First things first, my membership, the SEO Revolution, is closed and I highly doubt it will ever reopen. I like the people that are in there right now. So, please don’t email saying that you want to join and can’t. That’s on purpose. :-)
Okay, let’s talk about effective ads. There is a reason why people who hate football watch the Super Bowl. The commercials. Why? Well, since the spots cost so damn much the companies actually put some thought into them … and since there is so much competition, each tries to outdo the other. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t.
Year in and year out, the industry that has the best ads is the beer industry. I don’t believe it is because they have the best ad agencies, I believe it is because the ads always focus on one thing: emotion.
Beer commercials are known to make us laugh, smile, feel a sense of belonging and, on occasion, cry.
Even though there were a few really good beer commercials during the game yesterday, they didn’t stand a chance to Google’s ad. If my memory is correct, this is the first ever ad by Google during the Super Bowl and they nailed it. How did they nail it? They told a story.
There is an “urban legend” that Earnest Hemmingway was challenged in a bar to “write a story in seven words or less” … he wrote:
For Sale. Baby Shoes. Used Once.
That is emotion and it tells a story. But the key is, it tells a story in just a few words, which, most humans, don’t have the skill set to achieve. We go on and on and on and on …
Ugh.
Then, along comes Google. And they not only tell a love story in 52 seconds. They do so without narration and completely from their search results.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/9301477[/vimeo]
When I saw this, I was taken aback. Did a Google Search just make me cry? Yes it did. Damn them. Maybe if I rub the side of my head no one at the party will notice that I am wiping off tears too…
I was reminded of a commercial Haagen Dazs did back in 2005, which was equally as powerful. It didn’t tell a story, per se, but it told a story of how they made their ice cream and it too was emotional.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/9301442[/vimeo]
Notice how both use words on the screen instead of voice overs or actors to drive their point home. They also have one thing in common, a beautifully arranged piano piece. Take out the piano and the emotional effect is greatly diminished.
Where do you go from here? Hang tight. I’ll be sharing my “Framing the Offer” concept that I learned from Mark Joyner later this week which ties in nicely what Haagen Dazs and Google have done.
And, as Dave Taylor pointed out at the Super Bowl party he attended, the next search in Google’s ad should have been “french divorce law”.
Nice.
Update: The reports coming out have typical Google users reacting as follows:
1) I can search for coffee shops when I’m on vacation?
2) I can check the status of a flight with Google?
3) I can basically search for anything on my mind or a problem and find the solution …
In short, in 52 seconds Google showed off many of the features of its search that most people had no idea it could do. Searches for things “Paris Related” are off the charts today. :-)
Scott says
Excellent example of emotionally based advertising. Tony Robbins pointed this out in the old AT&T Commercials. They make you feel less than for not calling your mother then AT&T gives you a path back to redemption if only you picked up the phone and spoke to your mother.
We all can take a look at this. I already have ideas for simple but powerful video skinning ad. Great inspiration
Jerry West says
Scott,
That is what is key – using effective ads to gain insight and inspiration to target your own market.
M says
What makes you say this ad did so well? You may have liked it but it was in the bottom half of the admeter rankings which means not everyone thought it was amazing. Also, what did the ad accomplish? Who doesn’t know about google? They already have one of the top recognized, top ranked and most trusted brands in the world. It didn’t try and convince anyone to use them over yahoo or bing or otherwise build their business directly. So what exactly what the point? Maybe you can shed some light on that part of the equation.
Jerry West says
M: You make solid points and I can see where a lot of people could be confused as there wasn’t “an offer” to go along with the ad. But think about this … what is everyone talking about today? Google. They own the market. There is no need for them to convince anyone to use them over Yahoo! or Bing. People are already doing that. Not all ads are done to gain market share or to increase sales. Some are just for PR moves, to initiate conversations. Getting people to talk about you is success in my book – and Google greatly achieved that. The amount of press they are receiving over the ad was well worth the investment … and showing off the sheer power of their search wasn’t bad either.
I feel the ad was also effective in the sense that just because you are on top isn’t the time to get cocky and think no one can topple you – you stay in the public’s conversation in a positive way … which is something Microsoft failed to do during their dominating years.
Also, I should mention, one of the members of the SEO Revolution was ranked #1 for one of the phrases typed in during the ad. Now THAT is freaking awesome. :-)
Brian says
I couldn’t see the end of the Google ad very well because of the tears welling up in my eyes.
Sorry for sounding like a wimp, but that commercial was simply moving.
