Are you ready for some football? Big brands surely are. The National Football League may be a marketing and TV-programing juggernaut, but it is carrying more weight for more major brands than ever.

Take auto advertisers, for instance. Despite football telecasts that already were slated to be crowded with other car brands, Audi decided to use tonight's kickoff game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys for the marketing launch of its crucial new 2013 S Models. These performance nameplates (S6, S7 and S8) and the "S" brand are fundamental for Audi to move to the next phase of its positioning in the U.S. market, as a provider of exciting, luxurious and well-designed automobiles.

And so the NFL gets the call tonight to host the first Audi ad under its new tagline, "Heighten Every Moment," featuring the Audi S8. The 60-second spot (watch it above) will run in the first break after kickoff. Audi also announced that it will appear in the Super Bowl game in February, its sixth consecutive advertising appearance in the big game.Continue reading...

Old Spice is following up on last week's viral hit — an interactive "muscle music" video with former NFL player Terry Crews — with a new campaign featuring a current NFL player who's preparing for life off the football field: the Green Bay Packers' Greg Jennings. Check out the first of seven spots featuring Jennings above.

The wide receiver, a 2006 Super Bowl champ who played with Brett Favre and has been trying his hand at acting, has fun touting Old Spice's Champion line of "man freshening" products — which were previously promoted with an Olympics-themed spot and a sand car commercial with the tagline, "Believe in your smellf."Continue reading...