With the Super Bowl being only a few days away, The Replacements have decided to focus on a particular aspect of this extremely popular game. We know that there have been talks about a potential lockout in March, defensive coordinators and head coaches being fired left and right, and even a woman broadcaster who needs a wardrobe change. However, this week's topic will focus on something we have been discussing in class since the very first day - media. Media comes in several different forms, such as newspapers, television, magazines, radio, Internet and even our blogs. When you think about media and the Super Bowl, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
The advertisements, of course! Whether you're rooting for a team in the Super Bowl or not, there is always a heightened interest in this year's Super Bowl advertisements. If you miss the commercials, you can bet that you will certainly be out of the loop the next day in class or at the office.
According to our textbook, the Super Bowl "is annually one of the most watched events in television" (p. 83). Furthermore, the "average 2004 Super Bowl commercial sold for $2.3 million, up from $2.1 million in 2003 Because people watch the commercials in the game in large numbers, pressure to present outstanding ads runs high" (p. 83).
One of the interesting things to be noted is the fact that, although these numbers are high, they are not surprising. As a society, we are used to corporations spending huge amounts of money for 30-second spots on television. Movie previews, automobile ads, celebrities galore - you name it, and it's been aired during the Super Bowl.
But the question still remains - is all of this spending on Super Bowl ads really necessary?
Barry Judge, the Chief Marketing Officer of Best Buy, has his own opinion on the matter.
In his article Super Bowl ads - Good Idea or Money Ill Spent? (which you can find here: http://barryjudge.com/super-bowl-ads-%E2%80%93-good-idea-or-money-ill-spent), Judge focuses on the entertainment value of Super Bowl ads. As someone whose business is going to be using Justin Bieber, Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon in their first ever Super Bowl ad, Judge now has a new outlook on the outrageous spending on Super Bowl ads. For example, he points out a few key points on why he will be using the Super Bowl for his business:
1. As our media channels have gotten exponentially more fragmented, TV, especially live TV (sports, award programming etc), is one of the few stages in which we can talk to a large audience.
2. The Super Bowl is the biggest of stages. For us to make this kind of stage work, we needed to have something very important to say. This year, we have something new, important and differentiating to say, worthy we thought, of the bigness that is the Super Bowl.
3. We wanted to use this stage to highlight parts of our brand heritage that we have moved away from in recent years, our love of the Entertainment we sell and the fun we all have in consuming it.
4. Finally and perhaps most importantly, I came to realize much more clearly how the Super Bowl platform done well could create a very impactful social campaign that could then create interest far beyond the game itself.
As a group, we do agree with Judge. In the end, these commercials are used not only for creativity, but for a way to expand a business. As the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money, right? This is exactly what Best Buy, as well as hundreds of corporations, think when they decide to enter the Super Bowl ad pool. Furthermore, Super Bowl ads, and the fact that some people watch the big game just to see these carefully constructed commercials, are perfect examples of the "very symbiotic relationship" between sports and the media. Even the most casual of sports fans can enjoy the commercials and the meanings behind them.
To end this on a light note ...to the soundboard! Remember this Doritos commercial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0EVSP_6XZA
Also, there is a really good article on what Pepsi is doing this year - something a little different than other corporations!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/business/media/31pepsi.html
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