Super Bowl Ads — how brands tug at your heartstrings with Construal Theory

In her Ad Age article, I appreciate how Lana McGilvray highlights the Super Bowl brands that are connecting with a purpose beyond profit. As Partner and CEO of Purpose Worldwide, Lana helps brands understand the rewards of aligning marketing with a greater purpose, and the risks of not following through carefully.

The Super Bowl is probably the best example of brand ads because companies invest so much in this creative for this most expensive air time, and they bring their biggest creative game. Super Bowl ad fans expect to be entertained. And as Lana mentions, it is no longer good enough to be clever or funny. Modern consumers want more from brands; they want to identify with the brand’s larger purpose.

How do brands create stories that reveal a company’s purpose?

Those that do it well tell a story that viewers can connect with. They create concepts that people can connect with and care about. Branding, done well, is about building relationships between a company and its customers. So when they create advertising to…