Why Global Brands Live and Die by Video — And Why Local Brands Should Follow
- Zach Johnson
- Mar 6
- 5 min read
One of the biggest and most well-known advertising stages for global brands is the Super Bowl. Brands pay up to $8-10 million for 30 seconds of attention from over 100+ million viewers who are, let’s face it, here for the ads. But the ads don’t end there – they live on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram before and after the game. It’s not a commercial, but a cultural event – and viewer attention is the most valuable currency there is.
Super Bowl ads work because they’re part of a full-year video ecosystem. Continuous content is the new marketing strategy. That includes culturally relevant content, weekly social videos, shorts, reels, and vertical edits. Not only are global brands building familiarity and trust before selling you anything, they’re also telling stories.
Storytelling, including emotional narrative ads or purpose-driven messaging, creates connection with viewers rather than pushing a product or feature. These brands are also designing platform-dependent content, such as long-form for YouTube or short-form for socials. Modern brands aren’t advertisers anymore – they’re media companies.
The reality is people don’t read brands anymore; they watch them. Video has replaced the traditional storefront. If customers search for you and see no video, they are less likely to trust your product or service. Your digital presence is now your first impression with clients and customers.
But this is a big shift for local brands. Many local brands follow the typical marketing mindset: a logo, a website, photos, one or two commercials, and the occasional social post. The downside? They are still competing with video… just not using it. That’s sticking with a brochure strategy in a streaming world. Instead, small brands can follow a scaled-down big brand strategy.
Where a global brand invests millions into a single televised moment, a local business can invest in a strong brand video that lives on its homepage and anchors its digital presence. Where national campaigns rely on celebrity storytelling, local brands can tell the far more powerful story of their founder, their team, or their origin. Instead of a full-scale campaign rollout, a small business can build seasonal video promotions that stay consistent throughout the year. Social edits and influencer partnerships at the corporate level translate into weekly reels, behind-the-scenes clips, client testimonials, and collaborations within the local community. And while global brands produce content year-round, local businesses can dedicate one production day a month to build a library of content to use across every platform. Video creates trust, familiarity, authority, and memory. People buy the brand they recognize and trust, not necessarily the one with the best offer. And video drives every step.
Let's break down a couple of the standouts from this year's superbowl and some key takeaways.
Tell a Story, Don't Just Sell:
Even 30-second ads should focus on a narrative that connects emotionally rather than just listing product features. Enter in Budweiser. With arguably the best commercial of the Super Bowl. The story of the horse finding a newborn bird on the ranch and braving life’s challenges. Eventually falling down and getting up enough over time for the evolved eagle to take flight off of the horse. A true American story. And to top it off “Free Bird” playing in the background. A good story isn’t just words, it has conflict and a change in the character/characters that the reader/viewer can resonate with or get behind. From a local business standpoint, do you have to rent an eagle and a horse for a good video? No. But should you pull stories and life experiences that are true to you and your brand and your customers and share them with the world creatively? Absolutely.
Embrace Emotion:
Ads that make consumers laugh, feel nostalgic, or tug on their heartstrings are more likely to be remembered and shared. The Budweiser commercial at the end had the farmer saying “The sun was in his eye” (when he was really crying lol). Pokemon had a Super Bowl commercial for their 30th Anniversary Campaign. The theme “What is Your Favorite” carries us through a nostalgic whirlwind of a collection of celebrities and their favorite Pokemon. It’s a game and show we all love. At some point you probably remember your first game. Your first gym badge. Your first legendary.
The commercial feeds into our inner child. It personifies Pokemon to the famous people speaking about them. Lady Gaga and Jigglypuff. Trevor Noah and Psyduck. Locally this could be a story about your company’s origin. Or a funny reel in your company's niche. Emotion in posts turns into sharing. Sharing turns into awareness. Awareness gives you a chance to bring in a new customer, or at the very least turn them into a follower and take them along on your continuing journey.
Use Customers as Stars:
Instead of expensive celebrity endorsements, local businesses can use customer testimonials to build trust and tell a more authentic story. Mr. Beast was in the Salesforce commercial as an advocate for their new AI help bot, Slackbot.
Mr Beast's Million Dollar Puzzle, something that has gained him a massive following, gives eyes to this new assistant/feature on Slack. And gives someone a chance to win a million dollars by actually using the new feature to organize and figure out the clues needed to win. Genius. Mr. Beast won’t be at our shoot tomorrow, but what is the next best thing we can do? Getting testimonials from customers that can speak to the service, or product being provided.
They build trust because it is not just coming from yourself. It’s coming from another credible source. Sometimes people need to hear things a few times before they take action. A lot of times this is hearing the same thing from a different voice. One of our clients landed a 5 million dollar job directly because of a prior testimonial video we produced for them. If that doesn’t convince you, I’m all out of convincing!
The Key Lessons for Local Brands
The Super Bowl may be the most expensive stage in the world, but the lesson isn’t about budgets… it’s about belief. Global brands don’t invest millions in video because it’s trendy. They do it because it works. Attention drives trust, and trust drives sales because the brands people recognize are the brands people choose
Local businesses don’t need an $8 million commercial. They need visibility, consistency, and story. In a world where your digital presence is your first impression, video isn’t optional anymore. It’s the storefront, the handshake, and the reputation– all before a customer ever reaches out. It’s not about being the biggest player in your industry; it’s about being the brand people know before they need you.
There’s a difference between making content and building presence. If building presence matters to you, we’re here for that. Reach out today!
