EMU Today

YPSILANTI – “Which Super Bowl commercial did you like best?” Joseph Radding, full-time lecturer in Eastern Michigan University's Integrated Marketing Communications program, is frequently asked this question by students and friends alike the Monday following the Super Bowl due to his agency background and interest in brand effectiveness. 

“I developed this rating system as a tool for my students, and anyone interested, to evaluate advertising based on 10 relevant criteria that are components of how well the advertising works, not just whether someone ‘likes’ it” said Radding. “I hope that this will give people a framework to discuss advertising rather than simply argue about it. They can always argue about the game,” he added.

According to Radding, advertising includes paid media, such as Super Bowl commercials, where the advertiser pays a media outlet for the time or space to display advertising. Owned media is another component of advertising, which includes the content that a company owns, such as brand identity, slogans and taglines, and intellectual property. Earned media, which traditionally is press coverage, now also includes follows, likes, and shares in social media.

Radding said the advertising landscape is evolving due to changes in online delivery, tracking, and regulation, but also due to the pandemic. “At the beginning of the pandemic, most advertising had a customer service focus about what companies were doing to keep their customers safe,” said Radding. “Then there was a shift to advertising consumer products designed to keep people safe, such as cleaners, masks, and even gadgets. Eventually, advertising changed to the assumption of safe practices with actors in commercials shown masked as a normal activity, without calling attention to it.” 

“I expect that this normalizing of safe behavior will continue in advertising as the pandemic may eventually become endemic,” said Radding. “However, effective companies who advertise pay attention to the world around them, and as the conditions of the pandemic change, so will the messages from advertisers.”

Radding said the rating system serves as a great discussion tool and seeks to understand if the advertiser accomplished its goals. 

Before joining the faculty at EMU teaching advertising, Radding was an agency creative director and art director. 

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves more than 16,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and, its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.