Dive Brief:

• Ford Motor Company laid out plans for its Super Bowl campaign Monday, including a 90-second pre-Super Bowl TV spot and a brand experience center called FordHub in New York City's Westfield World Trade Center, per a company press release.
• FordHub is described in the release as an interactive space designed to showcase Ford’s expansion into both an auto and mobility company that is “helping change the way the world moves” and inspire visitors to think about the future of transportation in a new way.
• "Ford was founded on the promise of providing affordable transportation solutions to millions of customers, and this commitment still drives us today," said Stephen Odell, Ford executive vice president of Global Marketing, Sales and Service, in the release. "As we expand our business to be both an auto and mobility company, we’re using new experiences like FordHub and our first Super Bowl ad that talks about the future to explain what we mean when we say 'We Go Further so you can.'"

Dive Insight:

This year’s crop of Super Bowl marketing highlights how marketers are taking a fully multi-channel approach to efforts around the big game. But while most campaigns are leaning hard on digital channel elements, including emerging technologies like Intel’s user-generated 360-degree video effort, Ford's interactive brand experience is an interesting example of a physical campaign extension. 

That's not to say technology plays no role here: The real-world experience makes use of highly interactive and immersive elements. Both of these storytelling devices are likely to become key pieces in the next generation of marketing technology through mediums such as virtual and augmented reality, which might help tie together digital and physical marketing.

The common element across of wide variety of brands’ approach to advertising around Super Bowl LI is that it's not enough to have a single video spot up on social media or TV. What makes the marketing stand out is real engagement with consumers whether that comes from soliciting user-generated content, providing them with unique interactive digital experiences or even creating an entire brand experience center a la Ford to get people physically involved.