West Hills, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/08/2013 -- For many brands, the Super Bowl is the most expensive and high-risk decision in all of advertising. For every success story there's a high-profile flop. David Lubars, chairman and chief creative officer for BBDO North America said, "The Super Bowl is either the most economical, smart, risk-free thing you can do or the worst mess you can get yourself into."
For the coming Super Bowl 2014, there's a variable that's been absent since 2010: the Winter Olympics. The games begin just five days after the Super Bowl, giving marketers another marquee event for their winter ad dollars. Century 21, which has advertised in the past two Super Bowls, is among those choosing to invest in the weeks-long spectacle over the one big night. The real-estate marketer won't be in the football game, but will be all over the Olympics, including airing ads on NBC and overseas networks, while sponsoring the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams.
While the Super Bowl is aired in some overseas markets, the U.S. accounts for more than 90% of the global audience, compared with the Olympics, which boasts a larger and more widespread international audience.
But nothing compares to the domestic reach of the Super Bowl, which was viewed by an average of 108.4 million people in the U.S. this year on CBS,making it the third-most watched event in TV history (following other Super Bowls).
The expected $4 million cost is up from last year's $3.8 million for a 30 second ad. Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management said, "It's very unlikely you are going to pay that back with a short-term sales bump, because people don't see an ad on the Super Bowl and then rush out to buy a product the next day. The reason advertisers are on the game is because it supercharges their brand. It's just very hard to tie the numbers specifically back to that media buy."
The game has proved to be a great venue for smaller brands. SodaStream, which sells home soda-making machines, credits its 2013 ad with helping grow distribution. Wonderful Pistachios is also returning in 2014 after making its Super Bowl debut this year. Because the brand ran limited TV ads in the winter period, it was able to directly link an 18% sales gain to the in-game ad, said Marc Segiun, VP-marketing for Paramount Farms, which produces Wonderful Pistachios and is part of Roll Global.
For some advertisers, the exposure is no longer worth the cost. That group includes Subway, a 2013 Bowl advertiser that is not expected to return in Super Bowl Commercials 2014. Cars.com has appeared in every Super Bowl since 2008 but won't return in 2014, mostly because the company isn't breaking a campaign. The marketer also wants to more evenly distribute its media spending throughout the year, said CMO Linda Bartman.
Nestlé, which is taking on Reese's with its peanut-butter-cup launch, projects that consumer awareness on the product will jump from almost nothing to upward of 50% to 80% on the back of its Super Bowl spot and related PR and digital buzz.Mars, a regular Super Bowl advertiser, is also planning to make news, said Roy Benin, chief consumer officer for Mars Chocolate North America. He wouldn't disclose details beyond confirming that the marketer will feature Snickers or M&M's.Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2012 used the first in-game ad (position 1A) to launch Bud Light Platinum and repeated the strategy this year to debut Budweiser Black Crown.
Car companies sped back into the Super Bowl beginning in 2011, spending some $80 million on game buys that year, following that up with $90.5 million in 2012, according to a Nielsen report earlier this year. In 2013, eight car brands bought ads. General Motors was noticeably absent, but is returning to the 2014 game.
Spots must be clever, funny or engaging, said Steve Shannon, VP-marketing for Hyundai Motor America, which will make its seventh straight Super Bowl ad appearance in Super Bowl 2014 with two ads. "We also do TV spots that are about the car.It sounds like a quaint idea but we need to deliver a product benefit or two. " Pointing to Super Bowl Commercials from unnamed rivals, he said: "While they may have been entertaining, the question is do people remember what brand they are for and did it tell them anything they really need to know about a car?"
Contact: John Danial Smith
Email: johndanialsmith@gmail.com
Website: http://www.superbowl-2014.co/
Super Bowl Official: http://superbowl-commercials.co/super-bowl-commercials-2014/