It’s time for the Super Bowl—and at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, that means it’s also time for the Super Bowl Ad Review. Brands spend more than $2 billion each year to advertise their products through Super Bowl commercials, some more effectively than others. For the 12th year running, Kellogg marketing students will apply their unique framework for evaluating an ad’s brand-building potential as part of the 2016 Kellogg Super Bowl Ad Review.
As the players take the field on Sunday, more than 50 Kellogg MBA students will team up with marketing professors Tim Calkins and Derek Rucker to determine the winners and the losers in the battle of the brands. They’ll us the ADPLAN framework to evaluate each ad according to six critical criteria: Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplifications and Net Equity.
In a recent post on the Kellogg MBA student blog, four students share why they are excited to participate. And for anyone who wants to follow along on game day, the Kellogg ad review team will be tweeting live using the hashtag #KelloggSB.
The following post has been republished in its entirety from its original source, “The Inside Perspective,” Kellogg’s MBA student blog.
In anticipation of Sunday’s event, we asked four students why they wanted to participate in the Ad Review and what they’re hoping to take away from this unique experience.
Jillian Fishman
Why did you want to participate in the Ad Review?
Now that I am recruiting for roles in marketing and branding at Kellogg, the Super Bowl Ad Review was a unique opportunity to apply a strategic framework to the real world and evaluate advertising objectively, not just whether it tugged at my heartstrings. In addition, several companies debuted ads this year—Colgate, LG and PayPal—so it will be fascinating to see whether they can effectively build their brands during the most-watched TV broadcast in the U.S.
What are you hoping to learn from the experience?
As the cost of advertising continues to skyrocket, the Super Bowl has become more high stakes than ever. Brands need to be able to justify the multi-million dollar investment for mere seconds of airtime. For this reason, I was eager to learn Kellogg’s strategic ADPLAN framework and apply it in real time during the Super Bowl. It is an honor to be a part of this longstanding Kellogg tradition that determines the Super Bowl’s winners and losers (aside from the actual game, of course).
Andrea Sanchez Ferro
Why did you want to participate in the Ad Review?
Coming from a different region—Latin America—the Super Bowl Ad Review is a must experience for me. I consider this event an opportunity to bring a different point of view to the table, grounded in my previous knowledge from working with CPG brands back home, while using the ADPLAN strategic tool that I have learned here at Kellogg. I am really looking forward to seeing the impactful ads and messages that many companies want all of the U.S. to see during one of the highlight events of the year.
What are you hoping to learn from the experience?
Sharing time with my Kellogg peers while learning from top Kellogg professors who have a lot of experience with evaluating advertising is really valuable for me.
Leslie Kwang
Why did you want to participate in the Ad Review?
There are many amazing opportunities available at Kellogg, but the Super Bowl Ad Review is one of the ones that really stand out as a quintessential Kellogg tradition. I wanted to participate not only because of the uniqueness of the opportunity, but also because I was interested in being part of something big within the Kellogg community.
What are you hoping to learn from the experience?
The Super Bowl is the single biggest advertising event of the year when companies spend millions of dollars on a TV spot. Under the pressure of high stakes and large viewership, companies go all out on their Super Bowl ads – and some fly while others flop. I am excited to be part of evaluating these ads and learn what makes a promotion effective. The brand managers and creative agencies that create the Super Bowl ads are all smart, but why don’t some of their ideas don’t go as planned? What makes a Super Bowl ad truly great while another misses the mark? These are the types of questions that I hope to resolve from my experience.
Hannah Park
Why did you want to participate in the Ad Review?
Prior to Kellogg, I was an account supervisor at Grey Advertising for the NFL. Two of my campaigns aired during the game last year, so I am familiar with how much thought and work goes on behind the scenes. I’m excited to be on the other side this year and to analyze the ads from a marketing perspective. Part of what makes the Kellogg experience so unique is the ability to participate in collaborative and experiential learning opportunities like the Super Bowl Ad Review.
What are you hoping to learn from this unique experience?
Having been so close to the creative in my prior job, this will be a great way to step back and think like a marketer. It’s important to not only entertain and break out from the crowd, but to also drive business. I’ll be interested to see which brands can seamlessly merge good storytelling with brand positioning. It’s the 50th Super Bowl this year, so I’m excited to see how marketers will up their game!
Follow the Super Bowl Ad Review conversation on Twitter with #KelloggSB
