(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- What do a panel of marketing and advertising students look for in a $5.6 million, 30-second super-sized Super Bowl ad?
Marketing professor Tim Calkins and his students have been grading Super Bowl ads for 16 years, as part of the annual Super Bowl Ad Review.
He explains: "Every year, we review all the Super Bowl ads. We pull together a panel of MBA students. During the game, we evaluate all the advertising. As we do it, we look at two things. We're trying to think about will this advertising build the brand and build the business?"
They'll be looking at whether the commercial was compelling, whether it conveyed a message and whether it creates a stronger relationship with the consumer. A big question, too, is whether the brand is going to be remembered, something referred to as AD PLAN.
"The P stands for 'Positioning' -- you want there to be a benefit or a target, there should be a reason to buy the product," Calkins said. "`Linkage,' there should be a link between the piece of advertising and the brand.
'Amplification' -- what do people remember? You want that to be positive and related to the brand. And 'Net Equity' – is this all consistent with what we know about the brand?"
Calkins said the commercials have become an industry of their own, generating as much publicity as the game itself. Thanks to social media, many have been released early.
"Social media makes this all much more important because advertisers now are out there cultivating, prompting, trying to get people to share their impressions of the ad and if anything, it can make a successful ad even that much bigger."
Bolingbrook-based WeatherTech has already released its "Scout The Dog" ad that will feature the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School.
A post shared by WeatherTech Official (@weathertech) on Jan 28, 2020 at 12:34pm PST
"Weather Tech has always had a big presence in the Super Bowl, but this year will be a bit different. They are advertising their product or brand, they are reaching out to the animal lovers and asking to donate to the school," Calkins said.
As always, some ads will break through and some will miss the mark.
"There have been lots of classic ads over the years. The CareerBuilder Monkeys, The eBay babies, the GoDaddy ads were all wildly successful, but the Nationwide dead kid ad fell flat. People were just outraged by that one," Calkins said.
This year, there will be political ads from President Trump and from Democratic challenger Mike Bloomberg.
"We are also going to see a couple advertisers that will be running really sad spots. Google will be running a tear-jerking ad and New York Life will be running an ad that is thoughtful and quiet and a little sad, too. That is different from the Super Bowl."
Results of the Ad Review will be released on Monday.
