By Michael Desroches
Google Scores with Loretta Super Bowl Ad
When it comes to winning the Super Bowl ad game, there are lots of players that go above and beyond every year. They spend huge amounts of money on celebrity endorsements, exotic locations, and complex CGI. While they produce some truly good stuff – who doesn’t laugh at Bill Murray’s adventures with a groundhog or Jason Momoa as a skinny, bald version of himself – this year’s winner, in my mind, proved what advertising titans have always preached.
Emotion sells.
Google showed nothing but a screen and a few photos in its touching ad that featured an elderly man searching for “how not to forget.” The screen shots continue as the man asks Google Assistant to remember details about his deceased wife, Loretta. The tear-jerking ad had an instant response from fans watching the game and on social media, with folks posting about how it made them cry.
Because it struck a chord.
You see, stories touch us on a deep, human level. And those few brief lines like "Remember Loretta hated my mustache," and "Remember, Loretta loved going to Alaska and scallops," felt real to us. They were the type of scattered, random memories we all have of those who are dear to us. The types of things we never want to forget, but perhaps fear we might. Maybe they felt so real because they were inspired by a Google employee’s 85-year-old grandfather.
It worked.
It touched us.
It connected with us.
And ultimately, it created an emotional connection to the product it was trying to promote.
At its best, technology is designed to help us, but it often falls short of that promise. With just a few brief lines, Google showed us how technology can preserve our connections to our loved ones – even after they are no longer in our lives.
And that, is the biggest win by far.
About Michael Desroches
Michael Desroches is an executive marketing consultant, brand strategist, speaker, trainer and mentor. The Founder and Principal of Woodbridge, Connecticut-based Brand Inspiration has spent more than two decades helping corporations, nonprofit organizations, mid-sized companies and small businesses here in the northeast and across the country. He and his team help clients uncover their most unique traits and translate them into creative marketing that inspires donors to give, customers to buy, and people to trust. Learn more at www.michaeldesrochesonline.com.
