This must have taken SO much work and SO much money to pull off
“Batman?”
“Close enough. Bateman.”
Such a simple idea. But beautifully done. I can’t imagine what it took to pull it off.
First, there’s the celebrities
It’s dangerous to make a spot that ONLY works if you have specific celebrity. If the celebrity’s agent asks to see the script “to gauge my client’s interest,” he or she would have known right away to play hardball. It's not like they could find another celebrity whose name almost sounds like "Batman." SZA’s agent wouldn’t have the same leverage, but I'm sure would still ask for low to mid six figures.
Then there’s the rights
They would have to negotiate what is likely a stiff price from DC Comics to use the Batman properties. Then, in order to protect their properties, DC would ask to approve the scripts, the shooting boards, the set and costume designs, and the rough cuts. They likely had input along the way as well as strong “suggestions” of vendors “who understand Batman” and State Farm and their agency Highdive had no choice but to hire. These makeup artists, set designers, costume designers, stunt coordinators, and prop masters would know they could charge a little more than usual too.
And then they had to pony up for a great director
Bryan Buckley, who has directed more Super Bowl spots than anyone alive and who knows how to manage celebrities for commercials’ short length would have cost a bit, too. But he did a great job. There are some really good gags and the film looks like a big-budget, real-deal Batman movie.
Might as well throw in some influencers
As long as you're writing checks, add Kai Cenat (16 million followers on Twitch) and Jordan Howlett (14 million followers on TikTok) who make cameos and surely hyped the spot to their audience.
Purpose: March Madness
There’s a challenge with March Madness. If you create one special spot to cozy up to college basketball nuts, it could actually backfire if you run it once in SIXTY-SEVEN games over a short number of days. The only thing worse is running it TWICE in each game. Before the first round is done, you’ll have fans hating you and diving for the remote the moment your spot comes on.
That’s why Capital One usually makes a handful of unfunny spots instead of just one unfunny spot for March Madness.
These Bateman/Batman bits cut into a handful 30s and 15s that attempt to make things less annoying. Like this one with Two Face and this one with Poison Ivy. (Though they shouldn’t have repeated the electric scooter gag at the beginning of both. I think people will be more likely to think they’ve seen the spot before.)
But does it make its point?
“Having insurance isn’t the same as having State Farm,” Jake From State Farm says in the spots.
And then doesn’t give any reasons why.
But I’m okay with that. Brand spots are all about getting on the short list in people’s heads when they do finally shop for insurance and compare features and pricing. This will help people remember State Farm and increase the chances they're among those people consider.
And, c'mon, do you actually remember Liberty Mutual’s “Only pay for what you need”? And if you do, do you have any idea what it means?
Via: Marketing Brew.
