The secrets to Super Bowl success with Michelob ULTRA's Ricardo Marques

0:28Welcome back to the Uncensored CMO. They've been advertising for the last few years, been doing incredible work, and in fact, are the third best Super Bowl advertiser of all time. So to find out how they did it, the secrets behind Super Bowl, and much, much more, you'll enjoy this episode. My episode with Ricardo Marquez. Ricardo, welcome to the show. John, thanks for having me. Such a pleasure. Finally getting the opportunity to talk to you. And in Super Bowl week, right? So this is very exciting. So tell me what Super Bowl week is like at the company you work for, because it must be quite a big deal.

1:00Does everyone watch and wait to see your ad play out? I mean, absolutely. I mean, it's one of the most, let's say, talked about moments of the year. It's right at the start of the year, critically important for us to set up a successful year. And of course, the investment that goes behind it, the planning that goes behind it, the noise that we know is around Super Bowl. So everything about it is special. And we always look to bring our A game to any Super Bowl. And of course, this year is no different. I was very fortunate, actually, because in 2010, I was working for Gatorade and I was invited to the Super Bowl for the first time.

1:35And it was just a magical experience. What I didn't appreciate as a British guy is quite what a cultural experience it was. I mean, in fact, the football, I have to say football now, but actually was probably a small part of the day. There was so much entertainment and the shows and everyone dressing up. And it's quite magical, isn't it, as a bit of entertainment itself? Absolutely. The best way I can describe it is imagine a World Cup that happens every single year in the US, right? I mean, 100 million consumers watching, the anticipation that leads up to the big moment. And again, all the brands that are putting their best work forward.

2:13So it is amazing. And I get incredibly excited every single year to be part of it. I can really imagine. And there's a big, big percentage of the population, isn't there, that actually watch the Super Bowl live every year. So it's one amazing way to reach everybody at the same time. And of course, for everybody in marketing and brands, people are tuning in for the spots, for the ads themselves. So it is also quite unique, quite special that the brands are part of the show and something that people are looking forward to enjoying as well. the closest we get in the uk is is christmas like christmas is kind of our super bowl where everyone does the best work and everyone's debating online you know which ads won it this year and that kind of thing so that's great it's fun as a marketer to be talking about advertising isn't it and everyone else know what you're talking about for a change you know which you put it now i can't wait to talk about the super bowl and the ad you've got breaking this year as well which is amazing just before we get into it just for everyone listening and watching tell us who you are and kind of what you know how you got into the job you've got today well my name is ricardo marquez i'm the vp of marketing for uh for michael obolter and believe it or not i've been this year i cannot believe that i'm going to say this out loud 19 years with ab with this amazing company feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this amazing team surrounded by smart people that are energized excited every single day to do their very best for the iconic brands we get to be able to market and support.

3:43So incredibly fortunate, 19 years. I mean, time goes fast when you're selling beer. When you're having fun. When you're having fun. Yeah, absolutely. And of course, over the past five years, leading this incredibly important brand for our US portfolio, that is Michelob Ultra. Now you've got some history of the Super Bowl, haven't you? And the reason why I think you're probably the perfect guest for me to talk to is you've got quite a back catalogue of Super Bowl ads. So given I work at System 1, and I get an opportunity to retest every Super Bowl ad we have done for the last few years, I thought, I spoke to the team and said, right, send me all of your results.

4:14I want to see how you've been doing over the last few years. And it's really, well, first of all, congratulations because it's a really strong performance. But I looked at two things. I looked at first the average of every advertiser that's ever advertised on the Super Bowl. So the average score they get when they've done more than one campaign. I mean, there's a lot of rookies actually every year. So we get sort of 30 or 40 % of ads every year from retailers that only do it once, but I looked at everyone who's ever done more than one campaign. Here are the top three. So number one, Doritos. Number two, T-Mobile.

4:46And number three, yours, Michelob Ultra. Wow, number three. You're number three all time. All time. Correct. Wow. Now, all time since we started testing. So I can't go back to the 1920s or whatever, but in recent history, and you've done a campaign every year for quite some time, haven't you? That's right. I also looked at your scores as well over the last five years. So starting with 2020, Jimmy Fallon, of course, very funny ad, 4.1 stars out of five. So that was absolutely brilliant. 2021, 3.7. You had the legends, the still shots or the legends, very moving. Post-pandemic, of course, you know, that was very impressive.

