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So are all the marketers who pay the hefty price tag for a mere 30 seconds in the midst of the Super Bowl completely misguided? Not at all. It is still the single most watched day in television - and one of the few that is not susceptible to being "DVR'd" so commercials can be skipped. What was interesting this year in particular, among all the fluff ads from beer companies and requisite women in bikinis (as well as several ads this year featuring men with no pants), was how many do's and don'ts of marketing strategy you can pull just by dissecting some of the ads.

So in this week's post, I'll do a bit of digging not into the ads that were most entertaining (because chances are you have already decided that for yourself), but instead into some strategic lessons I believe any small business can take from the best ads this year:

1. Bring a cliché to life (Snickers). The advantage of cliché’s is that everyone immediately "gets" them. The danger is in having your marketing become part of the cliché itself. Snickers brought the cliché of your friends comparing your effort on the football field to that of an old woman by showing Betty White on the football field. The tagline - "you are not you when you're hungry." It was a moment most guys can relate to and used humor to bring home their overall strategic message for the candy bar ... which is that it conquers hunger.

2. Make your competition the bad guy (Comcast & Teleflora) - Comcast had an ad featuring an overeager Verizon rep ready to bring out the heavy machinery to rip up your front lawn in an effort to install their new Fios lines. Teleflora poked fun for the second year in a row at their competitors who send flowers in a box. What both ads managed to do is give the viewer a very clear portrayal of the bad guy (ie - their competition) and therefore positioned themselves as the far better choice as a result. A relatively straightforward marketing tactic that is applicable no matter what your marketing budget happens to be.

3. Tap the cultural zeitgeist (Audi) - For Audi's ad touting their new A3 (a "green" environmentally friendly car), they showed a vision of a world where the "green police" were a real group. For anyone who has had a passionately believer in all things green as a friend or colleague, this concept of the green police is very recognizable. With the increasing attention from all angles (the media, your friends, your kids, etc.) on being green, all you need to do is make one simple choice to get the A3 and you'll be travelling in the faster green lane on the road and give yourself a "get out of jail free card" in relation to the environment. A powerful message.

4. Be the statement your customer makes. (Dodge & Flo TV) - I wrote on my own blog this week about the recurring theme in this year's Super Bowl of the "emasculated man" who is portrayed as having little of his own will left after giving up much of it to his wife/girlfriend. This is, of course, a caricature of men, however the more interesting marketing strategy is that both Dodge and Flo TV positioned their products as the "last stand" that a man can make to keep his manhood. In other words, buy a subscription to our service or get our car and you will be a man again. See how the power of making a big statement works?

5. Appeal to your customer's ego (Dove & Cars.com) - In stark contrast to the concept of the ads in #4, both Dove and Cars.com presented a much more positive portrayal of today's man. Dove pitched their product to men who are "comfortable in their own skin" and Cars.com used a child prodigy/man-of-the-world character to show how even renaissance men need help with buying a new car. The lesson from both was that sometimes you can also use the ideal vision of themselves that your customers have to position your product as the enlightened choice.