Tuesday, February 24, 2009

30 x :01 > $3 million

I love the recent news about Miller High Life’s sales going up as a result of their 1 second ads.

It’s proof that while good ole’ traditional tv advertising may not be dead, smart, inventive tv advertising is alive and well. The big ad agencies can create all of the consumer validated packaged goods crap they want; I don’t think tv advertising will ever go away, primarily because of terrific thinking like this.

You’ve probably seen the Miller High Life 1-second ads, but if not, you should. They’re just plain fun. And extremely successful.

They didn’t get there by luck. They wouldn’t exist if not for the well-established, clever campaign starring the Miller High Life delivery guy that’s been running for a while. This is one of my favorites. It’s a wonderful, insightful commentary on sports and the corporate world, and it sells the product.



That’s a hard working ad.

So now they take those ads to the next level. The idea of 1 second ads is absurd, but the truth is, it’s more about the buzz vs. the ads themselves. Especially when the campaign is touted as a better way to spend money than the $3 million they would have had to spend to get national presence on the Super Bowl. It’s the publicity they were after, and publicity they got. Before and after the Super Bowl.

Oh, that and a whole lot of sales.

You can talk drinkability, and you can talk frost brewing and cold mountains, and I’m sure consumers told Bud and Coors that they want to hear about that stuff.

But it’s fresh, unexpected Ideas that connect people to brands and convince them to form relationships with brands. It’s hard for a consumer to articulate that. Luckily, it’s real easy to watch 1 second ads.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...need to smell me a hotdog just to know I'm alive."

You are dead nuts right Danny, this is great advertising. Plus anyone who can sell scripts comprised solely of "Back Bacon" and "One Mississippi" deserves the respect of his peers.

Brilliant, brilliant work in a truly tough category.

Fred said...

The reason this campaign works is that the idea is core to the brand-hard working, blue collar, no nonsense. And it's brilliantly executed. It is ironic that they (MillerCoors) did this after they tried to take the brand upscale and it didn't work. The moral of the story for any marketer: if you aren't true to your brand you are dead.

Danny Schuman said...

Yes and yes. And if increased sales in a ridiculously tough catergory isn't enough validation, check out the new Alpo work, winner of the Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery award.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NAk1frbchQ