5:282022 uh peyton manning and serena williams 3.7 so again very high and to put it into context high three star would be in the top 10 of super bowl ads so so you know you're very consistent last year i love i have to say last year was a bit of a favorite because you had logan roy in an ad i mean like and succession was it is absolute peak wasn't it absolute pomp uh 4.2 so how do you think how do you think you're going to do this year well you're putting me on the spot here i i mean i i hope that it's going to be at least as good as last year i mean well the thing is because you you must have broken the ad actually let me ask this question before i tell you the answer so there's always a debate every year do you wait till game night to show the ads or do you break it in the week beforehand what's your kind of philosophy on whether you kind of go early and make the most of the media or whether you keep the surprise up your sleeve.

6:22We love to actually premiere the spot in the days leading up to Super Bowl because, of course, the anticipation for the big day is there. The conversation around the spots is already there. And we already capture a ton of great coverage, people talking about the spots, PR coverage. So it almost feels like we'd be leaving money on the table, so to say, if we would wait until Sunday for this big surprise reveal? Well, our data suggests that you're right. We actually looked at the database and we actually segmented it by every advertiser that waits till game night and every advertiser that previews ahead of game night.

6:59Zero difference. So there is nothing lost to the response from the audience for waiting. So that's good, right? So that's good. Now this year, so far, there's usually about 60 advertisers during Super Bowl night, between sort of maybe 55 and up to sort of about 70. But 60 would be an average. This year, 13 advertisers so far have released their ads. And I'm delighted to say you've got 4.8 star and you're currently number one. Wow. 4.8. 4.8 out of 5. Now, sometimes there isn't a 5-star ad in the Super Bowl. If there is, there's usually one or two. So already, you're fairly comfortably going to be right in the top five, I reckon.

7:42I mean, that's amazing to hear. And I can tell you that the team is going to be incredibly excited because they've worked so hard over the last few months. It's been a multi-month process to get us to where we are today. And, of course, our partners at White & Kennedy, New York. I'm sure that everybody's going to be excited. They're an amazing team on that. In fact, I had them on the podcast last year talking about McDonald's. They've done some spectacular work. The team are acing it at the moment. Fantastic team. Fantastic team. And, yeah. Now, I've got to ask, I think number three is actually the Bud Light ad as well.

8:16So is there any internal rivalry between the teams? We like to, all of us, put out the very best work, of course, and win as a collective. But, you know, of course, everybody tries to outdo each other in a very positive and healthy way. and that's what we believe is a little bit maybe of the secret sauce on how AB historically as a company, parent company, has always been showing up so strong with multiple brands. We have two and a half minutes in the game itself. We are the number one beverage advertiser in the game and I think that's part of the secret sauce for sure. A little bit of healthy competition.

8:57You're so associated with it as well. Well, actually talking about that, you've had the exclusive rights from 1989, I believe, to 2022 that came to an end last year what's been the impact of no longer having that level of exclusivity has it made any difference to how you've approached it to tell you the truth uh it made no impact in how we prepare for a super bowl moment because we always look to put our very best plans forward and that has not changed and in reality when you think about it we are competing with every single brand out there the noise around super bowl the attention that we are looking to capture, you said earlier, 60, right?

9:3560 brands. Think about it. 60 brands go to the Super Bowl. So our competition is really those other brands that are competing for attention. So in that regard, nothing really has changed, especially in the context where in the past, some of those competitors were advertising at the local level as well. So yeah, here we are again. I mean, this year we've been planning for this moment for months and now finally the big days. I'd love to talk to you a bit about what goes into the planning as well, because I think that people be fascinated to know how long it takes and the approach. Before I do though, we've got to ask the$7 million question here because everyone wants to know, is it worth it?

10:11The answer is it depends. It depends on your creative. It depends on how you intend to use the Superbowl. If it's a one-time campaign, a one-time moment, or if you're using it to really set up the rest of the year and to continue building on your story that is relevant for your brand. And it also depends in the sense that you need to have, you need to be set up from a retail standpoint, from a shop floor standpoint, from a commercial standpoint to maximize the moment of Super Bowl and convert that into actual sales. For example, in the beer category, we know that this is one of the key selling weeks in the year is the lead up to Super Bowl.

