Jack Blog
February 3rd, 2021 By Jack Morton
IPG DXTRA recently asked Jack Morton Chief Creative Officer, Shelley Elkins a few questions about her expectations for this year’s big game. Here are some of the insights she shared:
What is biggest challenge for brands leading up to the big game?
Rekindling their relationships with consumers. A lot of brand love was lost in 2020— drastic changes in consumer habits, product shortages, shipping delays, increased attention on CSR, etc. The Super Sunday stage is a chance for brands to make people fall in love with them again. But the stage is also bigger than ever. The lack of fans in the stadium and at bars and parties, means more people will be screen dependent and so connecting with them will be harder than ever.
What should marketers expect on Sunday?
The new era of experience. Consumer’s expectations for virtual experiences and content have increased over the past year. They are hungry for brands who engage them in new ways, brands who surprise them. I’m also betting on a lot of humor and hope. People are hungry for both right now.
How will this year’s game change sporting events in the future?
The final game of the season has always been a ‘hybrid’ experience – one audience in IRL, the other experiencing it virtually. But neither the networks nor any individual brand, have ever really gone out of their way to customize the experience for the audience “at home. This year, we’ll see a shift toward the home audience that’s here to stay. We saw this with the NFL Draft which had its largest viewing audience ever in 2020.
Game pick:
Well, I’m a Packers fan (as you can see in my photo). So, this is tough, but I’m going with the Chiefs. We’re the agency of record for Molson Coors and Mahomes is a huge brand fan of Coors Light, so I’m a tad biased. But what I’m actually betting on is that this will be the highest-scoring game in history (single score and combined). Chiefs 59 – Buccaneers 35.