For the advertisers who paid $2.1 million for 30 seconds of air during Super Bowl XXXVII, the question still remains: was it worth it? To answer this question, Copernicus Marketing Consulting, a Newton, Massachusetts-based firm known for its scientific approach to marketing, worked with Dr. David Lloyd, co-author of Uncover the Hidden Power of Television Programming…And Get the Most From Your Advertising Budget, to calculate the "impact"—how much an ad moved people to think and/or better yet behave in ways favorable to the advertisers (buying the product, investing in the stock, etc.)—of each of the 55 Super Bowl XXXVII national spots.

According to Copernicus, "impact" is a much better measure of advertising effectiveness than "popularity," which is used more frequently by the media and others to evaluate advertising performance, particularly advertising during the Super Bowl. Copernicus points out that popularity ratings provide little insight into whether the commercial "worked" (i.e., has impact).

The impact score Copernicus used is a function of two independent measures: "brand registration power" and "action orientation." The underlying notion is that advertising must be remembered and persuasive to be successful. "Brand registration power" reflects the entertainment value of the spots. Among other things, it is captured by:

Water Cooler Score: Will everyone be talking about this commercial around the water cooler tomorrow?
Remember Me Score: Will you remember this commercial a week from now?
Name Game Score: Did the spot clearly communicate the brand name of the product, service, or company it represented?

"Action orientation" is very different. It taps into a commercial's ability to move people to act upon the advertising or, at the very least, to think about acting on it. Two key indicators of this measure are:

GPS Score: Did the spot "position" the advertised brand, product, or service making it appear distinctive and uniquely preferable to alternatives and competitors?
Gotta Have It Score: If you were in the market for a product or service in this category today, did the spot make you want to buy the advertised brand?

Copernicus looked at how "impactful" each of the 55 national Super Bowl commercials versus popularity scores.

To do this, Copernicus contrasted it's impact ranking with USAToday's Ad Meter popularity ranking, one of the leading post-game popularity rating scales:

From these results, Copernicus drew the following preliminary conclusions:

• Be wary of traditional popularity scores for TV ads. An ad that's popular isn't necessarily one that works. Only 5 of the USAToday's Top 15 most liked ads had one of the better impact scores on the Copernicus scale.
• Be wary of creative hype. Many advertisers and their agencies seek out the Super Bowl as a vehicle for showcasing creative talent. As a result, we see very entertaining ads which people may talk about around the office the next day, but the advertiser is misremembered and the call to action subliminal.

For most advertisers, Super Bowl XXXVII was not worth it.

Post-Script: Parting Shots for The Advertising of Super Bowl XXXVII

Of course, we couldn't let a Super Bowl go by without offering our parting shots:

1. We're happy Jared lost weight eating Subway sandwiches and all, but now we're party to his dreams, his relationship with his wife, how he decorates his house, and the list goes on. When will it end?
2. Note to movie studios: advertising films that will not be out for another 10 months is like heating your home during the Summer, hoping it'll stay warm for the Winter.
3. Were we the only one's shocked to find out that the Tennis Masters Cup ad wasn't one of those quick job, local cable ads, it was actually a national spot? Gallery Furniture should demand a refund if this commercial was part of their sponsorship package.
4. Why were the bison stampeding in the Levi's ad? Why did they come into the city? Where were all the other people? We had to duck because this ad went way over our heads.
5. Anheuser-Busch clearly has a very low opinion not only about women—the mother with the gigantic rump was a particularly unflattering, bordering on offensive, portrayal—but also of the 18-54- year-old-men it purports to target. Talk about the lowest common denominator of humor—a clown drinking through its bum? A man with three arms?

It's official: in an attempt to separate itself from its cigarette business (which will retain the Philip Morris name), Philip Morris ended months of speculation by finally changing its name to Altria Group and began an Accenture (née Andersen Consulting)-like national ad campaign to educate the public about the new name. Delta has also announced the name of it's new low-cost airlines: Song. Though we are a bit skeptical about these choices, only time will tell if Altria and Song will become another Consignia, formerly known as The Royal Mail, England's postal service, or Monday, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Consulting's ephemeral moniker, both of which had disastrous consequences for their respective companies.

In the case of Monday—which certainly tops the list of naming doosies in 2002—we wondered what PWC could possibly have been thinking, after all IBM scooped up Monday at the bargain price of $3.5 billion when, only a year before, Hewlett Packard had offered $18 billion for PWC Consulting. Was it a case of too few available names? Poor research? Bad methodology? Terrible advice from a branding or corporate identity firm?

We talked to Naseem Javed, a syndicated columnist on global corporate image and brand identity issues and the founder of ABC Namebank International (www.abcnamebank.com), a company that advises CEOs of Fortune 500 and other leading corporations on all types of major naming issues, to find out how companies can make better choices about corporate names.

Copernicus Mzine: Are there really so few available names that corporations have to resort to co-opting days of the week?

Naseem Javed: There is no shortage of powerful global names with trademarks and identical URLs…this is a myth successfully established by corporate identity and branding agencies to cover up their lack of skills.

Copernicus Mzine: Just how bad has naming gotten?

Naseem Javed: In January 2003, my firm completed a global survey, which analyzed the names of 5000 major international corporations. We found only 7% of the 5000 names studied were considered one of a kind, powerful, and globally protected with an identical URL. Some examples from this tiny group include Sony, Telus, Microsoft, Playstation, and Four Seasons Hotel.

Copernicus Mzine: In your experience, what process are companies and their brand identity firms following to develop and select a corporate name and brand identity—a logo, color scheme, font, tag-line, etc.?

Naseem Javed: First let me say that naming should never be confused with logos, graphic design, packaging, and advertising strategies, which are only important after a name has been properly selected under a professional strategy and guidance of a master naming architect.

