What the Multifamily Industry Can Learn from Super Bowl Ads

We learned lots of things during the 2024 Super Bowl, including that Taylor Swift managed to keep it together while her beau Travis Kelce sang a ramble-shackled, cringey rendition of "Viva Las Vegas."

Anyone who has watched a girl drag her buzzed boyfriend off a karaoke stage during a performance gone wrong knows this look.

We also learned this year’s Super Bowl commercials outdid themselves and ranged from intriguing to hysterically funny and everything in between.

Instead of ranking the best of the best, we decided to look at how the multifamily industry can take a lesson from the latest ads to position your community for success.

No Super Bowl ad budget necessary.

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Explain Something Simple in an Unexpected Way

For residents, the multifamily industry isn’t all that complicated.

It’s about finding the right community at the right price point and signing a lease.

It’s simple, right?

But simplicity doesn’t mean you have to deliver your advertising and marketing in a dry, boring, or cookie-cutter generic kind of way.

Your community can stand out in the local market by explaining something in an unexpected way.

Take the Super Bowl Reese's ad as an example.

The ad shows a family losing their mind over a simple concept: Reese's is adding a layer of caramel to their peanut butter cups for a limited time, and yes, you can still get the old-school candy version.

Instead of just saying it plainly, or showing off an eye-watering Reese’s cup, it takes a humorous approach to show fans' reactions.

The team at State Farm took a similar approach.

Instead of their usual “like a good neighbor” slogan, they tapped Arnold Schwarzenegger and poked fun at his accent, saying, “Like a good neighbah” over and over again until his Twins co-star delivers the line for him.

There’s nothing particularly novel or interesting about either of these ad messages, but they’re executed so unexpectedly that you can’t help but want to watch them again.

Tip 🏈: Your own approach to positioning your community can take a similar approach with these marketing and ad strategies:

• Using user-generated content from your own residents
• Polling residents on their favorite inside jokes with their neighbors and property management
• Adding something unexpected to your list of amenities, like a monthly karaoke night by the pool complete with a humorous photo.

There’s always a way to make something simple, more interesting and engaging.

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Make Your Marketing More Memorable

Sure, you could argue that every single ad for the Super Bowl was memorable, whether you loved it or hated it.

Some ads were more memorable than others, like Uber Eats.

It suggests that remembering UberEats delivers so many things besides food requires forgetting something else in your life.

Who better to forget something than Jennifer Aniston not remembering her Friends co-star, David Schwimmer?

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Or David and Victoria Beckham trying to remember what band she was in way back when.

Perhaps even more memorable are the no-name actors forgetting how to sit, wearing pants to work, and having tattoos on their faces.

Again, there's nothing all that special about the idea that Uber Eats delivers everything from food to flowers and office supplies.

But you’ll have a hard time forgetting that David Bekcham asked Victoria if her band was called the Pepper Ladies while unpacking his UberEats order.

You don’t have to hire the Beckhams, but you can make everything from how you position your amenities to how you respond to online reviews memorable.

Using humor is always a memorable approach, but so is being sincere and genuine, with a high level of detail and care in every online review you answer.

Tip 🏈: Instead of glossing over your reviews, potential residents will see how in-depth you went and glean more information and respect for what it’s like living in your community.

Know When to Keep It Old School

Budweiser’s “Old-School Delivery” and Volkswagen’s “An American Love Story” ads made the rounds of “best of” Super Bowl commercials.

Both brands have been around for nearly a century (Bud for about 148 years and Volkswagen for 87 years), and both ads tapped into the idea that they’ve evolved while delivering the products you love.

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Just like these old-school brands, the multifamily industry has also been around for a minute.

The first multifamily apartment ever built was during the 1860s in New York City, making it a 160+ year-old industry in the U.S.

Just like beer and cars, we work in an old-school industry that sees evolution and change.

Sure, residents may want more technology and convenience from your community, but that doesn’t mean they want to do away with all of the old-school touches.

Research shows that 79% of renters think they should be able to get everything they need through direct message, text, or chat.

But keep in mind that they still want communication and contact.

Residents aren’t looking for a cold, totally hands-off approach to resident life.

You can still innovate in the way you deliver personalized attention and care, but don’t eliminate it all together.

The same thing goes for community interaction.

Fostering old-fashioned friendships in your community is one of the best ways to increase resident retention and reduce turnover at your properties.

Tip 🏈: You can infuse some that old-school touch into your marketing while still showing off that you use automation and easy text messaging or resident portals to make their lives easier.

Spark Some Emotion

No Super Bowl would be complete without some emotional brand loyalty.

Google and Kia both took the lead in creating some tear-jerking ads and inspiration.

Google shows how their technology allows a visually impaired man to take photos and make the most of creating memories with his family.

Meanwhile, Super Bowl fans pretended not to have something in their eye during Kia’s EV car ad.

It shows a young skater putting on a performance for her sick grandfather on a frozen pond with the help of an electric EV9 SUV.

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Emotional ads aren’t just compelling advertising; they’re also scientifically proven to help stir consumer spending behavior.

Studies show that 90% of all our decisions are based on emotions.

You may not run a tearjerker of a community, but you can use the psychology of persuasion to influence qualified leads to choose your community.

Capture how your amenities and available technology empower your residents to live their best lives, from exercising self-care to making friends and working from home.

The goal is to dig into the emotions and psychology of why your community stands out and helps residents.

Tip 🏈: Even if it’s just a community that makes someone feel at home with a warm, welcoming team, you can convey that message with the right approach.

Sometimes it’s about speaking to emotions, not just facts and rationale.

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