This week, when we chat online or around the water cooler about the Super Bowl commercials, we will not be judging them based upon which are most effective at doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is actually selling something.

Instead, we will talk about which spots we “like,” which spots we find most entertaining. We’re judging style, not substance.

In pursuit of being popular during and after the game, advertisers and their agencies push the limits to engage us. And we reward them with a couple of week’s worth of buzz.

But how successful are these creative efforts really? Long-term, how many widgets do they sell?

In Advertising Age, Tom Denari blames online ratings. “Super Bowl ads are now dangerously close to a series of Saturday Night Live skits, designed to bombastically amuse the viewer. While I would admit that an ad’s biggest crime may be to be forgotten, Super Bowl ads have become a contest where each competitor sees who can out-gross, out-animal-talk or out-uncomfortable-body-part the next ad. The hype and ratings have continued to erode the quality and integrity of ideas.”

There does happen to be a venue for recognizing the most effective advertising. It’s called the Effie Awards. Effies are given based on results rather than entertainment value. Additionally, the Effie organization shares with the industry its accumulated wisdom by showcasing great ideas that work.

Heard of the Effies? Probably not. They don’t have a football game.

Not anymore.

Acura unveiled its Super Bowl commercial on Monday.

On YouTube.

Six days before the game.

“In previous years, Super Bowl commercials were single-day lightning,” Suzie Reider, head of industry development for the global video team at Google, told The New York Times. “Now, it feels more like rolling thunder.”

Social media has changed the strategy.

“The reason social media is becoming so important is the price tag,” Derek Rucker, associate professor of marketing at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, said in Newsday. “It’s now about re-watching, discussing and sharing,” he says, adding that “the web has been a huge boon to that.”

Acura is one of several advertisers releasing or teasing their TV spots days, even weeks, before the game. Volkswagen, Honda, Bridgestone, Century 21, Dannon, Doritos, E*Trade, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, M&M’s, and Teleflora are others.

By the way, as of Tuesday, Acura’s NSX spot has been viewed over 1.4 million times. Watch it below and add to the count.

One reason: They benefit by borrowing brand equity from the event.

Turns out, there’s a much cheaper alternative.

Many brands, for nothing, are claiming “sponsorship” of free-floating concepts.

Why borrow equity from the Summer Olympics when a brand can borrow instead from, say, “the American dream?”

Here are a few examples:

• Mutual of Omaha: Proud Sponsor of Life’s Aha Moments
• American Cancer Society: The Official Sponsor of Birthdays
• Omaha Steaks: The Official Sponsor of Tailgating
• National Association of Realtors: Official Sponsor of the Word “Home”
• Ameriquest Mortgage (now defunct): The Proud Sponsor of the American Dream
• MetroHealth: The Proud Sponsor of the Comeback
• P&G: The Proud Sponsor of Moms (See TV spot below.) And in England, The Proud Sponsor of Mums.

These “official sponsor” taglines are, in so many words, reiterations of the brands’ essences, as if Harley-Davidson decided to be “The Proud Sponsor of Freedom of Expression.”

They claim “ownership” of words, such as UPS staking out “logistics” or Corona “beach.”

The official sponsor construct is no longer original. Nevertheless, affordable sponsorship opportunities are still available for “momentum,”  “thought leadership,” and “the end of the day.”

Any interest?

And usually, category leaders overlook the incursions.

Only rarely does the niché grow to challenge the entire category, but this is exactly the case with yogurt.

Until recently, yogurt sales in the U.S. have been dominated by Dannon and Yoplait. Now, Greek-style yogurt, hardly a presence four years ago, dominates.

And New York-based Chobani is the niché-turned-category leader, having launched only four years ago. Greek company, Fage, also led the revolution. It began importing its product in 2000 and opened its U.S. plant in 2008.

Thicker than regular yogurt, Greek yogurt is higher in protein and lower in fat, an appealing combination to health-conscious consumers.

According to a story in The New York Times, “National retail sales of the thicker style of yogurt more than doubled last year, jumping to $821 million for a 52-week period ending in October, excluding Walmart stores.”

The explosiveness of the growth caught the big boys off-guard. “I think we all saw this thing coming,” Sergio Fuster, Dannon’s Senior VP-Marketing, told Ad Age, “but the doubt on the size that it would take probably is what created the difference in the speed of the different companies in approaching the markets.”

Now, they’re playing catch up. Dannon (which introduced yogurt to America in the 1940s) and Stonyfield confusingly offer Oikos and Oikos. Dannon also makes a Greek version of Activia. Yoplait offers its own version and Kraft has added yogurt back to its Athenos line.

Will upstart Chobani hold the lead it captured? Will the giants, now aroused, win it back? A few of the competing TV spots are below.

See if you can match the following films, now playing, with the blurbs used in their advertising. (Answers below.)

