(This is a guest post from Josh Kimball of Iconoculture, our sister program for consumer insights. MLC members – curious about Iconoculture? Check out some of their insights here.)

Call it the year of the double teaser. And we’re not talking about the GoDaddy ads. One of the recent innovations in Super Bowl-related marketing is the early circulation of trailers for the ads that will be aired during the big game. Yes, ads for ads that appear online before any of the action even begins. One of the reasons for that is because Super Bowl spots aren’t simply commercials; they’re a mini-marketing surge that now has a growing lead up time and a (little bit of a) long tail.

Most viewers may be gabbing about guacamole during a brand’s 30-seconds of big game fame, but the Super Bowl halo shines far beyond the gridiron — and in just the past couple of years there’s gotten to be a lot more to it than just the TV coverage. This year’s Super Bowl even represented an English-language record for tweets per second. And thanks to those as-it-happens tweets noting the compelling ads, YouTube hosting all the spots for later review, and a culture of me-too consumer commentary and rating, the marketing that connects with consumers will still get outsized attention.

The 2012 Super Bowl’s big marketing takeaways:

More ecosystem, less event: While the Super Bowl is still primarily a TV event — and a mind-bogglingly successful one, at that — the ecosystem around it has boomed over the past couple years. Brands that don’t have the bucks to spend scripting Clint Eastwood spitting gravel or securing first quarter airtime still can grab eyeballs with hard work and savvy strategy.

We heard some viewers comment that it was becoming hard to keep up with both the commercials and the tweets. That split attention span offers opportunity for marketers with solid social media strategies, even as fractured attention means less immediate bang for the buck for brands putting ads on TV. Quick reactions and the online ecosystems matter. Branding author Rob Walker, commenting for AdWeek, talked about how many PR pitches he received in real time, as the very game was unfolding. And brands such as Amazon scored points by reacting to fans and tying product pitches into in-game (and even in-ad!) action on Twitter.

Nostalgia isn’t enough: From a content perspective, the obvious theme of this year’s Super Bowl ads was nostalgia. Marketers tried to hit every generation — from Gen Xer-aimed Ferris Bueller Honda spots to Chrysler’s Eastwood pitch for Baby Boomers and Budweiser’s grainy Prohibition callbacks.

Taken as a whole, the nostalgia theme wore thin with viewers, as the overall tone of looking backward made one ad bleed into the next. But individual memory-based ads were among the most effective ads of the Super Bowl. Eastwood’s Chrysler spot was direct, referenced specific events, had a point of view and therefore stirred emotion and conversation, helping the Chrysler brand stand out in tone and message from its car category competitors. It was also the best commercial for halftime we’ve ever seen. Go, halftime!

Momentum matters: GoDaddy had PR problems coming into the Super Bowl. They’ve taken heat over the past couple weeks for supporting the (ultimately shelved) Stop Online Privacy Act, a law which would have changed the way copyright laws were enforced on the Internet. They’ve also been blasted for sexist ads in years past. That combination — recent news events and a lowest-denominator approach to past spots — meant consumers weren’t as open to the company’s have-fun brand message as they have been in the past.

The night’s other just-OK performances? At least in the calculus immediately following the game’s glow, Samsung’s stylus raised many eyebrows. Oh, and Madonna’s arms got mixed reviews, as well.

Despite rumors of its demise, America’s game hasn’t declined as a media event. Last year’s Super Bowl was the highest-rated TV show of all time, with 111 million viewers. This year’s conference championship games had the highest TV ratings in 30 years. And in a cultural landscape where big events are more and more rare — even formerly bulletproof family fare like American Idol has an audience on the wane — shows that can draw millions of eyeballs and own a weekend are an even more important part of the mediascape and cultural conversation. The Super Bowl still matters — but the game has changed. As the social ecosystem has grown, the field marketers get to play on has gotten much bigger, and far less defined.

On the highways here in Delhi, the past and future share a lane. Creeping one way are shiny PR campaigns meant to thwart the raucous honking that accompanies any congregation of more than a couple of cars. Headed the other direction? The very audible, commonly agreed upon rules of the road, signified by armadas of old trucks, their tailgates painted with instructions begging for a sonic blast (“Honk please!”).

For most consumers, traffic’s an interminable, unavoidable, incidental cost of urban life. For the cities themselves, though, traffic is a perfect manifestation of the present. Outside Delhi, every morning jam is a horn-honking, engine-idling purgatory of acceptance and frustration. But it’s also a daily, ritual affirmation of aspiration. It’s an inherent part of a world that millions of consumers here in India’s biggest cities have chosen to participate in.

Late last year Iconoculture launched a new consumer advisory service — in and about India. It’s the culmination of years of groundwork we’ve labored very hard to lay, but it’s also a mere glimmer of what promises to be a fast-moving future.  With that work behind us, our next step will be to collect your feedback on what you need to know about this dynamic market and infinite variety of the consumer base in India. MLC members, contact your account manager if you’re interested in joining the conversation.

In the meantime, here are some of our latest observations from a fascinating market: Read More »

In April of this year, the 5th annual Iconosphere – Iconoculture’s consumer insights extravaganza – will burst into life at the Eden Roc Renaissance in Miami Beach. Just like in years past, the not-your-mama’s conference focuses solely on consumers, highlighting the shifts that are shaping our culture and most keenly affecting marketers.

Don’t expect the chart-induced eyestrain and soggy pasta that’s de rigueur at typical industry events, though. At Iconosphere, the pool shimmers. The cocktails are sloshier. Best of all, curious people – members, Iconoculture strategists, colleagues – connect over inspiring ideas and shared challenges.

Stripped bare, what the event offers – what’s core to its value for those who attend – is the chance for marketers and researchers to unselfconsciously immerse themselves in the brainier parts of their jobs for a few days. It’s the opportunity to eject from the office, shove off day-to-day bureaucracies, and carefully consider and discuss where the culture is going, what consumers are really thinking, and what to do about it

We can even sneakily peek at the content debuting in April. A sampling of this year’s sessions include: Media maven-led monitoring of consumers’ relationship with mobile marketing; a close examination of Americans’ post-recession pragmatism; and a tour by our Team India through the twists and turns of the Indian consumer’s retail experience.

The ex-’sphere-ience is not at all conference-as-usual (attendees have been known to crowdsurf). In fact, it actually feels a little more like hot yoga for your consumer insights brain. Except air conditioned. And with cocktail shakers. And no physical exertion. Don’t bring a mat.

’Tis the season of buy, buy, buy. But more and more people are asking Why, why, why? It’s in trying to answer this question — what’s the why behind the buy? — that Iconoculture recently launched a new macrotrend, one we call Mindful Matters. The idea underpinning this macrotrend is that people are mindfully re-prioritizing what they buy, who they do business with and even how they live. They’re adding “simplicity” and “manageability” to their personal wishlists instead of iPods or flatscreen TVs. Read More »