Does Super Bowl Ads Woks - Research Paper Example

?INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Super Bowl is the football championship game in United s which started as an agreement between National Football League(NFL) and its rival, American Football League (AFL). It is the biggest television event of the year, mainly because of its high profile advertising aired during the television broadcast of the game in U.S. The day on which the Super Bowl game is aired is considered to be a national holiday in America, known as “Super Bowl Sunday”. In 2010, it had an estimated worldwide audience of around one billion people. In United States, it is considered to be a huge national party day which is an attraction for all. Because of such high viewership of Super Bowl, it serves as a unique platform for advertisers and marketers to sell their product. The commercial airtime during Super Bowl broadcast is most expensive and therefore, companies create their most unique and expensive advertisements to be aired during Super Bowl game. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcast's commercials has become a significant aspect of the event. DATA ON COSTS In 2011, Super Bowl game had the largest television audience of a U.S. program ever and therefore, companies willingly paid up to $3 million for a 30 second slot during Super Bowl broadcast. This year the viewership of the Super Bowl game reached 111 million people, some of which tuned in to watch the game, while many of the others tuned in to only watch the commercials. The high price tag of the commercials assures that they will be spectacular and innovative in most cases. The commercials are often highly anticipated, generating much buzz even before the game is played usually because of their innovation or sense of humor. (Reporter, 2011) WHY SPEND THE ADVERTISING DOLLARS Thomas Harpointner, CEO of the e-business and interactive consulting company AIS Media, says "The Super Bowl commercials are the most talked-about commercials on the planet," he said. "And that's what makes the commercials and the opportunity to advertise on the Super Bowl so special. So for a company that is just launching, or launching a new product line, or is making a big company shift, the Super Bowl offers a unique platform." (Schy, 2010) Therefore, companies avail this opportunity of Super Bowl platform to advertise their product even at a very high cost. They make special and high budget ads to be aired specially during Super Bowl game, which has also made Super Bowl advertising as one of the most watched out time of the year for marketers as well. EXPLORATION OF SOME SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES SUCCESS OF PEPSI CO. SUPER BOWL ADS In 2010, for the first time in 23 years Pepsi did not run an ad during the Super Bowl itself despite the fact that it was the official NFL sponsor. However, in 2011, Pepsi Co. became one of the game's biggest ad spenders when it bought three 30-second Pepsi Max spots, along with three spots for Doritos in the game on Fox. This marked the partnership of Pepsi Co.’s Doritos and Pepsi Max brands to launch a campaign in which consumers were to submit ads for the slots to be run during Super Bowl broadcast. Entrants will submit creative ads via a dedicated site at crashthesuperbowl.com, out of which ten ads will be shortlisted and announced in January. Then, consumers will vote for their favorite ads after which PepsiCo executives would be selecting the final two ads. Each of the ten finalists will receive $25,000 in prize money and a trip to Dallas to attend the game in a private luxury suite. The six winners will be awarded a maximum of $5 million, depending on the success of their ads in USA Today's Ad Meter panel, and a contract to create additional ads for the two brands in 2011. The idea turned out to be in favor of Pepsi Co. as according to Ace Metrix, analytics agency, the Pepsi ads scored higher than most beer brands, says CEO Peter Daboll, "certainly Doritos and Pepsi Max are the anti-celebrity ads. I mean, basically, people filmed these in their garages, and they actually did better than some of the high-priced ads with celebrities." (DuBois, 2011) SUCCESS OF ANHEUSER BUSCH Since 23 years, Anheuser Busch has shown its commitment to advertise during Super Bowl broadcast as the game’s exclusive malt beverage category advertiser. In 2010, the company committed eight commercial spots while in 2011, Anheuser-Busch debut five new creative spots for three of its leading brands during FOX's broadcast of Super Bowl. Bud Light and Budweiser were the among the top five rated ads by the Ad Meter Survey which signifies the success of Anheuser Busch advertising during Super Bowl game. (Grillo) EXPOSURE, ATTENTION, PERCEPTION EXPOSURE a. Largest viewing audience Around 158 million people tune in to watch all or part of the Super Bowl game on the ‘Super Bowl Sunday’. It is the biggest TV event of the year and 36% of the viewers tune in only to watch the commercials. According to Retail and Marketing Association, out of 158 million people who watch the Super Bowl game tend to spend approximately $9.5 billion on Super Bowl-related merchandise - an average of $59.90 per person. ($9.5B in Super Bowl Sales, 36% Say Ads Most Important Part of Game, 2008) b. Reaches very large market Super Bowl, being the biggest television event of the year, indeed reaches the very large market as the game is watched by people of all ages, men and women. In terms of total audience, 158 million people watched at