How I Saved a Client (and Their Brand) $4.5 million

In the last 10 days, one client approved and aired a very smart “Super Bowl” ad and got covered by Forbes and Huffington Post.

Here’s what I learned along the way and the 3 very important branding lessons every brand should know.

Here’s the play-by-play:

It was Sunday night, one week before the Super Bowl.

I’d read this year’s Super Bowl ads had hit an all-time high: $4.5 million for 30 seconds of air time.

I looked at some way to tap into the incredible exposure afforded by the Big Game for a local client in the Midwest (in the grocery space).

How to Outsmart the System?

Spending $4.5 million was not an option.

So, on that Sunday night, I looked at all the options, and looked to see if there was anything I could tap into beyond the game itself. Then I came up with one angle that had been all over the media: DeflateGate.

There was not a single news media channel that hadn’t covered it in detail.

Not a single late night host who didn’t work it into their monologue.

Not a single person breathing who hadn’t heard of the scandal.

How could my client benefit from it?

Then it hit me….

The next day (on Monday), I met with the CEO after lunch and presented my “bright idea.”

High fives went all around. Man, I was pumped.

Now it was a like we’d heard the “2 minute warning” where no balls could be dropped and no mistakes made.

By 2pm Tuesday, the ad was completed, less than 24 hours after the rough cut of the ad concept was approved.

It would air on cable all week before the game.

From Local Cable to the National Stage

Then, a bit of luck fell in our lap: Forbes.com did a story on the ad, citing it as a brilliant 30-second spot that took full advantage of the DeflateGate scandal.

Customers took notice of the TV spot on air, YouTube views went up, and our “Super Bowl” ad was gaining traction.

The ad was bringing attention to my client in ways we hadn’t thought of before.

Then something even more amazing happened.

Four days after the Super Bowl, the Huffington Post picked up the story and ran it as well.

What did we learn in this 10-day period?

• How fast one has to move to gain field advantage
• How a coordinated team is so much better than a bigger team
• How doing the unexpected can score big time

My sincere thanks the awesome leadership at Mega Co-op for having the vision, passion and ability to see an opportunity and seize the day.