Debi says
Dave Taylor — such a romantic! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the ad-vids, Jerry, and I look forward to your “Framing the Offer” advice.
I’d not seen the HD ad before, and its message rings true: what we choose to leave out is as important as what we include. Interesting, too, how that ties back to your intro paragraph here, eh? And my to do list… and… etc.
Jerry West says
Actually, Dave didn’t say it, someone at the party he attended did.
And yes, what you leave out in your life is equally important as what you put in. That is a point most miss.
John says
One thing I noticed on MANY of the SB commercials was that they lead with a story as their hook before even mentioning their offer/brand (and sometimes the offer/brand wasn’t mentioned until the last 1/5 of the commercial or the last few seconds). Either this is a new trend or I just haven’t noticed it in past years because I’m more in tune with “offers/ads” I see on the tube.
The more time I spend creating offers and teach my coaching clients how to setup/build their own offers it seems I now have this “2nd language” and ability to recognize all the components of a well written offer.
I guess if you’re around it enough you eventually pick it up… like learning a 2nd language by spending time in the country of that second language.
Interesting… :-)
John
Kristof says
Hi, I agree with you when comes to attaching emotions to brand or a product. This can take you really far . When people buy any product it’s more about how the product will make them feel, rather than what it will actually do.
I disagree with you on Google ad. It was too complicated and too fast. Quick copy and pasting within 50 sec frame made me think all the time in order to get the idea. I think ads works better if they don`t make ppl think- just react.
Cheers
Pat Marcello says
Amazing what some sensory images and a little evocative music can do, eh?
Totally beats the hype.
Thanks for sharing these, Jerry. Not a football fan, so didn’t see the Google ad, but the message is very clear in both of these ads. The technique is so worth paying attention to, especially since everything we’re doing is shifting toward video these days. Put the concepts you pointed out with what Andy’s teaching right now and wow! The impact can be very, very powerful.
And almost like a smack upside the head, so simple.
Gave me tons of good ideas. :) You rock!
Brian Marsh says
The reason why Coke spends a Billion dollars a year on advertising isn’t brand awareness, and neither is the Google ad. People don’t like to use/buy things they aren’t sure of, or don’t like. They buy things they trust, things they’re FAMILIAR with – things that give them a warm and fuzzy when they think of them. That’s why marketers spend billions putting their name in front of you again and again and again and why tying your product or service to good emotions is always a brilliant idea. Hey, wait, Jerry did you just tie yourself to something warm and fuzzy? Dang. Next thing you know we’ll see puppy dogs and babies on your blog. :-)
Michael says
I’m not agreeing with Jerry just to agree with him so here is my take on it.
Google ad had nothing much to say… and not much of a story
that any of us are unfamiliar with…
We ALL know you can search anything.
They hawked on Paris a bit overboard…
A good guess would be that 99.9% of their audience is not probably into Paris
or planning a trip there… no offence to the people there or anything like that
but really… the only story here is you can search anything to your heart’s
desire using Google…
SO… again… we all know this…
Therefore, what was the commercial about?…
Nothing but placement, being there, showing a presence, more Google saturation…
that’s all.
Sorry Jerry… where’s the emotion in that?…
Kristof says
I agree with Mike. Google ad didn`t work.
Troy says
I agree with M. It was a lovely piece of video but like a lot of the ads they do nothing but increase brand awareness and even that is arguably lacking. I guess the whole idea with the ads these days and the power of the web is all of the social commentry that will follow the game, such as this. In Google’s case, the sites talking about the ad probably have users who are already heavy Google users. For the people who aren’t familiar with it the ad really doesn’t say what it does or is…I dunno. I just think that the people who aren’t using Google (which I would assume the ad was aimed at) need a bit more education of the product rather than brand awareness.
Rich says
Overall, I thought most of the commercials during this year’s Super Bowl were pretty weak, with the exception of Googe’s. If you happened to notice, they seemd to show sites that Google apparently likes or at least approves highly enough to show up in the top of their SERPs. Perhaps a subtle (subliminal) message to Adwords advertisers and SEO folks?
Peter Buick says
Nice piece Jerry.
Can’t wait to hear what you say about framing.
If any one wants easy license moving piano music, please skype me or titter @ReikiMusic.
Sorry for the plug, but if you could hea my piano song right now, you’d let me off and weep.
Enjoy your jounrey.
peter
Jon says
Thanks for posting this – some interesting comments below too.
At first I thought Google were worried about Bing (or Yahoo etc.) – otherwise why would they bother advertising?
But after reading some of the comments you guys have made and thinking about it a little more, I thought… Google are being very clever here.