least 6 minutes of Super Bowl making it the Super Bowl with the largest reach (unduplicated audience) ever. Around 76% of the viewers believe that Super Bowl advertising is entertaining and around 12.6% agree that these advertisements encourage them to buy the products from the advertisers. ATTENTION a. Personally Relevant Super Bowl advertising invokes a positive consumer behavior because it allows consumers to connect and relate to the commercials in one way or the other. Consumers make the purchases because the advertisers encourage them to associate themselves with the ad content. Thus, commercials should be personally relevant for the consumer to make the purchase. b. Pleasant Super Bowl game creates anticipation and excitement in the audience. The super charged selling environment of party and fun is set by the Super Bowl in an unmatched manner. At this point, consumers want to enjoy fun and pleasant commercials which will also encourage them to make the purchase decision. Otherwise, consumers may be turned off by a disagreeable commercial. c. Surprising Such Super Bowl hype and excitement in the air makes the consumers to expect surprises. Also, Super Bowl broadcast provides advertisers with a unique platform through which they often unveil new products and advertisements. Special ads are made for Super Bowl broadcast which are a pleasant surprise for the audience. d. Easy to process Commercials should be easy to understand for the consumers so that they can easily comprehend the advertiser’s message and make a favorable purchase decision. Viewers don’t just tolerate Super Bowl advertising; they seek it out and embrace it. Super Bowl game sets the audience mood of excitement and thrill, thus, advertisers must make the ads keeping the mind the consumer’s mood and ability to process the message. PERCEPTION According to Gallup, market research firm, Super Bowl advertising has maintained its high viewership because of the positive attitude that it has had throughout economic ups and downs. Though people regard Super advertising as the best part of the event, a notable decline in perceptions has also been observed. Ratings about the quality of individual commercials and about the companies who advertise on the Super Bowl have declined during the decade. There has been a slow decline in perceptions that the Super Bowl has some of the best advertising. Though companies are making the effort, people feel that nowadays all companies are advertising during Super Bowl, whereas earlier only market leaders could with their classic ads. (Pennington, 2010) CONCLUSION Super Bowl has become one of the most important events in United States, not only for the people but also for the advertisers. There has been a continuous increase in its viewership and this year, it was had the largest audience of 111 million, first time ever for a television program. This year's Super Bowl aired 50 minutes and 50 seconds of commercial time, along with Fifty-two unique brands aired commercials that competed for viewers' attention for a total of 84 advertisements. Among Super Bowl advertisers, the fastest growing Web site is Fox Interactive Media's MySpace.com/SuperBowlAds, increasing 104 percent from 441,000 to 900,000 unique visitors. Super Bowl Advertising does really pay off because it serves as a highly charged up selling environment where consumers accepts and embraces all kinds of commercials. Therefore, advertisers also willingly take the risk of paying $3 million just for 30 seconds. Bibliography $9.5B in Super Bowl Sales, 36% Say Ads Most Important Part of Game. (2008, January 24). Retrieved April 25, 2011, from Marketing Charts: http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/95b-in-super-bowl-sales-36-say-ads-most-important-part-of-game-3176/ DuBois, S. (2011, Ferbruary 10). How Pepsi's crowd-sourced ads beat the Super Bowl beer spots. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from CNN Money: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/02/10/how-pepsis-crowd-sourced-ads-beat-the-super-bowl-beer-spots/ Grillo, J. B. (n.d.). Anheuser-Busch: Keeping Success Flowing - Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. marketing strategy - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from bNet.com: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BDW/is_14_42/ai_72981545/ Horovitz, B. (2010, September 15). Pepsi to Max out Super Bowl ads. USA Today . Jin, H. S. (2003). COMPOUNDING CONSUMER INTEREST: Effects of Advertising Campaign Publicity on the Ability to Recall Subsequent Advertisements. Journal of Advertising , 29. Nielsen's Recap of 2008 Super Bowl Advertising. (2008). Retrieved April 25, 2011, from Neilsen: http://nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press-room/2008/nielsen_s_recap_of.html Pennington, N. (2010, January 28). Super Bowl Advertising, In Good Times And Bad. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from PrWeb: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3531674.htm Reporter, D. M. (2011, February 8). The most-watched programme in history: Super Bowl viewing figures hit 111m. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354784/Super-Bowl-watched-programme-history-viewing-figures-hit-111m.html Richardson, C. (2011). Super Bowl commercials: top ads of Super Bowl 2011. Christian Science Monitor . Schy, S. (2010, January 27). Super Bowl Ads Cost Big Bucks, Deliver Huge Audience. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from Voice of America News / FIND: http://elibrary.bigchalk.com Read More