4 Key Takeaways from Super Bowl LII for B2B Marketers and Sellers

By Lindsey Tishgart | February 5, 2018

Super Bowl LII: Tom Brady. Nick Foles. Justin Timberlake. We all know the Sunday superstars who took the field and entertained us at halftime. But the Patriots and Eagles weren’t the only ones scoring touchdowns in last night’s game.

The Super Bowl is known for airing new commercials with innovative perspectives and messages. Though the majority of these spots are B2C brands, B2B marketers can learn from their success. We’ve identified four key takeaways for B2B marketers. Let’s take a look at a few winners off the field:

#1 Use emotion to engage your buyer.
In Budweiser’s “Stand By You” commercial, (pause for goosebumps and watery eyes), the brand elicited strong emotions from the audience by tying in recent natural disasters. Budweiser’s commercial engaged the audience through provoking music and images and leveraged a relevant current event. With a simple tagline, “Whenever you need us, we’ll stand by you,” this message speaks directly to those affected by the hurricanes, but also expresses to the entire nation that we’re in this together. Whether we were personally affected or felt heartbroken for our neighbors in the South, Budweiser did an exceptional job at turning sorrow into hope, faith and a sense of community spirit. Although this is a B2C focused commercial, B2B messaging can strive to connect with the emotional side of a buyer’s needs.

videoThumbnails

#2 Teach your buyer something new.
Stella Artois’ commercial “Taps” features Matt Damon and, like Budweiser, also touches on the relevant issue of water. This brand takes it one step further by educating the viewers with new information and showing how your purchase will make a difference. Damon informs us, “Millions of people in the developing world walk up to six hours every day for water… If just 1% of you watching this buys one [chalice], we could give clean water to one million people for five years.” This statement tells the buyer exactly what they need to do to make an impact, without discussing the product itself. Focusing less on the product and more about the problem it solves is a huge differentiator in today’s marketplace whether its a B2C or B2B solution.

StellaThumb

#3 Keep your buyer wanting to come back for more.
Hooking your buyer and leaving them with excitement for your next interaction is easier said than done. In Squarespace’s commercial “Make It Happen”, Keanu Reeves is positioned as a man of mystery. He is shown surfing on a motorcycle and while the commercial doesn’t directly mention or portray their offering in any way, the viewers are left with a call to action: “See what Keanu made at squarespace.com/keanu”. This creates anticipation for consumers to learn what this is all about. Upon entering the tailored website, the buyer can educate themselves with additional Keanu content and step-by-step instructions for building a website.

SquarespaceThumb

The gap between male and female viewership of the Super Bowl is closing. In fact, the demographic consists of more female viewership than the Emmy, Grammys and Oscars combined2. Taking high female viewership into consideration, there is one more key takeaway from Sunday’s commercials:

#4 Know your audience.
Groupon’s “Who Wouldn’t” commercial was one of the only spots to feature a female as the main role. According to Nielsen, women make up 46% of the Super Bowl’s audience3. There is a disconnect between the recent movement for female empowerment and this year’s advertisements. Knowing that women are responsible for 85% of the disposable income purchasing decisions2, “who wouldn’t” want the opportunity to inspire the audience with images of strong women?

GrouponThumb

A quick lesson B2B marketers and sellers can take away from Super Bowl LII ads is that they must change the way they approach buyers. According to Forrester, 75% of B2B buyers want their sales reps to show how their offering will impact the business by teaching them something new1. This means sellers need to drive value by leveraging data, insights and tailored experiences for each buyer. Gone are the days of generic pitch decks and one-size-fits-all type of messaging.

With that being said, the fourth takeaway is critical. Knowing your audience dictates the success you’ll see in the first three takeaways. You cannot engage a buyer without understanding their needs, priorities and goals. Every touch point with a prospective buyer should engage them and be tailored to their specific needs.

About Mediafly
Mediafly was founded on the principle that people hate being sold to because it rarely addresses their needs. In fact, only 8% of B2B buyers believe value is delivered from sellers1.Our customers have the key ingredients to making the relationship between sales and marketing stronger by creating a buyer-centric approach and providing value at every step along the buyer’s journey. Mediafly’s Evolved Selling™ platform results in stronger engagements with prospects and closing more business.

Resources

  1. Forrester. “How B2B Sellers Win in the Age of the Customer.” September 2016.
  2. Gaille, Brandon. “17 Captivating NFL Fans Demographics.” 12 Oct 2015.
  3. Nielsen. “Super Bowl Sunday is No Longer Just a Beer Holiday.” 03 Feb 2016.

Comments are closed.