10:51So for us to have those retail plans ready to capture this amazing opportunity is absolutely key. So it depends. If you do all of those, absolutely yes, it is worth it. You are in front of 100 million consumers who are actually paying and welcoming brands and commercials. So yes, it is worth it. So what would your KPIs be for a successful Super Bowl? I mean, do you have like numbers of cases, case sales or awareness? What would be your KPIs to judge a good Super Bowl? Of course, sales, the most important KPI ultimately. But then surrounding it, you would say conversation, cutting through the social media conversation in and around Super Bowl.

11:30Are we getting talked about? Are we, you know, are people connecting, sharing our spots, talking about everything else that we have surrounding it? Very important. And of course, more of a long-term one is brand health. Are we building the brand, setting up the brand for the long-term as well? So those are the three things that we, that we tend to look at. Now, how, how, how much of a secret is it? So, so if you talked about your customers, You work with lots of distributors, don't you, that get Michelob out to the bars and up and down the country. When do they get to see the Super Bowl and all the other bits that go around it?

12:04Well, we like to share with our partners, with our wholesalers in advance before even we pre-release. And I had the opportunity to do that just a few days ago to a crowd of close to 4 ,000 distributors, which was, it's always incredible to be able to get to that moment where you share the work with our network. And we get to hear real-time feedback too, which is great. That must be quite a moment for you as well, because presumably you've been planning this for a long time. It's the first time they're seeing it as well. What's that feeling like? It feels great. I mean, when you're confident in the work that you're putting forward, and when you know that you've been planning carefully and throughout so many months to get us to this point, then it's a moment of enjoyment.

12:47You go out there to have fun and to let people enjoy the work and be as excited as you are. Brilliant. Now, just before we talk about it, what we might do, we might play it for everyone watching and listening as well.

13:00Hola.

13:07Maybe a different beer? Okay, be right back.

13:21That's messy. What do you mean, Leo? We go way back.

13:34Dan the mayor. Come on, he's not even trying out there.

13:46Mr. Messi!

13:55Miguel Oboletra, superior light beer. Talk us through the ad you made this year, because it's got a particularly unusual, well, it's got a new star as well, isn't it, of the ad. But talk us through the ad, and then we'll get into how you made it. Yeah, I mean, this year's spot, very, very special. Of course, we have the GOAT himself, Lionel Messi being the star of our Super Bowl spot, next to Emmy award-winning actor, of course, Jason Sudeikis, and then the man Marino as well. So the three of them land on what we believe is a simple yet incredibly entertaining spot to watch, a delightful spot to watch, watch Messi doing what he does best on a beach, which is of course perfect setup for a beer brand.

14:40And I would also say that one of the things that we get particularly excited about is the fact that you cannot tell this story without talking about Michelob Ultra. our brand is the catalyst for what happens. And that's, of course, very important as well. Yeah, it was very natural, wasn't it? Because sometimes, you know, the product itself is forced into the ad, but actually it's just natural part of the story, isn't it? Which is lovely. It means anyone watching is very, it understands immediately, you know, which brand is being talked about. But I've got to ask a question. And obviously, being an English guy as well, you've got a soccer player in a football ad.

15:16So help me understand why that is. Well, I mean, it's undeniable the impact that Massey had in the US upon his arrival in Miami. I mean, right now is not only the greatest of all time in the sport, but he is also a cultural icon in America. And that's incredibly powerful. Then again, at the same time, the reason why I'm so excited about the spot this year is it's not a soccer spot for soccer fans. it's a story that resonates from with people from all walks of life and partly because we bring jason sudeikis as well and then marino but then again because the story itself is very relatable we've all been there on that beach we've all been at the bar when the keg runs out and it's incredibly relatable and that brings the audience along for the for the and dan couldn't help but throw the ball of course of course it's very miami as well it is very miami isn't it which is brilliant um now take us back to the beginning so when when do you start briefing something like this when does that process start oh very early i can tell you uh we like to have the luxury of time to really go out and explore different avenues different creative ideas and we really started in april um late march early april when we started working on what is now going to be on super bowl Sunday.