Search engines are search engines. They perform a task for you. Routine stuff… even pretty boring in a way.
All of a sudden, there’s a story that we can identify with – one that generates an emotion – and (in most cases at least) this is what makes an impact on human beings.
While the story may appeal to women more than men (since women are generally perceived to be more in touch with their emotions) it is still very effective (and anyway, women use search engines too!)
Anyway, this comment is already too long so I’ll end with this. After I watched the ad, I found myself smiling. I felt good. And there’s a good chance my subconscious will trigger this emotion when I next go to search a term on Google. An emotional connection has been made.
And how many times does the heart rule over the head?
It’s as though Google is at the heart of your journey through life. They want to mean something to us on a deeper level.
Do I buy it? No! It’s a marketing strategy and they’re up to something… though maybe I’m just a little cynical… :o)
P.S. I think they should spend some money working out how to censor the awful language and comments on YouTube, which are visible to any child across the world.
Duane says
Amongst all the crap superbowl commercials (the ones that make all White
males purposely look fat, lowlife and stupid)
The Google commercial really was a hit…
(I missed it while watching SB…)
It’s a good idea to boycott all companies whose commercials purposely deride
White males..
Would you want your White pre-adolescent son being brainwashed by this subvertive
crap?
No one but White males are subject to this derision…
(A negro is always brilliant, the boss, in shape, in charge, a doctor
etc… in TV commercials. But we know the truth…)…
Morgan says
Who cares how good Google is and isn’t at their ads, the fact is that they are advertising through mass media on why people should use them, therefore making their branding awareness even bigger to the masses, which means more people will come online and use Google, and since we are in the seo game of getting top rankings for Google, that’s extra traffic for everyone.
I love it every time I see Google being used in a movie as that means more and more people will use Google due to their awareness.
Keep focusing on getting top rankings in Google and let Google do their job of getting you more traffic through their media advertising.
My hat off to Google for their creativity and wanting to help us get more exposure through their search results.
All the bet everyone! and best to Big G too!
P.S Micheal, you obviously missed the boat on what Google was conveying… with the help of Google, boy meets girl, the couple pursue a long distance relationship, couple move in together, couple get married and couple have a baby, and all with the help of Google giving them quality search results, try doing that from your daily news paper and see how far you get.
singapore-seo-guy says
I think I am more moved by the ice cream than the Google Search simple advertisment…but that’s what Google does best! Always keeping it simple with the exception of some hard rules on their Adword platform…
Broadcasting School says
It wasn’t until coming over here did I get what the Google ad was about. I suspect some others were similar to me.
I missed the one part about long distance relationships, which was the main connector to the rest of the ad. After that, the rest didn’t resonate any more than Google being a search engine.
That’s the problem with ads that deprive you of one your senses – hearing. If the ad requires strictly reading, it throws all it’s eggs in one basket, counting on the fact that everybody will be reading what they have to say.
Especially on Super Bowl Sunday, where parties are prevalent, I also suspect many had been drinking, which may have further impaired their ability to follow along.
For these reasons (and I wasn’t even drinking), I can’t say I agree that Google “nailed it”.
Jerry West says
Hmmm … you “weren’t drinking” yet your name is “Broadcasting School” eh? Just because I allow “do follow” on the links on my blog doesn’t mean you get to Spam. Link removed.
Andy Beard says
Have you ever watched some of the videos made by Scott Stratten (Unmarketing.com) for social media?
They are effectively Superbowl Ads similar to Haagen Dazs with a strong message and call to action.
Jerry West says
Thanks Andy for the great tip … I hadn’t heard of Scott Stratten before.
Inisheer says
I’m afraid all you Jerry West readers are too internet-savvy to understand the value of the Google ad to the Super Bowl’s vast audience. Putting aside the emotional effect of the ad, there still lots and lots of people out there in the U.S. who don’t comprehend more than 10% of what you can do on Google. I would not be surprised, for example, if a significant number of viewers didn’t know that you can get foreign phrases translated on it. Google already has the real webheads – they’re trying to reach the rest of the big world with this ad.
Georjina says
Great post Jerry.
And to think that all those supposed ‘internet marketers’ who can spout off about LSI and long tail keywords missed the fact that Google just helped them make money from organic searchers – long tail keywords makes their search targeted..as in ‘targeted traffic’.
Most people outside IM do not use this method to find things online because many of them didn’t know you could – they’re not dumb, it’s simply something they didn’t use, until now.
Glad I’ve been hitting my targets with 3 and 4 word terms, my traffic can’t help but increase. Slick Google, very slick.
