Success Strategies For Successful People ~ Steven Roddy

Ahhhh the 2010 Super Bowl commercials…the advertising Mecca. The 2010 Super Bowl commercials where dominated by Doritos? Pepsi didn’t play in the commercial game at all and of course you had the ever-memorable beer commercials.

Even though there were a plethora of advertisements whose marketing dollars paid off the most? And who is going to see the biggest return on their investment dollars?

2010 Super Bowl Commercial Ad Stats

According to CBS, this year 2010 Super Bowl commercial ads cost $3.01 million dollars for 30 seconds of airtime. This number excludes production costs and fees for actors, equipment, ad agencies, directors, crew and other various personnel. While I don’t yet have the stats for 2010, in 2009 NBC sold out all their commercials spots for a record generating revenue of $206,000,000.

How can CBS charge such a high price tag commercial airtime during the Super Bowl? There are 4 general reasons why companies are willing to spend $100,000 per second for ad space:

1. According to Nielsen ratings your commercial is going to reach 90 million viewers.
2. Word of Mouth Buzz: Super Bowl commercials are just as anticipated and talked about as the Super Bowl
3. People actually watch the commercials during the Super Bowl
4. There is a great chance that your commercial is going to end up on YouTube, talk show, radio show or some other form of media where the ad will continue getting views until next years BIG Game.

But, is shelling out that kind of money to be associated with the 2010 Super Bowl worth the money? Pepsi didn’t think so and that is why they took their multi-million dollar advertising budget that is usually set aside for the Super Bowl and spent the money online feeling that they would get a better return on their investment.

But, in the mist of all the Super Bowl commercial hype lets not forget the real reason of commercials, to generate revenue. Sure you could argue that commercials also brand your company but really, if an advertisement is not bringing you a return on your investment then stop running the ad. Switch they station, change the magazine or scratch the ad all together and start over.

Commercials Should Convert

I mean I am all about commercials being entertaining but when a 30-second commercial is carrying a price tag of $3.01 million dollars that sucker better convert into some dinero! Heard?

Which leads me to this question, “Why do companies focus so hard on making creative, memorable commercials during the Super Bowl when they should be doing that every time?” The main reason is that 3 million dollars is enough to spark anyone’s creativity. What would happen to these companies if they made ridiculously funny, creative commercials throughout the whole year when the price tag is uh I don’t know…a little closer to reasonable?

Creative Geico Commercials

Oh, then you would be Geico.

Month in and month out Geico keeps coming out with creative commercials. The result? The masses are continually talking about them…especially when good commercials throughout the year are so rare. B.C. Forbes, the founder of Forbes magazine said, “There are no traffic jams in the extra mile” The reason why adages like this have been around for years and will continue to prove themselves true in the years to come is that people don’t change.

No Easy Way to Success

Your competition is looking for the easy way to convert a dollar. And really there isn’t an easy way to become a success. If all commercial and ad campaign’s were planned like Super Bowl commercials company’s would find themselves in the same league as Geico, who has all other insurance companies talking about how they can save you more money, thereby indirectly marketing you.

Think about it…Geico’s competition is spending money advertising them. Your competition could be doing the same thing with a little creativity.

So, which commercials will prove to be the most profitable in 2010? I think that Doritos that the funniest commercials but they will NOT see the highest return on their investment. Why?

The Doritos commercial campaign is not going to be profitable for them because they were not measureable. Where they funny? Absolutely! I loved it when the kid put the man in his place about his mama but outside of looking at the profit margin to see if they increased their results are not measurable. Doritos will not know which brand will sell better as a result or what the exact effects of their advertisements were.

The top 3 companies who will see a return on their advertising dollars are:

1. GoDaddy.com

GoDaddy was driving people to the website to see the rest of the commercial. And if you did go to the website to watch the remainder of the GoDaddy commercial then it looked like it should have been on late night television, if you know what I mean? But sex sells and GoDaddy does a great job at selling the bootie.

What I liked about their marketing strategy is that they can directly track who came to their site, how they came to their site, at what time viewers came to their website, and how much revenue was made off of that traffic. What I didn’t like is that outside of watching the commercial there were no offers to help them convert.

2. Dockers

The Dockers commercial was the men running through an open bald prairie wearing various outfits with no pants. At first when I was watching the commercial I didn’t know what the heck was going on. But, they brought everything together nicely when they offered the viewers a free pair of pants when you went to their website.

Dockers knows that everyone who comes to their website requesting the free pair of pants is as a result of their commercial efforts. And judging that right now (the day after the Super Bowl 2010) “dockers free pants” and “dockers.com/freepants” are the top 2 searches in the US right now according to Google…I think that their payout is going to be pretty high!

3. Denny’s

But, Denny’s is going to hit a Grand Slam with their commercial ads by giving away a free Grand Slam breakfast from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Not only were their ads funny (the screaming chickens) but also they have the most measureable stats in place. In that 8-hour period they are going to be able to see just how effective their Super Bowl commercial ads were.

But, why would Denny’s run this promotion on Tuesday during these hours? This is Denny’s slowest time during the week so when the business explodes out of nowhere they know that the new business will result from the Super Bowl commercials, NOT any other freakish incident.

Moral of the story: Do not spend money on television commercials or any other type of advertising if you cannot measure the results. Especially, when the cost is $100,000 per second!