16:39And we like that because it just allows us to not rush into the work. And that's one point. The second one, it's the fact that it allows us to really use the Super Bowl as a moment to set up the rest of the year. It's such a big moment to be just a one-off of a Super Bowl Sunday campaign. It really helps us really plan the year around it. So yeah, multi-month process, different ideas, different great discussions. And here we are. That's why I said earlier, when the team hears about the result, they will be incredibly excited because it's been a long time coming to get us to where we are. Well, it's very good.

17:16And just to say as well, the 4.8 star is with the total population as well. So it includes everyone's, you know, well, the Super Bowl audience, right? Because it does appeal to everybody. And, you know, you're a slightly more premium brand as well. So what's the strategy and what's the thinking behind the brand and how you position it in market as well? and how does this communication deliver that objective? Absolutely. I mean, Michelob Ultra has been a first mover into the category. I mean, launched back in 2002 around this very novel concept back then, you know, a beer for those who enjoy an active lifestyle.

17:49And it has been incredibly consistent over the past two decades, of course, with different creative expressions of that very same idea. But to your point, what we look to do is to innovate, to bring creativity that people enjoy. We look to stay very consistent, not deviate from that original story. We look at the level of talent that we bring forward to partner with us. And of course, Super Bowl is no exception. And then we look at a number of different executional details, be it from design, for example, how we show up in store, the music that we pick up, decide to have on our ads, the tone of the brand.

18:25And every single element is curated to deliver, again, on that idea of being an active lifestyle brand. And at the same time of justifying the price premium that we're charging for consumers beyond the product itself. Yeah. You talked about some of the executional details as well. I'd love to get into that because my colleague Orlando wrote this amazing book called Lookout, where he looked at the features in an ad that kind of capture our attention and create emotion and that work in the long term. and as I read through that it's almost literally describes your ad so the sorts of things that you know capture our attention is you've got characters you know acting sort of thing you might have a scene that unfolds you've got one beautiful 60 second scene empty that kind of unfolds in front of you um he talks about recognizable places so you know we tend to build emotions when we see places recognized rather than ads that can be very flat you know and and who doesn't want to be down the beach having a beer i mean it's just it generates all the right emotion um another thing he talks about is knowing glances so the kind of looks in people's eyes and the interaction you've got that brilliantly between the three main characters and the supporting cast as well um the type of humor i mean it's not laugh out loud but it's definitely put a smile on your face kind of you know kind of feel good humor isn't it and the final point which which um he talks about which you've absolutely nailed and you do throughout actually all your executions is you pick the music very well.

19:49And I think it's almost one of those core ingredients in all of your work, isn't it? Is that how you do uplifting kind of, you know, emotive soundtracks. Is that a conscious part of your decision when you're kind of crafting an ad? Exactly right. Exactly right. Music is such a powerful element, sometimes overlooked maybe, but it's such a powerful element of any piece of communication. It helps you deliver the right tone for the brand. It helps you elevate the story. it helps you trigger emotion it helps you cut through at the end of the day and you can have the same piece with two different pieces of music and you have two completely different spots such as the power of music in a in a spot yeah that comes through very very clearly and in fact all the ones that you know i looked at the last five years they all had something a kind of a cultural kind of significant music track but also kind of in the spirit of the of the ad itself doesn't it in terms of almost part of the storytelling is is you know and you've got that perfectly with the And this year is exactly no different.

20:46The Kwando track that we have in this year's Super Bowl spot, if you listen to the lyrics, it kind of talks a little bit to what you're seeing on screen. The pace of the song itself beautifully kind of blends itself into the action that you're seeing on screen. So yeah, it adds to the story at the end of the day. And what I thought was another helpful one, I mean, you know, you've got three well-known kind of celebrities in your ad. But actually, when we looked at the report, what the audience take out is exactly what you want, which is like the occasion of being on the beach and having a beer and having fun and being together.

