Super Bowl Ads- Worth the Cost?

Call me un-American, but there is only one thing I enjoy about Superbowl Sunday. Before you ask, no- it’s not the uber masculine trash talk about which team will prevail nor is it the gluttonous table spreads of bean dip, chicken wings, and blocks of processed cheese- rather it is the ridiculously over-priced advertisements between plays I look forward to most.

Light beer, Doritos, and Go-Daddy models- oh my.

Nielsen says I am not alone in this lack of enthusiasm for the actual sport. Viewer survey shows that just over half (51 percent) of respondents enjoy the Super Bowl more for the ads than the game.

So why is it we are so captivated by slapstick versions of the same message these corporate brands produce the other 364 days of the year? I have no idea- however, I do know there is simply something mesmerizing about anything that costs an average of $3 million dollars and only lasts 30 seconds.

So how did super bowl spots get so popular, and what gives CBS the audacity to charge marketers millions of dollars to capture their audience? Well, it really only takes considering the sheer size of the Super Bowl audience to put that mystery to rest. An average of 110 million viewers tuned in to watch last year’s game, with the numbers predicted to be even higher this year.

A direct indicator of an ad’s effectiveness is traffic to an advertiser’s Web site. According to Nielsen ratings, next-day Web traffic to Super Bowl advertiser sites last year was up an average of 63%. The numbers are there, sure, but $3 million dollars? I can think of a few things I could spend that amount of money on. Hovercraft? Chartered jet to Europe? Endless supply of peanut M&M’s? Just to name a few.

If you thought the economy would in any way affect this marketing bonanza we call the Super Bowl you were mistaken. As a matter of fact, companies are more likely to buy Super Bowl advertising when they want to make an impact by jump-starting a brand or introducing themselves. This fact could also explain why you didn’t see Pepsi or FedEx participating in this year’s event, rather focusing marketing money somewhere besides a 3 million dollar means of reminding us they still exist.

Talking animals, the overused Budweiser Clydesdales and Go Daddy’s tacky spokes models have resonated among avid ad watchers, but how have they evolved? You tell me. What did you find refreshing about this year’s spots?

Oh- and congratulations to the New Orleans Saints? Wizards?  I don’t know, I think that’s who won.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Advertising, Branding, Marketing, TV Commercials, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.