That is the Marketing Model rundown on the 2010 Super Bowl commercials but I would like to hear your thoughts. What commercials were your favorites?

Miss America Swimsuit Models

When I was modeling my agent would always say, “Steven, sex sells.” as he was trying to get me to show more and more skin during events. Selling sex was something that I was not completely comfortable with due to the fact that I was using that money to pay my way through Bible College.

While studying to become a minister I was listening to sermons against lust, sex, and sex appeal and then at night or on the weekends I would go to modeling shoots or travel to beaches where I would take sexy pictures with sexy women.

Does Sex Really Sell?

Juggling a career as a model while studying to be a minister forced me to ask a couple of questions:

“Does sex really sell?”

And if so, “Does sex, sell to everyone (including the church)?”

And if so, “Why does sex sell?”

Here is what I have found. Sex sells…to everyone, including the church. Ministers struggle with pron, lustful thoughts of beautiful men and women, the power of money, the power of authority just like everyone else…because we are ALL human.

So that left me with the question, “Why does sex sell?” Well, you cannot sell sex without beauty and beauty carries the signature of God. When you look at God’s creation it is BEAUTIFUL.

A setting sun behind the turquoise waters that is resting on the pink sands of Bermuda, a new born child carrying the perfect genetic balance of mother and father, or a delicate flower growing on a prickly cacti…all breathtakingly beautiful.

Sexy is More than SEX

When talking about how sex sells, our thoughts naturally move towards sex. Men think of beautiful women and women think of handsome men…not of children and nature. But, the same principles that sell sex can sell your product.

• How can Starbucks sell a $5 cup of coffee?
• How can Apple sell a $2,000 laptop?
• How can Gucci sell a $500 shirt that personally feels no different than a $50 shirt from Banana Republic?

These products make you feel sexy. Does your products make your customers feel sexy. When I walk into Starbucks, wearing Gucci, purchase my cup of java and pull out my Mac to get some work done I feel like I am someone. I feel successful. In truth my success or lack thereof is the same if I am wearing sweat pants, rocking flip flops while drinking coffee and typing on a PC but we do not purchase truth, we purchase illusions.

Customers are Emotional Buyers

There is a great book called, “Emotional Intelligence” that explains that all of our purchases are as a result of emotion NOT logic. You might argue that you purchase a car because you NEED that car to get to and from work. That is true but the car you end up purchasing in most cases is not one inside your budget that you can pay cash for. The car that you purchase is brand new, with a sunroof, nice rims, leather seats and a sleek body frame. You purchase that car because of the bells and whistles.

We Purchase Sex Appeal

We purchase sex appeal, because we want to feel sexy. The reason that we desire to feel sexy is so that other men and women will worship us. Our core desire is to be worshiped and that too proves our divinity. God, the eternal being who desires our worship, lives on the inside of us. We, who are the temple of God, also carry His desire for worship. This is the reason why people follow celebrities, pro-athletes and wealthy businessmen so passionately and live vicariously through their accomplishments.

If we cannot be worshiped for who we are we project onto others what we desire. I know that I have gotten both spiritual and philosophical however, the truth remains that since sex sells, you need to sell sex appeal to REALLY sell your product.

For when you sell sex appeal you pull on the spiritual nature of men and women thereby, ensuring the success of your business.

7 Ways to Make Your Business Sexy

So how do you make your business sexy? Here are 7 ways to increase the sex appeal of your business:

1. Business Cards – Is your business card unique? Do people feel special when they hold your card? Do people want to show your card off like a piece of artwork? Then your business card is NOT sexy. Make people comment.
2. Commercials – If you cannot afford to do a professional television commercial don’t. Most small businesses pay television station money to destroy their business. If you present the wrong image you are going to make people feel cheap if they go to your store.
3. Interior Decorating – LORD!!! How I hate walking into small businesses. I love to support them but hate going inside because the majority is NOT trendy and the whole inside just feels cheap AND DUSTY…AND DISORGANIZED. If you have customers coming into a store to purchase a product then your store needs to represent, professionally, a design that draws your demographic.
4. Signage – If your sign has lights make sure that all of the bulbs are lit. If you sign is standard, change it. If the color of your has faded due to the weather trash it. If the sign doesn’t make people comment (good or bad) CHANGE IT! Every time I am riding in a car with someone who sees a Chick-fil-a billboard they ALWAYS comment.
5. Uniforms – First your employees should have them. Second don’t do buy cheap hats that go with cheap shirts. Your employees are representing you and your company and they should look polished while representing the current trends of your demographic.
6. Company Car – Go BIG or go home. If your employees drive company cars they should be clean, recent paint job, nice rims (don’t have to be 22’s), and if they have signage DO NOT hand paint (you are laughing but I have seen that on a rusty day care van).
7. Hairstyles – These days facial hair is debatable but in most markets it doesn’t matter. What matters is trend. Hair…that is another story, unless you are Starbucks or Apple who seem to love hiring individuals with different hairstyles. They invite all types and they are sexy and you spend your money there. You have to ask yourself why?

In short, marketing is what makes your business sexy. I am known as the marketing model, because I make your business famous by making your business sexy.

Scroll down below and leave me a comment telling how you have made your business sexy or by asking any other questions that you might have.