21:18All those things come out way above the fact that it's got some celebrities in it, which is great. So they're like the supporting cast. And it's interesting, actually, we again look at the data on System 1. We looked at the impact the celebrity has. And what's fascinating is we took all Super Bowl ads, about 63 % of all ads have got a celebrity, which is quite surprising, really. Well, it's not surprising with Super Bowl, but it's quite surprising in general for advertising. But we found celebrities overall make no difference at all to the actual score. But it's how you use them that really matters.

21:48And actually, whether you're using a celebrity in the way that they're supposed to be used, doing the thing that they're famous for, like you've done with, you know, and integrate as part of the story. And that's what I think you've done very well, isn't it? So does that come into your consideration in terms of how you cast celebrities and the role they play in the storytelling? Exactly right. There needs to be a partnership in the sense that, for example, again, in this year, we have Massey doing messy things. Doing his magic on a beach. So it's authentic to him, but at the same time, it's very authentic to Michelob Ultra as a brand.

22:25Again, it's the catalyst of the story. The trigger for what happens in the spot is the fact that beer runs out. We ran out of Michelob Ultra. So the beer plays a central role there. The setting and this beach bar, incredibly authentic to the brand. So there needs to be that element of authenticity to the brand and what we're trying to communicate for the brand and authenticity to the celebrity in this case, Massey. The data really, really backs up. So if you were giving some advice, you've got a lot of experience doing Super Bowl advertising, right? So what would be the top three bits of advice that you'd give anybody who's going to set out on their first Super Bowl campaign or their first big budget above the line?

23:02Because it's one of those moments in your career. I mean, you've been very blessed to have so many award winning and high profile campaigns. But I remember when I got the first chance to work on a big budget, it is quite intimidating, isn't it? Because the stakes are high, you don't want to get it wrong and so on. So what would be your advice to somebody maybe starting out and get their first shot at a big commercial? show? Well, first of all, it is an incredibly special moment. Again, we always feel blessed that we get to work on an amazing brand that goes to the Super Bowl stage. We get to show the work to millions of people, a hundred million plus people.

23:36So that's incredibly special. Top three things that we always think about is one, first one is plan well ahead. We don't leave it to the last minute, the last two months of the year. We like to plan well ahead. That's incredibly important because you want to have time to land the best creative. You want to have time to land a full plan around Super Bowl. Time is key. The second one is don't forget your brand. It is very easy to fall into the trap of looking to stand out in what is a very crowded environment around Super Bowl and look to do something that will cut through, but not doing that at the expense of what your brand is all about.

24:21That's something that we always think about. Is this authentic to Michelob Ultra? Does it deliver on what we are as a brand? Is it consistent? Is it true to our product? Brand needs to take center stage. And then again, be consistent as well with what your brand is. And then finally, of course, look for creative voltage. It is the Super Bowl. You have to bring the very best. There is no other way. I mean, think about the numbers of investment that you quoted earlier, right? It only makes sense, you have 60 other brands, it only makes sense if it helps you, if you have the voltage, the creative to not only win Super Bowl, but then launch your plan through the rest of the year.

25:01It is conveniently placed at the start of the year. It's an amazing opportunity to really supercharge your plan and start, kick off the year the right way. it's really interesting actually what you said about the sort of the novelty to create the buzz versus doing something authentic to your products because we have this debate at christmas as well in the uk because a lot of brands try and do something completely surprising every year and then you go oh yeah i like that ad with the bouncing qr code in it or something which brand was it again you know so there's this balance isn't there between being authentic and being clearly who you are as you did very well in this this year and doing something that everyone's going to talk about and those two things are quite hard balances and it's interesting that what we find because um i think super bowl is the most fun night for us a system one because we we stay up late and we test all the ads within an hour right so so mike who's the guy that's in charge of the testing is just working like all through the night kind of getting it all tested at live as it happens kind of thing and it does an amazing job but it's always interesting to see what the social media reaction is compared to what the audience kind of feel and they often often be different the ones that people are kind of like the bouncing qr code last year everyone's going mad about on social go that broke the internet got no reaction from the audience and everyone was confused going what's going on you know so it there is a tension isn't there between the sort of you know pr generation and the and the delivering on the core fundamentals and and the other the other aspect of super bowl of course is you are talking to literally everybody it's it's That's also very important to keep in mind, talking with everybody, all walks of life, coast to coast, which is, of course, what makes it so powerful.