What connects small business marketing and Super Bowl ads?

Marketing for heart, humanity, and utility.

In the age of the internet and ubiquitous information, our messages must tug at heart strings or provide immediate usefulness, or we lose the customer to pages where they get what they really want and need: love, care, assurance, intelligence, humanity, and “usefulness”.

“More and more, brands are thinking very seriously about the role they play in life” said Jim Stengel, a business consultant who previously worked as chief marketing officer at Proctor & Gamble. “Call it purpose, ideals, mission… whatever, but it is a sweeping force in marketing departments and agencies”.

Really? I would argue the big old school advertisers are just catching up to the web world.

Here’s a glaring example of how the web has changed marketing and advertising. And ironically, it’s involves an internet company! Go Daddy “test ran” and pulled their Super Bowl ad all on the Tuesday before the big (4 million dollars for :30 seconds) game. The ad shows adorable puppies (very similar to the Budweiser ad) in the back of a pick up truck. One of them falls off the truck, and makes it’s difficult (but adorable) odyssey back to the barn. The story seems to come to a happy ending, the music swells, and the owner picks up the puppy and says, “Buddy, I’m so glad you made it home because… I just sold you on this website I built with Go Daddy. Ship’em out!”

Be human. Be useful. Be very, very, very clear what your value propositions are.

Because customers know an alternative is just a click away.

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