year-old felt the need to jump in at that point, "it's, like, ads." (Thanks to 'covid screentime' she has learned the definition of ads at an early age!)

I tried to explain the 5 Ps to my family. It was flying over everyone's heads. Know your audience, right? So I switched the discussion to the recent Super Bowl LV to explain what Marketing Promotion and advertising are all about. I asked the family, what were your favorite Super Bowl ads?

Here are their responses, aka the findings in my little home-run ad retention focus group:

5-year-old: "The whipped cream ad."

Me: "Oh, Bressert, yes you love candy for breakfast so I see why you liked that one."

8-year-old: "Not the car ads, they're boring."

Me: "Even Edgar Scissorhands? You didn't get that throwback?" [No, we have not watched Edward Scissorhands yet since it's PG-13]

8-year-old: "I liked the Disney tailor for the new movie, Raya and The Last Dragon."

10-year-old: "Wassup".

Me: "Well, that one wasn't shown on the Super Bowl, it was from '99, and it was for beer...anything else...?"

10-year-old: "Okay, then the Bubly one."

Me: "Yes, I really like Pepsi's Michael 'Bubly' commercials too."

Husband: "Reddit's 5-second ad".

Me: "Wait, what? Was this even aired in Canada, or did you read about this on Reddit?" [Truthfully, this one scores huge points for getting viewers to pause the game to read the long copy. Without modeling this, I'm sure it scored terrific upper funnel ROI.

Husband: "Also, Wealthsimple's Tax campaign. They've come along way since they were just starting out and I'm impressed with how they've grown."

Me: "Definitely, Wealthsimples acceleration in the market is incredible. I also loved Tide's The Jason Alexander Hoodie".

Me: "I also loved Tide's The Jason Alexander Hoodie. It is exactly how I feel about any children's clothes that have been worn to school for even one day."

To end this part of our family dinner discussion, my 5-year-old jumped back in:

5-year-old: "and Mommy's Miix ad."

Me: "You are getting extra hugs tonight, even though it technically wasn't shown on the Super Bowl."

There are a few lessons learned here. First, even though Canadians may have been vocal this week about not being able to view US ad content during the live Super Bowl, we still get to experience great ads to enjoy as families or individuals. Glass half-full people! Second, traditional TV spots still have the potential to generate awareness, consideration, sales, and affinity for brands. Third, know your VIPs and the power of amplification through your network. I've spent in total less than $2k on my Super Bowl ad in production and agency fees, and while I'm so glad it scored 2nd place in the mind of my 5-year-old, this marketing spend has been worth every $1 for the return is it getting in building awareness for my new brand.

So, what is marketing? The simple answer to teach my kids is right off google search: the action of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

If you are a business struggling with how to get a great ROI from your marketing budget reach out and let's have a chat.

~ Hilary