關于超級碗廣告的廣告學專業留學生dissertation

1.每年都有來自世界各地的數百萬觀眾觀看一個最令人興奮的運動事件——超級碗。在比賽排名中,那些爭奪霸權的國家足球聯盟已經逐步成長，這反而能對幫助美國橄欖球聯盟形成最好的球隊。它已經成為英超事件新的電視廣告，通過在超級碗的電視播出中;網絡能夠給出寶貴的時間來，從而為大公司賺取數百萬的資產。當我們進入21世紀,對游戲的廣告宣傳的競爭對手就是游戲本身。
 
2.因為它的開始,超級碗吸引了頂級贊助商,而且電視收視率高。但有兩個關鍵事件與今天的超級碗廣告有密切聯系。1969年,喬·納馬斯率領他的超級碗第3代進入紐約,在那里他們中斷了巴爾的摩小馬隊的聯系，最令人震驚的是超級碗讓美式足球會議可信度上升,導致超級碗廣告利率飆升。15年后,超級碗被廣泛的接受,使之成為一個家喻戶曉的名字,從而設置一個新的超級碗廣告標準.

3.不可思議的是超級碗廣告能清晰地顯示通話時間的價格。在去年的超級碗比賽中，紐約巨人隊和巴爾的摩烏鴉,CBS公司支付近240萬美元。這相當于每秒超過75000美元。哥倫比亞廣播公司還大力推廣和播出節目:“超級碗是最偉大的廣告,“前一晚的大游戲。“超級碗已經成為廣告的現象本身。它為廣告競爭和創造力提供了溫床。這是廣告成功的真正考驗。
 

4.增加銷售的威望、全世界的關注是公司想要超級碗廣告的原因。但還有另一個優點是你的名字或產品在大賽播出期間可以得到廣泛地宣傳。公眾的社會因素對超級碗廣告可以創造大量的免費宣傳。“人們感興趣的超級碗廣告,允許媒體給他們更多的關注(戈德堡15)。還有公共關系的價值，有高分的廣告媒體評論家和公眾,這常常會有更多的免費宣傳。顯然,這免費的宣傳可以為公司得到一個明確的回饋,同時幫助減少成本，增加效益。
 

Every year, millions of viewers from around the world tune in to watch one of the most exhilarating events in sports unfold--the Super Bowl.  The one-game, winner-take-all contest for supremacy in the National Football League has grown into more than just a football game opposing the best teams of the NFL.  It has become the premier event for new television advertising.  With half of the ten, all-time most watched television events having been Super Bowls; networks are able to sell precious seconds of airtime to large companies for millions of dollars.  As we move into the 21st century, publicity for the game’s commercials has come to rival that of the game itself.  

 

Since it’s beginning, the Super Bowl has drawn top sponsor dollars and high television ratings.  But there are two key events that are linked to the phenomenal rise seen in Super Bowl advertising to what it is today.  In 1969, Joe Namath led his New York into Super Bowl III, where they knocked off the Baltimore Colts in one of the most shocking Super Bowl upsets of all time, giving the American Football Conference credibility and causing Super Bowl ad rates to skyrocket.  Fifteen years later, in what is widely accepted as the most famous Super Bowl spot of all time, the Apple Computer was introduced, making it a household name and setting a new standard for Super Bowl advertising (Lohse 14).

 

The incredible climb of Super Bowl advertising is most clearly shown by the current prices for airtime.  In last year’s Super Bowl matchup between the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens, companies paid CBS close to 2.4 million dollars for a thirty second slot.  That amounts to over 75,000 dollars per second.  CBS also heavily promoted and aired the show: “The Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials,” the night before the big game.  “The Super Bowl has become a phenomenon in and of itself for commercials.  It provides a breeding ground for advertiser competition and creativity” (Simmons 18).  It is the true test of successful advertising.

 

Prestige, worldwide attention, and the desire to increase sales are some of the most obvious reasons companies want to have their ad shown during the Super Bowl.  But there is another advantage that can come out of having your name or product aired during the big game.  Free publicity.  The social factor of public fascination with Super Bowl advertisements can create huge amounts of free publicity.  “People are interested in Super Bowl commercials and watch them closely, which allows the media to give them a lot of attention (Goldberg 15).  There is also a public relations value of having ads rated highly by media critics and the public, which often results in even more free publicity.  Obviously, this free publicity can be a definite bonus for a company, while helping to reduce the otherwise expensive per-commercial costs from a cost-benefit standpoint (Goldberg 16). 

 

However, as many companies have come to find out, paying the expensive airtime price and running a commercial during the Super Bowl does not guarantee the company will benefit from it’s ad.  Empower MediaMarketing(EM2), one of the country’s largest media buyers, spent several years researching the question of when it makes sense to air an ad during the Super Bowl.  Their study, which was released in 2000, focused on how people watch commercials during the big game.  It reported that people pay more attention to Super Bowl ads than regular television ads.  However, the study also showed that the average commercial is only remembered by 10% of people, which translates into just 14% remembering Super Bowl ads.  Obviously, the higher attentiveness is worth a premium price, but the price for a Super Bowl ad is 200% above the average.  “For some advertisers this makes sense.  Master Lock put their entire media budget into the Super Bowl for years and had great success.  The problem develops when there are several ads vying for attention in one category, like the ‘dot-commers’ did in the 2000 Super Bowl” (Geddes 3). 

