March Madness

Testimonials

Explore has become an extension of our team and a part of our work-family. They treat our account as if it was their own business, they understand and speak our jargon and they immerse themselves in our community so they truly understand how to approach our customer. They are consummate professionals and come to the table with creativity, passion and ideas that produce results. Mindy and Sarah are a dynamic team that we have fun working with, but more importantly, they lead us and make us better by being the experts in their field. We can’t say enough positive things about Explore Communications!

Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District

Explore is very focused and conscientious when they determine how best to apply the Colorado Wine Board's limited advertising budget. They are determined to get us the best placements for the best impact while staying within our budget. They are willing to consider our requests and suggestions and work within our crazy budgeting issues. Plus they are a delight to work with. Kudos!

Colorado Wine Industry Development Board

While we have experienced many successes, it's what is behind Explore Communications that is most influential. Explore has the expertise, experience and knowledge of a large agency with the dedication, determination, responsiveness and character of a true partner. The depth of their relationships with local media has assisted us in reaching and exceeding our attendance goals year over year for the Denver Home Show. Explore Communications offers invaluable industry insights and strong media recommendations that become even more valuable as the landscape of media and consumption of it continues to change and evolve. Explore Communications' personal attention is the driving force behind achieving the results experienced. With an approach that is both collaborative and supportive, they cultivate a campaign built from a deep understanding of your target audience. And then pair that with their superior expertise and knowledge of the local media to resonate within the market, all with your goals at the forefront.

Marketplace Events - The Denver Home Show

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Explore Communications twice now in my career. Both times, they’ve produced phenomenal, and measurable, results in very different product categories. Brett and Mindy are true experts in their field. Explore Communications attracts the best talent in the business and I always know that I will be working with a great team on any project.

CollegeInvest

I have been working with Explore Communications for nearly two years for a variety of our field and national media needs. Mindy, Cassie and their team have been one of the best agency partners I have ever worked with. They are incredibly responsive, flexible, and understanding of our varying needs. They are true experts in the media world who are thoughtful in their approach, process and reporting. We have utilized Explore Communications in both patient facing and business facing campaigns, and they have created innovative campaigns to reach whatever target we have thrown at them. And they are incredibly friendly and approachable. They are a true pleasure to work with. Explore Communications is a wonderful agency partner and I highly recommend them.

DaVita

Mindy Gantner and I have crossed career paths several times over the past two decades. I trust her judgement and recommendations with no hesitation. She brings a level of knowledge and expertise to media buying that is top notch. She introduced me to her team at Explore that holds her same high standards for performance and professionalism. It's been an extremely beneficial partnership for Downtown Boulder and I'd highly recommend the Explore Communications team to anyone looking for the best in media planning and buying services.

Downtown Boulder

When the integrated marketing and recruitment team at the University of Northern Colorado needed expert counsel in media planning and buying, and a good dose of creative thinking, it found it in Explore. Becky, Mindy, and Rachael are generous with their time and expertise, helping us build and deploy sophisticated state-wide campaigns in support of our undergraduate, graduate and Extended Campus recruitment goals while elevating awareness of UNC overall. In Explore we’ve got a partner we can (and do) rely on.

University of Northern Colorado

I’ve partnered with Becky and the Explore Communications team for over five years now and can say without a doubt that the professionalism, creativity and dedication of this team is unmatched by other agencies. Throughout our partnership, Explore has navigated challenges with us—be it tight timelines, limited resources, etc.—to create successful media campaigns in Denver and across the U.S. I couldn’t imagine working with a better or more capable team!

Daniels College of Business

Partnering with Explore has served us very well over the years as our relationship with their team has grown along with our trust in them to deliver very well thought out strategies and result-oriented media campaigns that align with our organizational goals. They are great listeners and act truly as a part of our organizational team while having our backs and supporting all of our needs throughout the year. Additionally, Mindy, Sarah, and Nicole are always very proactive and participate in conversations and creative development with our internal team and our creative agency at key times throughout the year. They are truly all-in when it comes to supporting us and our media execution, and we appreciate them greatly for all of their hard work. Their passion, expertise, and willingness to immerse themselves in our business and make us better marketers through their knowledge is unmatched and greatly appreciated.

Premier Members Credit Union

March Madness

March 23, 2021

By Brett Grischo

I’ve watched enough of the NCAA men’s tournament over the past four days that I don’t need to ask Kantar who the big spenders are on TV advertising during March Madness. Some I like, some I don’t. Most importantly, do they work? Who knows?

