In fact, other than a few good ads, the Super Bowl advertisers of 2012 lacked creativity and originality. Volkswagen repeated its performance of 2011 as having the best commercial during the big game.  It’s ad for the new Beetle, featuring a dog committed to self improvement, won our hearts.  The Star Wars characters at the end of the commercial who compared the ad with last year’s was an incredibly creative way to connect two years of VW Super Bowl messages.

Madonna’s half-time performance (with LMFAO, Cee Lo Green and Nicki Minaj) had mixed reviews, but likely added a little something extra to the M&M’s campaign with her rendition of “I’m sexy and I know it.”

RIESTER’s Chief Creative Officer, Tom Ortega said “the only good commercial was the Chevy Mayan Calendar spot. For me, everything else either lacked a concept or was over-hyped. Madonna was the perfect half-time act for such a line up: over-hyped. No substance. Over produced. Dang good thing the Giants won. Otherwise I would have been disappointed.”

Alan Perkel, RIESTER’S Executive Director of Digital added, “the online experience was very strong, minimal delay, I’d guess only about :30 seconds. I had my laptop on and the LCD going. Very impressive.”  It was estimated that more than 60% of the Super Bowl audience had at least two screens (smart phone, iPad, computer, etc) in front of them while watching the game today.

Overall impressions: The M&M “Just My Shell“, Chevy’s Mayan Calendar commercial, Budweiser’s historic moments, VW’s Star Wars themed ads, and Acura’s adventure with Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno round out our top five.

The auto makers are back, which in itself is an indication that the economy is picking up steam. Viewers will get tired of seeing another car ad during every commercial break during the game. It will be interesting to see how many viewers can even recall which cars are associated with the different advertising concepts, because many of the automaker’s commercials this year lose sight of actually promoting the product. “Mathew’s Day Off” for example completely misses its target audience in its efforts to promote the Honda CRV. Ferris Bueller fans of the early 80’s are all aged in their late 30’s and 40’s now. These people have families with children and most are well beyond the need for Honda’s starter car. Yet, the commercial featuring Broderick barely shows the car and neglects ever depicting the lifestyles and family auto usage of that target consumer.

Go Daddy returns again this year as the Super Bowl advertiser with some of the worst commercials. The concepts are lame and the acting even worse. It’s amazing a company in such an exciting growth category does not respect its customers enough to reward them with intelligent and entertaining commercial content.

There are some commercials that will delight viewers this year. Volkswagen is a big winner again this year with its follow up to last year’s Darth Vader Passat commercial.  It’s very difficult to come back with one of the best Super Bowl commercials two consecutive years, and Volkswagen has done it with its pre-release of the singing dogs and it’s “Dog Strikes Back” commercial for the new VW Beetle.  Hopefully it will also motivate all of America to get up off of their sofas and exercise too!

Everyone at RIESTER will be watching the ads with as much interest as the game.

Enjoy the Super Bowl!

Brand Activism delivers! Below is a sample of our work for the Herdez® brand and information from Hormel Foods with additional details on the MegaMex Foods marketing success:

From today’s release:
Hormel Foods Celebrates Growth of MegaMex Foods at its Annual Shareholder Meeting

During its annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Minn., on Jan. 31, 2012, Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a multinational marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, celebrated the growth of MegaMex Foods, its 50/50 joint venture with Herdez del Fuerte. Since its inception just two years ago, MegaMex Foods has increased sales by more than 150 percent.

“The focus of MegaMex Foods is to bring the spirit of Mexico to every table,” said James M. Splinter, group vice president, Grocery Products at Hormel Foods. “Great brands like Herdez®, CHI-CHI’S®, La Victoria®, Don
Miguel®, and the new additions to MegaMex Foods, Wholly Guacamole®, Wholly Salsa® and Wholly Queso®, will help us accomplish this goal. We are excited about the future because our expectation for this business is that it will continue to grow at an accelerated rate exceeding that of our core Grocery Products portfolio.”

MegaMex Foods was a key driver of success for Hormel Foods which experienced record success in fiscal year 2011. To highlight this achievement, Jeffery M. Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods, offered remarks on the company’s recent growth.

Read the full release from Hormel Foods here.

Social media makes it easier than ever to communicate through new communications channels. These channels demand that the strategy behind communications and the attention to detail across all platforms be consistent, while allowing for the nimbleness required to engage in the fast-moving world of social media.

ARAMARK Parks and Destinations is a RIESTER client. The company provides authentic visitor experiences, including operating signature resorts and lodges, at America’s national parks. Working with them is a special privilege for RIESTER to connect two great brands: ARAMARK Parks and Destinations, with its unrivaled tourism operations, and America’s world-renowned national parks.

The company operates lodging services at Shenandoah National Park for the National Park Service. RIESTER assisted ARAMARK Parks and Destinations in creating a Facebook presence for its operations at Shenandoah. The Facebook platform is especially well suited for sharing experiences through photos–an important part of the content posted on their Shenandoah Facebook page. Our job included establishing editorial guidelines for the Facebook page that ensured consistency with the overall brand.

Learn more about their incredible lodging destinations at Shenandoah National Park by following them on Facebook and start thinking about scheduling a visit to Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains to experience this beautiful part of America.

The Blue Ridge Mountains at Shenandoah National Park, an integral part of ARAMARK Parks and Destination’s brand.

Herb Peterson photographed with the iron rings made by a California blacksmith for him to cook the original Egg McMuffins.

RIESTER is honored to be associated with the Egg McMuffin which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Herb Peterson was the owner of McDonald’s restaurants on California’s Central Coast where he created the iconic breakfast sandwich for McDonald’s.

