Or not.

So the hype of the release of the new ads created for the Super Bowls has calmed down. I watched the game in Canada, so was forced to You Tube to experience the real deal. CTV took advantage of the blackout and ran a lot of promos for their own programming.

Then there was the Hyundai Sasquatch ad…. holy crap, I hope I don’t have to see that again.

But I am interested in why one ad takes off and another falls flat. There is magic in a great ad.

Take the Budweiser ad….

It’s magic.

The ad is creative, engaging and hits the target audience. Add the irony of creating a Canadian ad for the Super Bowl by focusing on hockey.

Then take the new Blackberry ad… Be Bold

The magic is missing.

The ad is pedestrian, lacks engagement and I’m not sure who the target audience is. There is irony in the statement: Be Bold.

The Budweiser ad, released at close to the same time, has already had more than 2 million hits. The Blackberry ad, 29,000.

Success happens virtually — when a commercial goes viral. Capturing the attention of your audience is your ultimate goal, affirming their loyalty.

I am commanding two screens and a tablet, with a mobile phone within reach… thinking about the  leaving my digital toys and gadgets and allowing my mind to roam freely.

It’s tempting, but seems, somehow, adulterous.

When Barefoot was in its infancy, I had a green recliner in my office. Before I  started any major writing project or strategic analysis, I would curl up in that recliner and let my mind rest. I would allow ideas about the project to enter softly, to wrap around the relaxed neurons, to day dream and build.

Today… a mere 12 years later with 17 staff, many more clients… I no longer have the chair in my office. It’s just too busy.

For a decade, growth, sustained by early day dreaming, it’s worked. But it’s time I begin to choose times of blackout, where I turn off my devices and simply imagine.I’ve revived my sketch book… I have sharpened my pencil and turned back to mind mapping. Before I build a strategy, I begin with my sketch book. Before I touch the computer, I draw words, pattern ideas, build thoughts.

And in that sketch book and pencil my imagination is freed.

Today, it’s estimated that 662m people logged onto the web with their PC… 255m from a mobile phone and 51m from a tablet. Today, at just past 9 am, I have logged into the web from my PC, mobile phone and tablet. Even as I write, my Twitter feed keeps chatting away, letting me know who’s at Starbucks and how SEM will change my marketing life.

There are so many things going on, but in the end, the winner will use their imagination to understand the patterns. They will use digital and analog media to promote their products to the right people at the right time in the right place. It’s not really a new trick. But some of us, immersed in technology, have forgotten — content is king. Technology, without content, is nothing.