I actually like the eleventy seven thousand commercials documenting the bromances between Charles Barkley, Spike Lee, Samuel Jackson and their buddies (Magic, Jim Nance, Larry Bird, etc.) for Capitol One. I’d be happy if I never ever again have to see and hear Jennifer Garner ask what’s in my wallet, so these have been a nice change of pace. Not to mention I’m happy for my great friends Larry and Kari’s son Gavin for his role as young Jim Nance in this spot:

I am getting super tired of the AT&T girl-next-door Lily hawking services although I kind of enjoyed her tips regarding watching and understanding hoops. This one is my favorite:

I miss Phil from AT&T’s spots two years ago during March Madness. I think Phil and Lily would make for an awesome couple. Perhaps they should contact each other via their AT&T network.

Coca-Cola and all their in-game announcer-read, weird flavorful statements with a banner across the screen couldn’t be more awkward. Luckily I can’t find an example on YouTube so I don’t have to subject myself to any extra exposure to this poor copywriting. Trust me, they are weird and I can tell the announcers cringe while reading them.

State Farm has been kinda fun with their spots featuring Chris Paul fearing disaster only to be surprised. The little girl riding the bike is awesome.

Also, kudos to State Farm for giving Pat Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers a much needed (rolling eyes) celebrity boost with cameos from Paul Rudd and Drake.

Anybody know if the Turbo Tax Free Edition is free? I do, because that spot has run a million times.

I have to wonder if the media buyers are considering frequency and ad wear-out. Sure seems like they could mix up the creative rotation and also spread the buy out to other programming. I know repetition is education. I have to tell my kids something ten times before they do it, but do I need to be told Turbo Tax is free; ten times?

I’m going strictly on what I remember seeing but here is a better example of how to handle the frequency of a big buy during the tournament. The insurance companies have sooooooooo much money. Seems like all the best ad campaigns are in that industry. Anyway, as bizarre as they are, I’m a big fan of the Progressive Motaur series. I see the same spot just a few times and then another one in the series pops up. Here is my favorite:

I can’t decide if I like the UberEats commercials featuring Leslie Jones. I like her, but why do I feel like calling DoorDash after seeing her spots?

Sticking with SNL comics, Rocket Mortgage must have had a much bigger production budget than UberEats. These Tracy Morgan ‘Better Be Certain’ spots are silly but they are entertaining just from their array of different scenes.

Many of these commercials were made for debuting in the SuperBowl and its smart of the agencies to run them during the NCAA tournament as well. Gotta get more bang for those expensive production and media placement costs!

There are way more national spots that have been running during the tournament but these are the ones that have been beaten into my brain and burned into my retinas. Some to the point where I’m irritated by the advertiser. Maybe it’s the media buyer in me regarding frequency, but I’m a consumer too.

I think the best spot I’ve seen during the first two rounds of the tournament ran with the perfect amount of frequency. CollegeInvest ran this smack dab in the middle of the tourney over the weekend.

The local spot breaks in the tournament are few and far between but when they do run, they are memorable because everyone knows it’s a local advertiser. We actually don’t need to run an obnoxious amount of times (I’m talking to you national TV buyers). It helps to have a high quality spot, like CollegeInvest as opposed to for example, yet another cringeworthy local law firm ad.

Of course, the true measure of a great TV commercial is not if it entertained, but rather if it achieved the desired outcome. Did it raise brand awareness in a positive way? Did it boost sales? Did it change behavior? If it did entertain, did it also inform and educate in a way intended by the marketing strategy to help the client achieve their overall goals?

My guess with the frequency of these national TV spots is a combination of me watching waaaaaaaaaay too much basketball over the weekend, the media buyers relying too much on antiquated Reach & Frequency formulas at the expense of creativity and common sense, and perhaps being a little numb to how much money they have to spend.

When every penny feels like a million dollars, like it does for our client CollegeInvest, we have to consider all the alternatives, weigh the opportunity costs and be thorough and clever enough to break through the clutter.

The best news of all is we know it works. CollegeInvest sends us data regularly so we all know where they sit based on their overall goals. This is why its important for media planners and buyers to understand their clients’ business goals, much less how that pertains to marketing and advertising before it gets down to specific media metrics. We are lucky to have great clients like CollegeInvest that work with us in this way.

Accountability is a fulfilling requirement in our world. As Tracy Morgan says, we better be certain we know what the heck we are doing. Explore Communications will never get complacent and follow ancient media standards of operation that can result in overkill. Please give Lily a break. Phil is waiting.

Advertising media buying

One response to “March Madness”

Vicki Spellman says:

March 28, 2021 at 1:06 pm

Good point that some of the most creative new campaigns out there are from insurance companies. They need to over-deliver because of their, let’s face it, boring businesses. Pharmaceutical advertising should take a lesson.

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One response to “March Madness”

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