ErinIs.com

Common misconception about media planners/buyers is that were are the dull uncreative type who love crunching numbers more than anything else. While it is true that most of us love numbers, statistics and research, creativity in media planning is an absolute must to successful and effective media buys. We do more than just pick and choose items off a rate card and collect swag from our media reps. 

As a media buyer I get inspired for new ideas from a variety of sources.  Here are some of my most recent inspirations. 

Super cool, simple and unique music video. Reminds me that simple is really all it takes to be effective. 

A website full of a ton of unique visuals, ads, art and whatnot. Innovative takes on common ideas and objects on Inspire Me Now.

And this blog by John the architect, Everything you ever needed to know (shoutout to @allisonyochim). His post on how building materials are meant for certain tasks through his in depth look at a brick is beautiful. 

“…Because we know brick has feelings and needs, we should feel bad for brick, not too bad however, because in time, the faux wall will fail and brick will show it was meant for something else.”

You had to know it was coming…the Superbowl ad recap. BTW You can check them all out on Hulu.  

Overall, Hyundai was the clear winner of the super bowl. They presented a clear and cohesive message through memorable (if a little boring) ads. Hyundai is going after market share in the recession through a very well thought out and beautifully executed campaign. While their ads might not be the ones everyone discussed today, they’re keeping the brand alive and in a positive light through messages that will outlast the Superbowl spotlight. 

Other stand outs include: 

1) Doritos Crystal Ball – The only spot that made me really laugh out loud. While it was a little strange and incredibly funny, the spot didn’t deviate from the brand image or try to hard. Yes, people are hating on Doritos for doing a user submitted contest for their creative (which is soooo 2007), but I say excellent work!

2) CareerBuilder.com – I hated this and almost muted it until they kola was punched. Then I was giggling fool. Punching a kola that’s wearing glasses and drinking coffee = WIN. I liked the Monster.com spot, but this spot was waaay better. It was repetitive and annoying but so are some jobs, right? So they were pretty much spot on in what they were try to sell. Side Note: In the spot break that ran the Monster.com spot, a voice over did a name mention for CareerBuilder.com while going back into the game. I don’t know how CareerBuilder did it and as a media planner I would be asking for a partial refund if I was Monster.com. If a station is not going to bother with category exclusivity within a spot break for a $3M spot, then they are clearly just whoring out ad time.

3) Hulu.com was the unexpected awesomeness. Hulu is a great service and a cool brand, but I’m pretty sure its relatively unknown amongst the non tech people. The ad was memorable, funny and pretty honest. Side Note: My favorite tweets regarding the hulu spot were ones like this from Allen. I’m sorry guy but I think you missed the point of your favorite ad, Hulu is a place you can go to see videos online. Its like youtube but with a higher quality…so maybe you could try going to hulu to view the ads? 

4) Audi (yes I know I just said Hyundai was the overall winner) but Audi had a fantastic spot that was visually stunning  and a brilliant depiction of their brand. Classy, powerful and sexy. I want an Audi A4. 

Despite the hype, the Cash4Gold spot wasn’t all that great. Ed McMahon looked so old and feeble. Plus its sad because we all know he’s really in need of money. McHammer was funny, but funny is not going to get me to do business with the scam that is Cash4Gold. Meh.

It’s Super Bowl Sunday! WOOOHOOO.

For those of us with teams not in the super bowl (it was rebuilding year for the Raiders) who have a love for advertising, its really all about the commercials. According to the twitterverse NBC sold 69 30 spots this year, raking in $206 million. Which agencies sold a superbowl spot this year? 

Thankfully some people have put together some tools to evaluate the ads in real time. So now I can go to work tomorrow armed with comments, opinions and insights on all the spots. You can tweet using #sbads09 or just read twitter comments here. Or participate on SuperAdSunday which comes with a comprehensive guide to calling fouls.

My personal favorite of the fouls is the Incomplete T ‘ N ‘ A.