Learning from the big names - business advertising lessons from the Super Bowl

The commercials that come on during Super Bowl ad breaks are almost as excitedly anticipated as the big game itself. Last year, more than 111 million viewers tuned in, and securing 30 seconds of airtime for the 2012 event cost a record-breaking $3.5 million this year, according to MSNBC.

Those who want a sneak preview of this year's offerings can view them on YouTube. A Honda ad that features Matthew Broderick reprising his role in the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is already making waves ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.

Small enterprises don't have the capital to beam their business marketing campaigns out to millions of sports game viewers, but they can still learn a thing or two from their larger counterparts.

"The ads you will see on Sunday will do an excellent job of being outrageous, entertaining and attention-getting," predicts small business consultant Steve Sipress, writing for Chicago Business. "But very few - if any - will use direct response marketing principles, which is why the advertisers won't experience the financial success that they otherwise could."

Direct response marketing is a form of business advertising designed to solicit a specific and quantifiable response from the consumer - in this case, Super Bowl viewers. As Advertising Age notes, "it takes extensive analysis to determine return on investment for Super Bowl ads - more than likes on Facebook (and) the number of tweets generated."

Entrepreneurs looking to launch a successful business promotion effort on a smaller scale would do well to incorporate the two principles of standing out from the crowd and generating a directly measurable response from their target audience.