Zach Brown says
Kudos on the post, Jerry. Traditionally, it’s been Bob Parsons and Godaddy that garnered all the attention from their Super Bowl commercials…at least among Internet companies. Quite a stark contrast between Google’s approach and Parsons’s. C’mon, Bob….sex sells but how about a little creativity?
Don Schnure says
Nice post Jerry. I agree with you, but if the Earnest Hemmingway story is true, it beats the Google ad by a mile!
Rachel says
I have to agree. I was not really impressed with the SB ads this year. Many of them left me hanging. Perhaps emotionally we were not on the same page. I especially didn’t get the GoDaddy ad. Why has Danica Patrick been in the spotlight so much recently?
Are they trying to give her a boost for some big deal she is working on or has already gotten..
Anyways, go Google for reminding the rest of us marketers how easy it is to make such a simple video while wasting tons of cash!!
Troy says
Inisheer, that is exactly the reason why I think the ad wasn’t obvious enough. Do you honestly think that people would be going to the person beside them, “oh I didn’t know you could do that with Google!?”. I think more people would be too enthralled/engaged with the love story to pick up the subtlety. Maybe I’m not giving the viewers enough credit.
kristof says
Rachel, just because the concept was simple doesn`t mean it was easy to make. with research, few concepts at start, revisions, working with different vendors etc.. how can this easy to make ?
China Barlak says
I’ll probably get flamed for what I say.I do not hate the Colts, even though I grew up with my tribe. What is not to like about Peyton? He?s got game gifted by Savior, don’t forget Daddy Arch, and he says hes a to be a humble guy. Every time somebody mentions his awesome records Peyton will say something to the liking of ?I just feel humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as those players?.The Holy Ones 31 The Baby Horses 28
Jerry West says
The only reason you will get flamed is you are probably the first person in history to make a prediction AFTER the game is played and come up losing.
b says
Gotta say this ad didn’t do anything for me. Maybe I’m biased because I’ve finally had enough of Google’s BS that I’ve switched to Bing.
Jerry West says
This has to be the first time I have heard someone fed up with a company’s BS that they switched to Microsoft. ;)
b says
ironic, isn’t it?
Matthew C. Kriner says
awesome comment about motivation
Mark Clayson says
Thanks for your posting comment.
Todd says
Outstanding video – Jerry! I hope your next video in the series provides instruction on how to build the frame structure. (ie. guest blog posts?, saintly acts…). Trial and error lessons are getting very expensive. I wonder if one of Google’s internal cast members put this retrospective video together or if it was created by someone outside the organization. It found and presented the benefits of Google in a manner that touched those close to it right on top of the “hot button.” It spoke to it’s intended audience with warmth and character in very personal manner. How do I find that emotional trigger in my products and services so that it touches my prospective clients in the same manner?
Jerry West says
Todd,
Yes, that is the plan for the next one. Trial and Error can be expensive, but it is cheaper today than what it was ten years ago without PPC and the tracking options we have. Back then, it was a shot in the dark. Finding emotional triggers are done through carefully constructed surveys which are designed to pull those emotional triggers.
Custom Doors says
I feel the ad was also effective in the sense that just because you are on top isn’t the time to get cocky and think no one can topple you – you stay in the public’s conversation in a positive way … which is something Microsoft failed to do during their dominating years.
Pam Viteaux says
I will probably get flamed for this.I do not hate the Colts, even though I grew up in northern America. What is not to like about Peyton? He is got game gifted by Jesus, don’t forget Daddy Arch, and he seems to be a humble guy. Every time somebody mentions his recods he says something to the effect of “I just feel humbled to be mentioned in the same breath as those players”.The Holy Ones 31 The Baby Horses 28
Dry Cleaning Delivery says
I’ve got to tell you… I didn’t watch the Super Bowl, even for the commercials! Then again, with sites like YouTube, you can always catch the good ones without having to sit through several hours of a game I could care less about.
ashmax says
damn, great post, very true
Andrew Willson says
Earlier i used to go on Google Translate website to do a translate. Well from the Google ad above I got a shortcut method to translate anything in any language just using the translate command on Google as following:
translate love in spanish will give i love you – te quiero
translate love in french will give i love you – je t’aime
translate love in chinese will give i love you – ??? (W? ài n?)
translate love in hindi will give i love you – ??? ????? ????? ???? ??? (mai? tumas? py?ra karat? h?m?)
you can say i love you to anybody in any language great…
[Blocked by CFC] Jerry West says
Can you also translate “I spammed your blog” too?!?!