By Gavin Lester. Partner and Chief Creative Officer, Zambezi
Published on February 24, 2025.
Credit: Adrian Curiel/Unsplash
Brands and agencies need to think of ads less like commercials and more like entertainment that resonates in culture.
If you ask children if they want it to be their birthday every day, most will probably say yes.
Ad creatives can’t make that happen, but with a mindset shift, we could deliver another kind of celebration. Ask if they want it to be the Super Bowl every day, and you would probably get another yes. So, why isn’t it?
Most Super Bowl commercials are showstoppers. Audiences don’t care if they represent the right target—only whether the spots are interesting, inventive or emotionally resonant. If the creative craft is loud and interesting, the ad will get people talking about your brand—which is the point of what we do.
The industry shouldn’t reserve its pinnacle of creative expression for just one moment out of the year. The onus falls on both creative teams and clients to collaborate with trust. To accomplish that, we need to overhaul how agencies and clients create together. Let’s start here:
Don’t budget your creative thinking
“Yes, but the budget …” is one of the more soul-crushing things I hear when I’m on a brainstorming roll. I understand the Super Bowl is special. For once, ads aren’t the bathroom break; for many, they’re the centerpiece, earning eyeballs because they’re equally entertaining (or in this year’s case, more entertaining).
And we built that perception ourselves. Creatives can’t put their best ideas under lock and key because we fear budget constraints, client judgment or a “no.” Present them anyway. If we have to reduce the scope, remove the cameo or limit the airtime, we can make those calls later. But the seed of a big idea would remain.
It may feel like the best ideas need multimillion-dollar budgets, but a big media spend alone doesn’t deliver Super Bowl-level creativity and quality.
Brands should understand that big ideas pay sharper dividends. We understand clients care about marketing results such as revenue and reputation—which creates caution. Caution seems responsible, but it’s irresponsible not to unleash your creative talent and let them make their noisiest work. With the Super Bowl reminding us annually which ads work and which fall flat, following a subpar path is illogical.
Create for 127 million people … even when there aren’t
Clients should let creatives run wild with big ideas even when 127 million people aren’t watching.
Brands may wonder if creative intensity is worth the effort when they don’t reach as many viewers on a regular day. I ask: Is a smaller audience less deserving of creatively interesting work? The Super Bowl proves that loud creative is more successful than any other kind, so why wouldn’t you pursue it no matter the audience size?
This brings me to creatives. If you want your ads to generate buzz, know what they’re airing and streaming and posting against.
In the Big Game, every brand targets every viewer rather than specific audiences at specific times. Keep doing that: Not only do you reach your consumers, but you open your marketing to everyone else for attention-grabbing discussion. Audience size is in flux anyway, with people who cross-share the best ads on digital platforms. If your ad is entertaining enough to share, it will reach beyond your target scope regardless.
Brand success during the Super Bowl demonstrates how to approach the best creative executions. Metrics turn into belly laughs and tears or, in 2025, puzzlement at a dancing tongue and fleshy hats. More reactions and conversation mean successful execution.
The rest of the year, our marketing returns to custodial “business as usual.” We go back to pushing product benefits because clients tend to soften creative ideas instead of sharpening them—even though ads worth talking about build brand awareness and drive revenue.
Brands and agencies need to think of ads less like commercials and more like entertainment that resonates in culture. The word advertising almost limits our output and expectations, whereas during the Super Bowl, those ads are on the same playing field as the game and halftime show.
Creatives and clients need to remind themselves that the Super Bowl isn’t the only place to make great advertising. If brands let ad creatives do what they do best, we could always get Super Bowl-level work and recognition. If it could be the Super Bowl every day, when maybe sticking around through the commercial break could become the norm, not the exception.
Read the full article HERE.