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"The Big Game" is no longer what happens on TV, but the struggle for attention in a noisy world. And the brand that gets an unfair share of excitement and media attention during Super Bowl Sunday may not even have an ad.

Traditionally, the Super Bowl has given marketers the ability to increase sales, strengthen brand affinity, and project a level of cultural relevance. Given the decreasing number of viewers of games and the growing number of social followers of brands, the new reality is that a dozen companies can send a tweet that reaches more people than a commercial broadcast on a television channel. To boost ROI, marketers started putting their expensive Super Bowl ads online a few days in advance. This will boost media promotions throughout the weekend. But this strategy doesn't last long either.

Over the course of 2020, great cultural moments will depend on how brands are activated on one of the most anticipated and crowded sports weekends. And great cultural moments will question the role of advertising and television programs: at a time when brands with brand-related content and experiences can reach consumers more easily, what is the future value of a station?

As we switch from prioritizing “operational efficiency” to reach and repetition to “adding value” through resonance and relevance, the next decade will be rewarded by #perpetualbeta companies that recognize the powerful third track in the brand-consumer relationship: community. Culture comes from communities, and brands who want to play at the speedway of culture – sports, music, art, fashion and beyond – must recognize that communities give brands permission to use culture for consumption.

Based on research from 1,500 fast growing companies over the past decade, the art and science of making strong emotional connections with consumers and the communities to which they belong is now being deciphered. And for marketers and their agencies, the rise of the community as a growth strategy is a new page in the branding playbook.

Here are five trends (and an overview of Super Bowl's greatest brand moments) that will help you maximize the ROI for culture-based marketing through the community's growth accelerator:

1. Lexicon: Every community has its own language nuances. To arouse emotions, companies should invest in “brand words”. Consider In-N-Out Burger and Southwest Airlines by reinventing the way customers order groceries and hearing pre-flight safety instructions, both brands elevate a banal moment into an unforgettable experience by using language as a link Use community (e.g., through secret keywords such as "animal style" and using humor to attract attention). Do you remember Budweiser's legendary "Whassup?" – Saying during the Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, which became an instant calling card among the communities of beer lovers and brand lovers. Expect a resurrection in 2020 with nothing other than the AI-driven, voice-based technology in our lives.

2. Audio: Two trends coincide with audio: individuals who try to pay less attention to screens and individuals who have better access to voice-controlled devices. Marketers have long known that the first 3 to 5 seconds of an ad are critical, but few have developed an audio strategy that builds on instant recognition in advance, and often leads viewers to the end of a commercial for a major branding at bay. From this year's Big Game, companies that resonate with communities will have a clear acoustic signature, use their voices creatively, and develop contagious tones / sounds that are annoyingly unforgettable. Amazon's use of cult voices in Super Bowl LII in 2018, in which Alexa lost and was replaced (by Cardi B, Rebel Wilson, Gordon Ramsey, and Anthony Hopkins), is a great example of projecting into communities through a "voice" , Strategy that led to brand experiences with smart speakers at home.

3. Visuals: The fastest growing part of communication is not words. Just under 1,000 new words are added to the dictionaries every year. Nevertheless, brands are often fixated on language – slogan, manifestos, lines of text, claims, functions, advantages and "reasons to believe". Nowadays, more than 20% of social media posts contain a visual (e.g. GIF or emoji) and that The fastest growing form of communication are GIFs (ie Giphy has 10% of the search volume than Google). Get your brand in resonance by breaking them down into meaningful emojis, glyphs and gifs that consumers can use when talking to each other. Think of Oreo's groundbreaking tweet during the Super Bowl XLVII in 2013, when Beyonce's flawless half-time performance failed. It was the beginning of the end of the Super Bowl commercials that dominated the coverage when the social media moment became the most discussed moment of brand activation – all based on a single image.

4. Experience: In a sense, consumers reflect the people in their community. The culture of signing and signaling on Instagram is a demonstration of this consumer behavior. Brands that develop, promote and reinforce a common, normative behavior for their product win the loyalty of the users and the attention of the potential customers. See the companies that gamify the Super Bowl by making the crowd at home or in the bar take action together when teams score.

5. Cultural connections: Brands, employees, shareholders and consumers are challenged to adjust socio-politically better to the reality of the communities that are buyers and / or suppliers. As a result, pop culture brands need to strengthen their foundations through new, modern “brand safety” rules as they bridge the gap between culture and ethics: empower members of communities by making them better and show serious commitment to them Problems and causes of communities and expression of the empathy of the community members to represent their own culture. During Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, Pepsi made this strategy a cornerstone by donating its potential $ 20 million advertising budget to social causes that its customers voted on.

Contribution to the brand strategy Insider by: Kai Wright, author of Follow The Feeling: Brand building in a noisy world

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Branding Strategy Insider is a service from The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy that specializes in brand research, brand strategy, brand growth and brand building

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