 

There are several types of Super Bowl ads that have been proven successful.  Advertisements that are funny, surprising, or tell a story have found much success in the past.  However, experts agree that the most important aspect of Super Bowl advertising is the need to create a movie experience within the ad.  30% of viewers watch the Super Bowl with six or more people, making the game into more of a movie experience than a typical television experience.  Therefore, experts say the best Super Bowl ads tend to be similar to movie trailers (Bentman 7).  McDonald’s had a campaign that followed this idea in the early 1990’s where Michael Jordan and Larry Bird were shown playing the game of HORSE for different items from the McDonald’s menu.  The Bud Bowl campaign, which first aired in 1989, also creates a movie-like experience. That is why it continues to be one of the Super Bowl’s best known and most liked commercials.  Also, Nike’s “Hare Jordan” campaign, which appeared in 1997, followed the movie concept by showing one commercial in each quarter of the game, with the first three commercials ending with ”TO BE CONTINUED...” displayed at the bottom of the screen.  

 

It is hard to come up with a clear answer to the question: Is advertising during the Super Bowl worth the cost?  There are uncontrollable factors that could surely hurt a company in sending out their message, such as a lopsided game or poor time slots.  There will always be a risk.  There is no guarantee for positive viewer response.  Jennifer Chang, a professor of marketing at Penn State University believes “in most cases, spending the big dollars for a Super Bowl ad, does not pay off” (Blakehorne 1).  Chang stresses the necessary tradeoff between “reach” and “frequency.”  That is, is it better for an ad to reach and be seen by more people or by fewer people more frequently?  This may seem like the perfect opportunity for a company to make a splash in one sitting, but only a sub-segment of the viewing public is typically interested in beer, financial consulting, or athletic shoes.  If this is the case, it can cause a company to waste a lot of money and coverage on people who aren’t interested in the product.  “In most cases, advertisers would be better served if they tailor the ad for a demographic or lifestyle group. And then show the ad more often during programs catered to that specific target media” (Blakehorne 1).  

 

The “reach” vs. “frequency” argument is one that has been long debated.  Basically, it comes down to a company’s desire to have the stage and be able to reach everybody at once, or reach a smaller portion of the audience more times for the same amount of money.  However, everyone involved in advertising agrees that there is no stage like the Super Bowl.  If a company can afford the high price and wants to take a chance, the Super Bowl could be the greatest launching pad in the world for their product (Posman 1).  On the other hand, spending lofty prices on advertising during the Super Bowl could be a company’s fatal mistake.

 

In 2000, seventeen “dot-com” companies advertised during the Super Bowl, paying 2.2 million dollars per thirty-second slot.  Eleven of those seventeen companies no longer exist, either having gone out of business or having been bought out.  “The reason why the “dot-com” ads failed is because they broke with the rules of advertising: present the product and its purpose,” says Tobe Berkovitz, an advertising professor at Boston University (Bentman 7).  Most of the “dot-com” ads shown during the 2000 Super Bowl had little or nothing to do with the product or service the company actually provided, making the commercials easily forgettable.  Many of them were creative, however they were only creative for creativity’s sake, and they failed to accomplish the client’s goals (Bentman 7).  Steve Tipps, a senior vice-president for Copernicus Marketing Consulting & Research, feels the “dot-com” commercials were missing key steps, particularly the reason why consumers should try the brand.  “The ads didn’t work because they didn’t tell you anything about the brand.  Apparently their strategy was to get a funny ad and the name of the company and everything would just fall in place” (Goldberg 15). Unfortunately, it didn’t fall in place.

 

Based on this past year’s game, it appears that Super Bowl advertising is returning to normal.  Only three “dot-com” companies participated in the event, while the majority of airtime went to blue-chip companies, such as Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonalds, and Visa, who were looking to establish their new products.  With the return of experienced advertisers, the Super Bowl has the potential to produce some great commercials in the next few years (Posman 1).  And as the Internet continues to grow, it is almost certain that the “dot-coms” will be back in the game.  When that time comes, hopefully they will learn from past mistakes.  The Super Bowl game itself, will also continue to grow.  The goal of the NFL, like any other business, is to get as many customers and viewers as possible.  By bringing a more diversified market that not only follows football, but also ads, they have accomplished exactly that (Lefton).

 

Bibliography:

 

Lohse, Deborah. (1-22-01). The Real Super Bowl Competition Is Among Ads. Mercury News. P.14.

Bentman, Hillary.  (1-26-2001). Dot-coms benched for Super Bowl kick-off.  The Daily Free Press (Boston U.) p.7.

Geddes, Darryl. (1-22-01) Corporate game plans for Super Bowl Ads.  Cornell University Newsletter.  P.3

Goldberg, Marvin. (1-5-01). Advertising during the Super Bowl can be prime-time blunder.  Penn State University College of Business Administration, vol.11, p.15-16.

Lefton, Terry. (2-10-99). It Ads Up. Sport, vol.90,i2, p.26-27.

Simmons, Mark. (2-7-2000). Super Bowl: Sports vs. Advertising. Ask Men, vol.8,i10, p.18-20.