The NFL is the most sizzling property in TV advertising these days, and at the moment there seems to be no ceiling on fan and brand interest in riding the momentum. It's already clear that Super Bowl XLVI on February 5 in Indianapolis, to be broadcast by NBC, will go down as the single most lucrative advertising event in television history.
The Comcast-owned broadcast network has sold out of its commercial spot inventory for the Big Game, reportedly at a cost of up to $4 million for each precious 30 second unit of screen time, which is up from about $3 million a year on Fox last year — and about 60 percent since 2001.
But a month before the Super Bowl, there's still speculation about other aspects of marketing in and around the extravaganza.
Will the NFL go too far in attempting to monetize every single aspect of still-exploding fan interest in the occasion? Also, what kind of ads are we likely to see this year during the Big Game? And, what brands will do the best job of creating synergies between Super Bowl TV advertising and other marketing platforms as multi-channel requirements and opportunities engulf some of the more traditional aspects of Super Bowl advertising?
Not a brand to miss a bet, the NFL is hoping to do yet one more thing around Super Bowl XLVI to capitalize on the league's sky-high fan popularity and unparalleled television ratings. It will launch a new annual awards show, NFL Honors, that will run on NBC on Saturday night before the game and, among other things, dispense the year's MVP and Coach of the Year awards. PepsiCo, Castrol, Van Heusen and Disney are said to be among the advertising sponsors.
The only potential missteps so far appear to be Madonna as the Bridgestone-sponsored half-time show performer — hardly an entertainer at the peak of her popularity — and GM CMO Joel Ewanick's gambit to place his brands in other advertisers' spots.
On the heels of the show-stopping success of Chrysler's Eminem commercial during the third quarter of last year's Super Bowl game, NBC and industry observers are expecting more spots during Super Bowl XLVI to take some creative chances, including more long-form storytelling. Hyundai executives have said that they'd like to get a bit more creative this time around, a la rival Volkswagen's uproariously popular "Little Darth Vader" spot last year.
As ever, some skeptics are bemoaning Super Bowl advertising as some kind of new lowest common denominator of the industry. But at the same time, it seems as if the Super Bowl remains a pinnacle type of platform for brand marketers who want to press the industry's envelope. Already, it's obvious that the affair will embody a handful of what the Wall Street Journal identified as the biggest ad trends for the year ahead, including the importance of feeding "couch potato gatherings," the trend toward more humor as an antidote to tough times, and consumer influence on brand creation.
Meanwhile, some of the game's biggest annual advertisers are doing the most to attempt to leverage the newest media into greater overall impact for the creative that they're building around the Super Bowl. Bridgestone, for instance, actually began its Super Bowl campaign with a teaser spot during the Bridgestone Winter Classic telecast of an outdoor NHL game on Monday. And NBC has noted that every advertiser in the game actually has purchased a unique "package" of related opportunities that will involve other elements such as the new NBC Sports Network and NBC's Summer Olympics broadcasts.
Crowdsourcing remains huge. PepsiCo's Doritos brand, for example, has announced the five "Crash the Super Bowl" finalists who will now compete for the chance to have their ads aired during the game broadcast. Chevrolet is extending its Route 66 amateur video contest into its Super Bowl ad buy as well. And Bud Light is selecting a "correspondent" via Facebook who will "cover" the festivities from Indianapolis.
Of course, Facebook and other social media are even more ubiquitous than last year. Bridgestone, for instance, is hosting a sweepstakes on its Facebook page with the grand prize of a trip for two to the Super Bowl. Visa is hoping to create curiosity and jealousy among friends on Facebook with an app that suggests, based on social-media activity, which of their friends might be best for them to invote on a trip to the Super Bowl if the player wins the credit-card brand's contest to send a group to the game. And Pizza Hut has invited brand fans to interact on Facebook and then create their own rendition of a song (see below), with the aim of being included in an advertising montage that will run in pre-game programming.
Even a month before kickoff, Super Bowl XLVI already is the biggest brand-marketing story of the year.
| Privacy Policy | About Us | Contact Us | FAQ 
