My favorite Super Bowl ad: OKRP’s Matt Reinhard
The next four weeks are sure to be filled with Super Bowl buzz, speculation and maybe even a scandal or two (GoDaddy anyone?) as brands prepare for advertising’s biggest event of the year.
Founder and chief creative officer of OKRP Matt Reinhard
Amidst the game day mania, The Drum has asked some of the industry’s most influential people to reflect on their favorite Super Bowl ad of all time and discuss why it stands out to them. And since social media has upended the way that brands approach their Super Bowl strategy, with many of them releasing teasers and sometimes even full-length versions of their ads online days before the actual game in hopes of garnering additional buzz, The Drum has also asked whether they think social media has helped or hurt the overall effectiveness of the coveted Super Bowl spot.
Up until game day, we’ll be featuring responses from agency founders, creatives and CEOs. Today we feature Matt Reinhard, founder and chief creative officer of Chicago-based OKRP. Below, find out why Ram Truck’s Super Bowl 47 spot “Farmer” is his favorite Super Bowl ad.
What is your favorite Super Bowl ad of all time?
Besides the obvious “Brother Dominic” spot for Xerox (Super Bowl X), my favorite Super Bowl spot in recent years is the Ram Truck spot “Farmer."
Why did you love it? What made it stand out?
I loved it because it touched an emotional chord that other spots hadn’t been able to do.
In a crowd of funny, funny, funny (yes, I do like to laugh), "Farmer" stood out for me based on its sermon-like narrative and God-fearing delivery. Powerful still imagery combined with Paul Harvey’s essay on the virtues of the American farmer placed Ram Trucks at the top of my Monday morning water cooler conversation.
In your opinion, was it ultimately a success for the brand?
The "Guts. Glory." campaign for Ram Trucks was built on the fundamental principles of truth, honesty and integrity. In my opinion, I believe Farmer was a successful addition to the campaign.
What do you hope to see from this year’s crop of Super Bowl ads?
I hope we see more ideas that challenge convention. Fifty well executed ads trying hard to be funny will not make for a great Super Bowl crop. It’s a big stage and there is a sizable and captive audience waiting for meaningful messages. It’d be nice to see something that counts.
Social media has changed the way brands approach their Super Bowl advertising strategies. Do you think social media has helped or hurt the effectiveness of Super Bowl spots?
I do think that the addition of clever hashtags work to extend the effectiveness of Super Bowl spots. Anytime you can prolong the life and deliver returns on a Super Bowl media buy beyond its initial thirty seconds is huge. Conversely, if a brand is solely previewing or “leaking” its spot on social media prior to the big game, the overall effectiveness of the commercial and the media buy in my mind are greatly diminished, although I’m sure there’s data to prove me wrong. To that I say - no guts, no glory.
To read the other interviews in our series, click here.
To find out which brands are advertising in the Super Bowl this year, visit The Drum's dedicated page here.