Warming up for Super Bowl XLVIII

Planit Agency
January 30, 2014

Every year more than half of the American population gathers around their television sets for one night to drink beer (or maybe one of these), eat chicken wings (1.25 billion of them, to be exact), and root for their favorite team (er, whichever team they hate less?). This year won’t be any different when the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium—home to both the NY Jets and the NY Giants. Never before has there been an outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl, and contrary to an early prediction made by The Old Farmer’s Almanac: This one likely won’t yield record low temperatures or record high snowfalls. In fact, any weather-related contingency plans that the NFL made will likely fall by the wayside as the anticipated high for the day is nearly 50 degrees! It is still my opinion that the best seats at MetLife Stadium are the indoor luxury suites—which come with a cool $400,000 price tag. If that’s a little out of your budget, you could always spend less than $20,000 to get the best seat in your own house by picking up one of these. Those numbers don’t seem incredibly high when we consider that national advertisers spend around $4 million for just one 30-second commercial during TV’s biggest event of the year. And because there is limited inventory, the spots sell out well before the playoffs even begin. DVRs go “unset,” and viewers actually sit through entire commercial breaks, which makes the media buyer in me incredibly happy. Perhaps the best part for ad agencies across the globe is that the game can be viewed and tracked on a plethora of sites and devices. Ad inventory is no longer limited to television spots, so strategists and creatives alike have an opportunity to put their best feet forward on cross-platform campaign elements. We can also make the assumption that fans will be on multiple devices throughout the day, which means the likelihood an ad will be viewed more than once is high. On top of that, shareable video ad content continues to rise exponentially, so a solid digital plan with consistent creative messaging is key. So, whom can we expect to see in this year’s commercial lineup? Certainly something from big-time spenders such as Anheuser-Busch and Frito Lay, who year after year seem to want to out-perform themselves. We’ll also be treated to commercials from first-time Super Bowl advertisers Chobani Greek Yogurt and Jaguar. But possibly the coolest new addition to this year’s Super Bowl ad lineup is the free in-game commercial of a small business that will be selected by consumers via an online contest. Another distraction from the game is the halftime show, which draws several million more viewers than the actual NFL action. In the past, scandal and drama have surrounded the show, so the NFL was playing it pretty cautiously when they invited the low-profile pop star Bruno Mars to headline. A smallish gamble may have been taken when Mars was allowed to ask the Red Hot Chili Peppers to join him. But I’d be willing to bet Flea won’t be jamming in his tighty whities at an outdoor stadium in February, so this will likely remain safe, family-friendly entertainment.