Movies

1. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
4. War Horse
5. A Separation
6. A Dangerous Method
7. The Iron Lady
8. Young Adult
9. J. Edgar
10. The Muppets

Ad Blurbs

a. “One of the Best Films of the Year”
b. “One of the Best Films of the Year”
c. “Easily One of the Year’s Best Pictures!”
d. “Best Picture of the Year”
e. “The Best Picture of the Year!”
f. “One of the Best Films of the Year”
g. “One of the Best Movies of the Year!”
h. “One of the Very Best Movies of 2011″
i. “One of the Best Films of 2011.”
j. “It’s One of the Year’s Best Films — Period.”

Hmm. Maybe Hollywood needs help with branding.

Answers: 1-a, 2-b, 3-c, etc.

From the all-time list, I found many clichés used in marketing. Below are a few examples with some comments from the nominators:

All new “Of course it’s all new. Why can’t they just say ‘new’?”

And more! “Everything marketed can be something else! ‘It’s a hamburger meal, but it’s much, much more! It’s a time machine, too!’”

Ask for it by name. “As if there’s any other way.”

Ask your doctor “I don’t think my doctor would appreciate my calling him after seeing a TV ad.”

Awesome “That a mop, a deodorant or a dating service can be called ‘awesome’ demonstrates the limited vocabularies of the country’s copywriters.”

Best kept secret “What has happened to confidentiality? It seems that all over the country, important secrets are being revealed. From the West Virginia official state highway map: ‘America’s best-kept secret.’ From a Columbia University brochure: ‘Columbia University’s best kept secrets are the great job opportunities at Columbia Dining Services.’ Or ‘one of snowmobiling’s best kept secrets: Marquette, Michigan.’ Are we really hearing confessions of previously incompetent advertising?”

Close to everything “In the middle of a commercial area.”

Designer “Jeans, blouses, perfume, coats, windows. A designer is the one who plans who designs, who makes original sketches, patterns, scenes. If someone actually drew upon your entire lower body then you could claim to display designer jeans, or a massive tattoo.”

Epic “I’m sure that when the history books are written or updated and stories have been passed through the generations, the epic powder on the slopes during your last ski trip or your participation in last night’s epic flash mob will probably not be included. This may be the root of this epic problem, but it seems as if during the past two years, any idea that was not successful was considered an ‘epic-fail.’ This includes the PowerPoint presentation you tried to give during this morning’s meeting, but couldn’t because of technical problems. Also, the ice storm of ‘epic proportions’ that is blanketing the east coast this winter sure looks a lot like the storm that happened last winter.”

Extreme “Razors aren’t extreme. Neither are deodorants or cheeseburgers.”

Farm-fresh “The downwind ‘freshness’ of many farms reveals this is an ill-chosen term.”

Fresh-baked “How else do you bake it?”

First annual “One might hope this event becomes an annual occurrence, but until the second year, it isn’t annual! Use inaugural, premiere, debut, or first.”

Foreign imports “If these have had such a devastating impact on our economy, I shudder to think about the dire consequence of domestic imports.”

Gourmet “What, or whom, does ‘gourmet-flavor’ cat food taste like?”

Healthy food “If my (tuna steak) lunch were healthy, it would still be swimming somewhere. Grilled and nestled in salad greens, it’s ‘healthful.’”

In these economic times “Aren’t all times ‘these economic times’?”

(Blank) is the new (blank). “In spite of statements to the contrary, ‘Cold is (not) the new hot,’ nor is ’70 the new 50.’ Or, to phrase it another way, ‘Originally clever advertising is now the new absurdity!’”

It’s all good. “If the speaker is talking about a huge chocolate dessert buffet, then it is ‘all good.’”

It’s that time of year again. “When is it not ‘that time of year again?’ From Valentine’s sales to year-end charity letters, invitations to summer picnics and Christmas parties, it’s ‘that time of year again.’ Just get to the point.”

Live life to the fullest. “It’s an absurdity followed by a redundancy. First, things are full or they’re not; there is no fullest. Second, ‘live life’ is redundant. Finally, the expression is nauseatingly overused. What’s wrong with enjoying life fully or completely?”

The more you buy, the more you save.“Well, honey, how much should I buy?” “Gee, I don’t know, sugarplum. Just keep buying until you think you have saved enough.”

No-brainer “Who doesn’t have the brain in this transaction? You or me?”

Now, more than ever “It has become over-used since the terrorist attacks … from warnings to be safe, to stores having sales.”

One of the only “Either it is the only one or it is one of the few.”

Organic “Overused and misused to describe not only food, but computer products or human behavior, and often used when describing something as ‘natural.’”

Pass the savings on to you! “Read: Pass the markup along to you.”

(Blank) percent pure “Either it’s pure, or it isn’t.”

Solutions “The Banishment Committee pines for the days when our economy offered merely goods and services.”

State of the art “‘Latest design’ or ‘modern’ would suffice.”

To die for “If something is that good, shouldn’t it be ‘to live for?’”

World-class “… has come to mean everything … and nothing.”

Your call is very important to us. “If my call was really important, there would be a real live person to answer the phone.”

Zero percent APR financing “They could just say ‘no interest.’”

Which clichés can you add to this awesome list?

Can The Coca-Cola Company save the polar bear?

