Brian Ford: Everyone Loves a Good Shocker

Brian Ford is co-founder of California-based creative agency Zambezi. Before starting the company in 2006, he spent 10 years at Wieden+Kennedy working on brands including Nike, Miller High Life and Amazon. Below, the executive creative director talks about shock tactics at the Super Bowl and why we all enjoy the element of surprise.

Excite and engage

Everyone loves a good shocker. Thought that would get your attention. When it comes to the Super Bowl (and commercials), that’s what it’s all about. Getting attention. For me, this was most obvious during the dot com boom in the late 90’s when new websites like Yahoo!, Outpost, E-Trade and countless others did whatever it took to be memorable - down to the name of the company. Super Bowl spots took on a kind of branded Dadaism.

Real-time reach

You want a monkey in a garage for two milly? Done. How about a pack of wolves attacking a marching band spelling out the URL? Not a problem. It was a mutiny against traditional ads and like JT and Janet at halftime, the nip slipped and we felt special for witnessing it live. Why? Because it’s exciting to never see it coming. It’s gratifying to be there when it happens, whatever it is.

As long as it’s different and unexpected, like the bars and tone spot by Fed-Ex (with a bottom ticker telling the story of how their big Super Bowl spot got lost using another service). Or the super hot Bar Refaeli sucking face with the luckiest nerd in the world for Go Daddy. You don’t see it coming and that’s what you talk about and remember. That’s the power of the shocker.

Fast forward to today, where brands that started as strange words like Google and Yahoo! and Wookilicious are globally known and embraced. Fine, I made that last one up but the point is surprises are good. Weird is good. The unexpected is welcomed, because by definition, we get the expected all the time. Expected gets boring.

The spirit of sport

One of the reasons we watch and love professional sport is because it’s happening live. I won’t even watch recorded games later. Not because someone will spoil it but because it feels like it’s somehow lost its soul. It’s dead to me. I think that’s because anything can happen in a game and I want to be there when it does.

Instant gratification will rule over postponed gratification any day. With millions and millions of viewers every year, the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of live sports in America, not just because it’s a national treasure, but also because one game decides the champion. It’s do or die. Baseball, basketball and hockey all have ‘best of’ series. And until we have a winning soccer team at the World Cup, the Super Bowl will reign here. It still has the most soul. Make the most of it.

Universal appeal

While we’re on the subject of soul, let’s role-play for a second. You’re a brand with four million dollars to spend on a Super Bowl spot - if you want. Do you want to? Only 20 per cent of Super Bowl spots actually boost sales. If it’s for brand image or exposure only, are you prepared to take the creative risks needed to be talked about and remembered? Craft only goes so far. You can make a brilliant spot with an A-list director with A-list everything else, but if it doesn’t have that special, intangible ‘thing’ it will be forgotten sooner or later. And what if it’s no good? There are plenty of Super Bowl ‘worst of’ lists on the biggest media stages, not to mention neutral territory where people are indifferent to your spot. Yikes.

Branded belief 

In my opinion, brands should decide to buy a spot only after they see the creative. Only do it if you truly believe in it. Think about it all you want. For months, explore all you can. But only produce and air it if you have faith in it. Nothing is guaranteed so don’t let pure analytics guide you. The great thing about our industry is that you never know. You never know if a Whassup!? between friends will be remembered. You don’t see Betty White coming in a Snickers spot or Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, blindsiding you for Reebok.

Surprises are good, and we want these shared experiences, so we can talk about them and debate them and shape our culture. Whether the conversation is about the score of a game played with an oblong ball or a Ridley Scott ad called 1984, we love to be passionate with our opinions. It’s what makes us American. The Super Bowl and Freedom of Speech. Let’s always keep them unpredictable.