Malpractice of "corporate identity" has created so much accidental naming, further compounded when voodoo accounting met voodoo branding. A silly name with a hundred-million-dollar rollout campaign became the standard. Package designers abandoned the noble profession of corporate naming to other big dollar maneuvers, becoming experts in corporate governance, IPOs, and other strange areas, in the name of branding—voodoo, that is.

Copernicus Mzine: How should companies approach naming? What's a better alternative to how corporate identity firms are going about the process now?

Naseem Javed: I can offer seven remedies for fixing the current situation:

1. Respect. A name must have an alpha-character to qualify and gain respect. There is no room for "PurpleFrog," "PinkRhino," "Globe-a-Con" or "Tomorrow Inc." Sobriety must prevail because corporate names are not beer commercials.
2. ONE face, ONE name. Stand up with a happy, healthy face. Don't try too many masks and transmit multiple personalities. This can seriously blur the image. Is the name selling accounting services or space navigation equipment, computers or distilled water? Honest names are truly honest about what they do.
3. Current status. If you think you're on top of the world, then show it with your name. Old-fashioned names will not attract customer's attention to your ongoing evolutions. Glories of the past often lose their value with the changing times. Face cyber-branding realities of tomorrow's global e-commerce.
4. Become a star. Have a star quality in your corporate name. Its alpha-structure should be bright, clear and shiny. Don't educate the universe on how to spell, pronounce, or remember a weird spelling or obscure origin of a blunt, klutzy name. No need to be a matchstick when it can be a flashlight.
5. Freedom to travel. Spread your wings and fly away. Wander country to country with your name-identity and explore global opportunities. No room for difficulties of global translations, connotations, secondary meaning, foreign obscenities, pronunciations and all other language issues. Think locally, but name universally.
6. Pride & Joy. Be a leader. Set an example. Take pride. Introduce it globally with full confidence. Why the embarrassment? It's not stolen, or is it? Watch competitors struggle with confusion, dysfunctionalities, and embarrassing naming stories.
7. Rightful Ownership. If you own a corporation, why not name it? Today, 93% of corporations do not own a global trademark with an identical domain name. This is the easiest thing to do. Fix it immediately as there in no winning without a global trademark with an identical URL.

Copernicus Mzine: If you had the ear of every CEO in the world for two minutes, what would you say to them about naming?

Naseem Javed: Corporations, dressed up like charlatans and harlequins, have done enough dancing; shareholders are no longer fooled by fancy images, fake identities with silly names, making fun of their investments. For those genuine, honest, and progressive corporations of the real economy armed with realistic goals, there are still a lot of opportunities to stay clear of corrupt, polluted, and damaged name identities. Seek out professional naming solutions to your marketing needs, making sure your names are on solid ground.

For more about Naseem Javed , visit www.naseemjaved.com.

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To some marketers this seems like a preposterous question. Of course low prices will increase sales, these folks might say. Look at GM. Look at Dell. Both of those companies have increased market share with price promotions. Since "we've got the lowest prices" has become the most popular brand positioning and pricing strategy in America today, it must seem inconceivable to many that offering low prices wouldn't boost revenues. Profits is another story, but when it comes to sales, lower prices will surely move the revenue needle.

Or will it? If the experience of the majority of retailers in different categories—department stores, electronics, discounters, clothing—over the holiday season is any indication, marketers better think again. According to statistics released by the Commerce Department at the beginning of January, December retail sales were essentially flat when automobiles are excluded. And this in the wake of one of the most aggressive seasons of price cutting and discounting in recent memory. As one University of Florida professor commented to the Wall Street Journal, the focus on lowering prices this holiday season, "generated as much excitement as a wet firecracker."

Price-cutting just wasn't anything new to harried holiday shoppers who've been conditioned by many retailers—particularly department stores—to expect sales and bargains. If you miss this week's sale, well, there'll be another one next week, probably with even more discounts and maybe a bonus coupon. Add to more of the same-old-same-old discounting that consumers are simply not as obsessed with price as most retailers seem to be, and you get flat sales. Our research suggests that price is the primary purchase consideration for only 15%-35% of buyers in most categories. That's not to say price is unimportant, but that other things are more important.

Cutting prices is not the tried and true tactic for stimulating sales that it used to be. At some point, consumers may not care if you're giving away your product—they don't need it and you haven't given them any other reason to want it aside from a low, low price.

For more insightful marketing discoveries, visit http://www.copernicusmarketing.com/discover/index.htm

Have a hot discovery for our next release? Contact us at info@copernicusmarketing.com

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We just picked up a copy of this collection of nearly 30 columns from different publications. It's a grim subject to be sure, but an interesting way to gain further perspective on what exactly transpired in corporate board rooms and corner offices that brought so many businesses and senior executives down.

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We're gearing up to welcome the latest inductees into the 2003 Counterintuitive Marketing Hall of Fame and Shame, our on-line tribute to the marketing masterpieces and messes of the recent past and present. We'd like our readers to share in the celebration of the practice at its very best and embarrassing worst by submitting nominations of companies and brands who displayed marketing greatness or grossness.

For Hall of Famers, we'll consider nominees that have achieved great marketing success adhering to marketing fundamentals such as clearly defining a profitable target and a compelling positioning, developing great advertising which clearly communicates benefits, and maintaining superior customer service. As for the Hall of Shamers, this group has encountered product flops and declining performance. They have no clear positioning or target customer group and their advertising is completely forgettable or confusing; sometimes down right silly or worse, offensive. Their brands simply blend into the crowd, while they give away a first-mover advantage and brand equity.

To make a nomination, go to www.counterintuitivemarketing.com.

The final selections from nominees submitted by business men and women from around the world and we'll announce the 2003 inductees in the April edition of The Copernicus Mzine, so stay tuned.

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