I find it tough to take a break during the Super Bowl, as I’m equally into the game and the commercials! There were good ads, bad ads, many annoying ads and a few great ones this year; and my vote for the best was the Prius “The Longest Chase” commercial.
The primary purpose of an ad is, of course to motivate a purchase. But branding is equally important; one should reinforce and/or change consumers’ perception of your brand with an ad and the Prius commercial did both beautifully. A Prius is commonly perceived to be fuel efficient and quiet, and both of those attributes were underscored. But if most consumers were asked to describe the Prius brand, it is doubtful that “fast” or “spacious” would come up. Toyota used the ad to specifically address those perceptions, using a robber’s comment “Is this a Prius? It’s very spacious!” and a police dialogue of “This thing’s actually pretty fast!” answered with “Very funny” – direct hits!
A Super Bowl ad is a substantial investment, even for a company of Toyota’s size, and the Prius/Saatchi & Saatchi L.A. team maximized that investment – touchdown! Check it out here>>>, if you missed it.
