By Grant Miller, Salon Consultant

Over 111 million people watched the Super Bowl this year, making it the most watched television program in history. With that much viewership, FOX was charging $4 million for a 30-second spot. A normal, rational person would assume that if a company had $4 million to spend on a single TV commercial, they must know what they are doing.

More often than not, big companies do the least effective type of advertising — branding or awareness — during these slots. The premise is simple: If you watch a commercial promoting Doritos  or Budweiser, you may want to buy some the next time you go to the grocery store. I personally enjoy the story and creativity of the Budweiser ads, but it still won’t compel me to buy a case of their beer.

Even though brand awareness advertising can be effective for a big company sometimes, it often does not work, even when you are paying $4 million. For example, the ad that told the story of the Chihuahua/Doberman dog mix that wreaked havoc scored very high in audience tests for being amusing, entertaining and funny. I bet you can’t name what brand product that commercial was promoting. I realize it’s a little tricky since the Super Bowl was a few months ago, but it’s a pretty good bet you wouldn’t have known the answer even two days after it aired.

There was really only one company that ran what I’m sure turned out to be a very effective marketing message.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.