VW’s Super Bowl commercial featuring a diminutive Darth Vader trying to get in touch with the force was a hit with viewers. It’s also been a hit since then, jumping from about 11 million pre-game views on YouTube to nearly three times that number a week later. Let’s say the spot cost $3 million to air on TV and another million to produce. That’s about four cents for every football fan it touched on game day – a pretty good investment. But those 30 million YouTube viewers are a better deal, not only because they came for free, but because they sought the spot out, which makes them much more likely to remember that it’s promoting the Passat – and probably more disposed to consider one. That’s the value that real creativity adds to your marketing investment.
