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Audio Note Length | 3 min 40 sec

Why “meh” Super Bowl ads still work
Every year, right after the Super Bowl, the same conversation pops up.

“The ads weren’t that great this year.”
“Nothing really stood out.”

And yet…
People are still talking about them the next day.

Which raises a quieter, more interesting question:
Why do companies keep spending millions of dollars producing Super Bowl ads if they aren’t always amazing?

The answer has very little to do with short-term sales.

Research consistently shows that Super Bowl ads are incredibly effective for long-term brand awareness. And awareness is just one kind of marketing effort—not the whole game. That distinction is where a lot of businesses get tripped up.

The strategy to try

One idea I’ve been teaching (and re-teaching) for more than twenty years is this:
marketing, advertising, and promotion are not the same thing.

They serve different purposes at different moments in the buying decision.

– Marketing is everything you do to influence how and when someone chooses you—often over time.
– Advertising can either keep you top of mind (pull) or prompt action now (push).
– Promotion focuses on features, incentives, and urgency.

All three are useful.
They’re just not interchangeable.

A simple example makes this clear.

A few years ago, Lincoln ran a commercial featuring Matthew McConaughey.

Beautiful landscapes.
Soft music.
A reflective monologue.
Fishing. Mood. Vibes.

You don’t learn much about the car itself—but you learn exactly how the brand wants you to feel about it, and what kind of life it wants you to associate with it.

That’s advertising designed for awareness.

Now contrast that with the commercial that followed.

Fast cuts.
Monthly payments.
Money down.
Miles per gallon.
“Visit your local dealer today.”

Same brand.
Very different objective.
Both intentional.

Why this matters

Most businesses try to make every piece of marketing do everything at once.

Awareness.
Education.
Conversion.
Urgency.

That’s a heavy lift for a single message.

Buying decisions are shaped by multiple efforts working together—reaching the right people, in the right way, at the right time. When those efforts are clear and aligned, marketing feels easier and more effective. When they’re mixed together, everything feels harder than it needs to be.

A lot of frustration doesn’t come from doing the wrong things.
It comes from doing the right things at the wrong time—or for the wrong purpose.

Clarity of intent is often the real unlock.

Here’s what to do this week

Take a look at one piece of marketing you’re currently working on—or one you’ve been meaning to create.

Before you change anything, ask yourself three simple questions:

– Is this meant to build awareness, or drive action?
– Am I trying to educate, persuade, or prompt urgency?
– If someone only sees this once, what is the one job it’s supposed to do?

If the answers feel muddy, that’s a signal.
Clarity usually comes from choosing which kind of effort matters most right now, and letting go of the rest.

That’s all we have time for today.

Until your next BrandTherapy session,
Andy