GLOBAL – FEBRUARY 2, 2012: This Sunday will not only be a big event for American football fans and enthusiasts but also for marketers and advertisers as the 46th Super Bowl commence in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Super Bowl is the championship game for the America’s National Football League and garners about 100 million viewers every year, which is why this event is home to high-profile advertisements.
And by high-profile ads, the numbers amount to millions of dollars. As early as Thanksgiving 2011, Superbowl ad spots have been sold out at as much as US$3.5 million per 30-second ad, a record-breaking amount in Superbowl’s history. So far, a total of 37 brands have secured an ad spot including Godaddy.com, H&M, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, History Channel, Hulu, Samsung Electronics, and Skechers to name a few.
So what can viewers expect from this year’s Superbowl line up of commercials? Seth Winter, senior vice president of sales and marketing of NBC’s sports group said that it will have more long-form commercials, about 60 seconds or more, than 30-second ad spots.
Expect more cars in this year’s line up as General Motors, Volkswagen, Kia, Toyota, and Hyundai will be returning. Yogurt giant Dannon and Century 21 Real Estate Properties will take their first ad spot ever for this year.
Many brands have released their commercials ahead of time, most notable are car brands. Volkswagen has released "Dog Strikes Back" by Deutsch Los Angeles, featuring a canine chorus "singing" a Star Wars song. Two ads have been released by Toyota titled "Reinvented" by Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles and "The Beast" by Attik, Team One which featured the Lexus. Kia’s ad courtesy of David & Goliath USA advertised the Optima featuring supermodel Adriana Lima. Hyundai also put up "Think Fast" and "Cheetah" both by Innocean. General Motors has released the most number of ads ahead of time so far with three ads, Cadillac’s "Sneak Peek" by Fallon Minneapolis, and Chevrolet’s "Happy Grad" and "Stunt Anthem" both by Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Audi parodied the Twilight series to promote the S7 called "Vampire Party" by Venables, Bells & Partners San Francisco. And lastly, Honda with "Matthew’s Day Off" by RPA Santa Monica and "Transactions" by RP& Santa Monica.
The event will not only be big for advertisers but also for social media and mobile app developers as brands have banked on Facebook, Twitter, and mobile applications to boost their return on investments. General Motors/Chevrolet launched a smartphone and socila media crossover app called "The Chevy Game Time," which allowed users to win cars and other prizes by answering trivia questions integrated into Facebook and Twitter. Chevrolet also sponsored a hashtag promotin titled "Road to the #superbowl" which will allow users to view tweets from playres of playoff teams and browse tweets by users with the #superbowl hashtag.
The Super Bowl Host Committee will also launch an iPhone and Android app travel guide to guide people to find parking slots and help tourists navigate the place.