In 1993, Coke launched its “Always Coca-Cola” campaign, featuring warm-and-fuzzy computer-animated polar bears drinking Coke. (Below is a TV spot typical of the series.)

Ironically, while becoming one of the most popular symbols of the Coke brand, the polar bear also emerged as the poster child for the negative impact of global warming.

When brand identity is tied to a threatened species, what’s a brand to do?

Coke, along with the World Wildlife Fund, has developed the Arctic Home project. Its purpose is to raise both awareness and funds for creating a future safe haven for the bears.

In support of the project, Coke has pledged $2 million and will match up to an additional $1 million of consumer donations though March 15, 2012. For every dollar donated, consumers may select a virtual parcel of Arctic Home that can be used as a base for exploring the Arctic and tracking real polar bears online.

To call attention to the cause during the holidays, Coke changed some of its iconic red cans to white. (See the TV spot below.) Although intended to help the bears (and incidentally drive sales), the white can confused some consumers who thought they were buying Diet Coke. (Apparently, dieters are less motivated by the cause.)

Let’s hope the bears appreciate Coke’s gesture and don’t litter their Arctic Home with empty bottles and cans.

And will we still wear them?

The more than 300 large brands that use images of rhinos, elephants, tigers, pandas, turtles, wolves, etc., for logos may face this question someday. (See post on Pacific Life’s whale preservation efforts.)

Some, like Lacoste, support Save Your Logo, a global conservation initiative partnering with the Fund for the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Eighty-plus years ago, Lacoste’s founder René Lacoste could not have imagined, according to the manufacturer’s website, that the icon he chose to represent the brand would be threatened with extinction.

The first company to join Save Your Logo, Lacoste is currently involved in programs in Nepal, Columbia, China and Florida aimed at protecting crocodiles and alligators. Participants in the Florida program, including students and the general public, will be able to track individual crocs online.

According to Monique Barbut, chair of the Save Your Logo fund, “The idea is to involve (the brands) in the preservation of species that have contributed to their success.”

Other brands participating in Save Your Logo include Peugeot (lion), MAAF (dolphin), and MSN (butterfly).

Note to CMOs: If you want an animal for your brand’s icon, pick one that’s already extinct. Sinclair Oil‘s dinosaur logo has been lumbering along unchanged for over 80 years.

Because BP desperately needs the positive PR.

A new BP-produced TV spot features tourism-industry spokespeople from Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama inviting you to visit the Gulf Coast this winter.

Only last year the BP oil disaster spewed nearly five million barrels of crude into the Gulf. It was the largest marine oil spill in history and a blow to the area’s tourism-based economy.

While efforts at decontaminating the marine and wildlife habitats continue, BP is attempting to revive the tourism industry with advertising. This new spot extends a campaign that kicked off in August.

“These ads are not just a lot of fun, but, as evidenced by the record number of visitors in some areas, extremely effective at letting people know the Gulf Coast is still a premiere tourist destination,” said Mike Utsler, head of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization.

The “record number of visitors” may be misleading. Jim Hutchinson, assistant secretary for the Louisiana Office of Tourism, told the Associated Press last year, “Because of the oil slick, the hotels are completely full of people dealing with that problem,” he said. “They’re certainly not coming here as tourists.”

The merchants, of course, will take any help they can get — even from BP.

For BP, running an ad campaign is the least it can do. But how much greater the gesture had its logo not appeared at the end of the spot! It’s obvious who is really being promoted.

Perhaps only those tourists who risk their hard-earned vacations at the Gulf can redeem this sad affair.

“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”

– 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

This may have worked for Paul, but it’s not an effective strategy for most brands. Many try so hard to appeal to all, they ultimately disappoint almost everyone.

Only a few brands understand they can achieve success by doing one thing well for a segment of the market. It’s called niché marketing.

I enjoy discovering brands that have identified under-served nichés and staked their claims. Here are a couple of examples:

• Travel Health Services Need a vaccination so you can travel safely overseas? This company gives shots based on the latest advice from the Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and the State Department. It was recommended by a physician who said most doctors do not stock the vaccines needed for foreign travel. Large corporations that do business overseas are ideal clients.

• LTC Choices Long-term care insurance covers services for those who have lost some or all of their ability to care for themselves due to illness, accident or aging — a growing market. Depressing to contemplate, such services are not covered by Medicare, Medicaid or Medigap insurance. How to decide which plan best suits your needs? This independent agent specializes in helping its clients objectively review long-term care plan proposals from several carriers and selecting the one that best matches the clients’ needs.

• And now for something completely different: Brothers Drake uses local honey and other ingredients to make mead. (Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey.) Also called honey wine, mead is one of the oldest beverages in the world. Yet, there are fewer than 100 meaderies in the U.S.

Each of these brands has few, if any, direct competitors within their geographic markets — at least for now.

Which brands do you know that own their nichés?

P.S. According to the dictionaries, you can pronounce it nish, neesh or nitch. Nish just sounds wrong. I suspect neesh is correct as the word derives from the French, but this has not prevented most Americans from using the harsher nitch. Take your pick.