On my post from March 28 regarding paid Internet clicks, I concluded with advice to marketers to stay focused on the brass ring – know how many customers your advertising is generating, not just the size of the audience you are reaching.  Subsequently, my friend Rob Jewell (read his blog at PR on the run) passed along an article from BusinessWeek regarding Super Bowl advertising.  Apparently research is showing that the average brand recall was at only 7% one week after the game.  I highly recommend taking a look at the article, “Super Bowl Ads: A Big Fumble.”

A good marketing plan starts with exposure to a large audience, but two other elements are missing – repetition and relevance.  Both of these are often overlooked as advertisers get blinded by the glamor of the Super Bowl (or other big events) spotlight.  Think of these as a three-legged stool for marketing.  Without one, you have no base.

To me, repetition is the most underrated of the three.  Too often, by the time a campaign hits the market, the internal audience is tired of working with it.  Their perception is that the campaign has saturated the market, when in fact it is still new to the public.  Depending on the level of media buys, it can take significant time before the public is exhausted by a campaign.  It goes back to basic psychology and memory retention.  In today’s media clutter and fragmentation, few people have the unique ability to remember, comprehend and recall a 30 second message they receive once.  Tell them, tell them again, and tell them again.  Then do your research to see if they got the message.

So, does that mean don’t advertise at major events like the Super Bowl?  Of course not, just make sure to do it wisely.  Advertising at these events can do wonders as part of a strategy to build brand top-of-mind awareness.  Just make sure that it is an event that your target market is watching and you repeat and reinforce the same message throughout your entire campaign.