THINKing

Super Bowl Fumble

We talked recently about how Super Bowl advertisers just didn’t quite carry it across the goal line. The folks at Future Now agree that there were some fumbles. According to them,

This year’s Super Bowl ads once again found us scratching our heads. If you’re going to spend $2.7 million for 30 seconds of air time in order to send people to a website, why not sell them your product once they get there?

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Super Bowl: That’s A Wrap

Did you like the Super Bowl outcome? How about the ads? Comments, please. Well, here are some links to wrap up our 2008 Super Bowl coverage:

Super Bowl Ad Metrics

Flash Over Substance

Most Watched Ever

Creepy Baby Spot Gets High TiVo Marks

Pepsi MVP Of Super Bowl Ad/Search

Super Bowl Creative All Stars

Super Bowl B2B

Firebrand Gets Super Boost

Were SalesGenie Spots Racist?

And that is a wrap.

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Super Bowl: Search Me

Reprise Media reports that 70% of Super Bowl advertisers bought paid placement in search this year, up almost 20 percent from 2007. Other preliminary findings:

• only 6 percent of advertisers included a call to action, asking viewers to visit their website. (Yikes!)
• 74 percent of landing pages also provided no direction to Super Bowl viewers who found their way to the advertisers’ sites
• Pepsi, GoDaddy, Cars.com, T-Mobile, Tide and CareerBuilder.com get kudos for integrating their campaigns

For more, get this pdf from Reprise Media.

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SuperBowlAdvertisers.com: Your Super Bowl Ad Preview Roundup

Here is a preview of some of the SuperBowl ads:

SuperBowlAdvertisers.com: Your Super Bowl Ad Preview Roundup

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Super Bowl Ad Update - Nielsen Super Ad Focus Group

When the New England Patriots and the New York Giants take the field, tens of thousands of online users will take to their computer screens to rate the TV commercials running during the coverage of the game. It will be the first commercialized use of Hey! Nielsen, the online social community launched by Nielsen Co. last summer with a goal of creating a new method for measuring social buzz and interaction around brands, media, entertainment and sports properties.

MediaPost Publications - Nielsen Commercializes Social Network, Will Use HeyNielsen.com As Super Ad Focus Group - 01/28/2008

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What Impending Recession? Super Bowl Brings Out The Buyers

This morning MediaPost reports that the Super Bowl will spark sales of $10 billion,

The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association says it expects the Big Game to generate nearly $10 billion in sales this year. And it’s not just guacamole and such (although beer, chips, avocados, ice cream, frozen pizza and chicken products are the perennial best-sellers): this year, consumers are expected to spend even more than usual on such big-ticket items as TVs and furniture.

There is no doubt that there are some economic challenges, but Americans will spend money even when the media is trying to talk us into a recession. BIGresearch did a study that found some 3.9 million people plan to buy a new and bigger TV just for the Super Bowl. That’s up more than 50 percent from last year.

Apparently, we are ready for some football. Sing it, Hank.

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Wasting Money Big Time: Super Bowl Ads

Advertisers will spend $2.7 million per 30-second spot in order to reach a mass audience during the Super Bowl, on FOX. There are 63 30-second spots available. That’s around $170 million, most of which is a waste of money.

But, Harry, you are asking, where else can an advertiser reach 142 million people, 45 percent of whom are women? Well, there is no other venue. But that doesn’t change the facts. Here’s why I think most of the cash will be ill-spent.

Most spots are developed by ad agencies which convince their clients that humor is the way to go. Humor is the way to go, if it supports the brand and if it translates to sales or helps improve your distribution. Typically, spots are so off-base that no one can remember who the advertiser was after the spot airs. How does that help you? And, do you know how many beers Budweiser will have to sell to recoup its production and media expenditures? Who drinks Bud anyway?

Now, it is true that CareerBuilder.com saw a 50 percent increase in brand awareness after its 2005 Super Bowl ads. And that translated to web traffic and new business. CareerBuilder had an integrated program to support the buy. They had special landing pages on the site, as well as additional online and offline media. Most advertisers this year may make some effort to integrate their programs, but their big ad agencies won’t know how to do it.

There is a deal between Fox and MySpace (both News Corp. companies) that places commercials from in-game Super Bowl advertisers on a special Super Bowl site on MySpace. Fox will promote the MySpace site during the game. So, this will help give the ad buy more legs.

More advertisers report that this year they will support their buys with search engine programs. Again, I think this is a waste of money. This is a chance for the big brands to jump full-force into social media and social networks. I could do a hell of a lot with $2.7 million spent in PR and social media efforts.

Here are some bonus Super Bowl links:

Super Bowl Ads

Google Super Bowl Trends

Super Bowl Ads Recent News

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