Today Herb’s son David, a RIESTER client, continues to operate McDonald’s restaurants in Santa Barbara and Goleta. Every year he honors his father with the annual Herb Peterson Day. On January 5th, Herb Peterson’s birthday, customers can buy Egg McMuffins for a dollar at McDonald’s restaurants throughout the Central Coast.

Herb Peterson not only created a breakfast sandwich, he revolutionized the American breakfast menu. McDonald’s was the first quick service restaurant to offer breakfast and they remain the leader in the category today.

The next time you enjoy an Egg McMuffin think of Herb Peterson, an American breakfast and business pioneer.

Watch a news story on Herb Peterson from KCBY, an NBC affiliate in California.

Over the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of teens throughout Arizona, gaining insights on everything from fashionable trends and pop culture influences, to online habits and perspectives on some of today’s most pressing issues.

In pulling together information for my presentation, it was important to me that I not only inform the attendees on the latest happenings in the youth/teen market, but also enable them to walk away with tangible action items they could use in their organizations.

Whether I’m working alongside RIESTER team members to develop large scale communication strategies or devising grassroots outreach efforts for niche audiences, the end goal is always about effective message delivery for our clients.

The ways in which teens communicate with one another has vastly changed. Add to that, the need for attendees to successfully inform/persuade a young audience to make positive behavioral changes, and you can understand their communication challenges.

I utilized this opportunity to provide attendees with a snapshot of today’s youth, including their media habits and online activities, before reviewing how to strategically engage teenage girls. Key takeaways for the session included social media do’s and don’ts along with outreach tools and tips.

RIESTER’s staff consists of experts in communications and marketing who lead our clients in today’s rapidly changing world. If you need someone to speak at a conference or event contact Jim Breitinger at jbreitinger@riester.com to discuss arranging an appearance by a member of our staff.

Pilgrahoan by Idahoan is our way of putting the fun back into Holiday Fun.

RIESTER's Pilgrahoan: Spudbob Squarepants by Troy Pottgen.

We are inviting everyone to play with their food and enter the Pilgrahoan Celebrity Spud Showdown. Using only the foods we give them on a blank (virtual) Idaho potato as their canvas, the contestants will make celebrity look-a-likes, name their Celebrity Spud, and upload their creation to Facebook.

When we were concepting this idea, we sat sharing our favorite personal memories of holidays – and we couldn’t help but love the memories most of playing with our food on Thanksgiving. This seemed to be a theme we all kept coming back to – and an experience we all shared. So we decided to go with it- and make a fun holiday game out of playing with our food – virtually, of course!

Working on the Idahoan account over the years, has made everyone here at RIESTER crazy about Idahoan potatoes – and we’re excited and hopeful that the Pilgrahoan holiday contest will help us spread the love of potatoes with everyone.

If you haven’t yet made your fun, artistic creation, do it now! The competition is already looking fierce, but the fun is just beginning. And remember – creativity and originality wins!!

Twitter's blue bird is the most prolific bird on the planet, going at it 140 characters at a time, all day, every day.

“Just setting up my twttr” was the “let there be light” moment for Twitter. It was tweeted by Twitter Co-Founder and Chairman Jack Dorsey five years ago. Since @Jack set up his Twitter account millions of people have joined the Twitter world and created their own accounts. They now send an impressive 140 million tweets a day.

Twitter is more than a place for people to discuss what they had for lunch. It has started and sustained revolutions, helped people get hired and fired and after the recent disaster in Japan, enabled residents without phone service to let their friends and family know that they were OK.

Twitter has changed the way we communicate. It has added @ and hashtag (#) into the vocabulary of the online world. Now companies have a new way to interact with their customers including listening to what customers are saying about their company and products.

Like few other social media platforms, Twitter has survived despite strong criticism early on that it was just a fad. With so many new platforms and programs being launched every day, it can be difficult to stay on top of “what’s what” in the digital realm and to decide where to spend your time.

Before engaging in social media consider the following:

1. Does your company culture supports social media? Long internal approval processes and ridged culture doesn’t bode well in the fast-paced world of social media.

2. Where are your customers? Find out where your company is being discussed online to help determine where to focus your attention.

3. Do you have a plan in place? A social media plan and strategy will help address potential what ifs for current platforms and ones that don’t yet exist.

If you aren’t ready to actively engage in the social media space another place to begin is by listening on various social media platforms to what others are saying about you, your brand or organization. Monitoring tools are available to track the conversations occurring. As your awareness grows regarding what’s being said, you will be one step closer to crafting a plan for active engagement or choosing whether or not to engage.

Here are examples of ways a few RIESTER clients are using social media to engage their customers:

Veterinary Pet Insurance on Facebook

Clark Planetarium on Twitter

Clean Air Make More on YouTube

RIESTER’s Think. Attack.^tm approach begins with an insatiable desire for data.  We work with futurists, demographers and generational behaviorists. We conduct enlightening qualitative research to look deep into consumers’ minds and souls for opportunities to connect them to a specific brand.  We use quantitative measurements to guarantee that our recommendations can be effectively applied.

We build a mountain of information, then mine for insights.  These insights help us conceive strategies to outsmart the competition. We capitalize on consumer attitudes, habits and beliefs—or figure out how to change them. We develop compelling messages that navigate past human filters to strike a nerve…touch a heart…or tickle a funny bone. Then we attack.

This approach goes much deeper than the normal advertising process, which is most aptly titled, Awareness and Trial because that is where the effort stops.  We believe it is our responsibility to push much farther than awareness and trial, to help our clients establish trusted relationships with consumers so they become committed believers in our clients’ brands.