Super Bowl Ads Do They Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Super Bowl Ads Do They Work - Research Paper Example Because of such high viewership of Super Bowl, it serves as a unique platform for advertisers and marketers to sell their product. The commercial airtime during Super Bowl broadcast is most expensive and therefore, companies create their most unique and expensive advertisements to be aired during Super Bowl game. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcast's commercials has become a significant aspect of the event. DATA ON COSTS In 2011, Super Bowl game had the largest television audience of a U.S. program ever and therefore, companies willingly paid up to $3 million for a 30 second slot during Super Bowl broadcast. This year the viewership of the Super Bowl game reached 111 million people, some of which tuned in to watch the game, while many of the others tuned in to only watch the commercials. The high price tag of the commercials assures that they will be spectacular and innovative in most cases. The commercials are often highly anticipated, generating much buzz even before the game is played usually because of their innovation or sense of humor. (Reporter, 2011) WHY SPEND THE ADVERTISING DOLLARS Thomas Harpointner, CEO of the e-business and interactive consulting company AIS Media, says "The Super Bowl commercials are the most talked-about commercials on the planet," he said. "And that's what makes the commercials and the opportunity to advertise on the Super Bowl so special. So for a company that is just launching, or launching a new product line, or is making a big company shift, the Super Bowl offers a unique platform." (Schy, 2010) Therefore, companies avail this opportunity of Super Bowl platform to advertise their product even at a very high cost. They make special and high budget ads to be aired specially during Super Bowl game, which has also made Super Bowl advertising as one of the most watched out time of the year for marketers as well. EXPLORATION OF SOME SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES SUCCESS OF PEPSI CO. SUPER BOWL ADS In 2010, for the first time in 23 years Pepsi did not run an ad during the Super Bowl itself despite the fact that it was the official NFL sponsor. However, in 2011, Pepsi Co. became one of the game's biggest ad spenders when it bought three 30-second Pepsi Max spots, along with three spots for Doritos in the game on Fox. This marked the partnership of Pepsi Co.’s Doritos and Pepsi Max brands to launch a campaign in which consumers were to submit ads for the slots to be run during Super Bowl broadcast. Entrants will submit creative ads via a dedicated site at crashthesuperbowl.com, out of which ten ads will be shortlisted and announced in January. Then, consumers will vote for their favorite ads after which PepsiCo executives would be selecting the final two ads. Each of the ten finalists will receive $25,000 in prize money and a trip to Dallas to attend the game in a private luxury suite. The six winners will be awarded a maximum of $5 million, depending on the success of their ads in USA Today's Ad M eter panel, and a contract to create additional ads for the two brands in 2011. The idea turned out to be in favor of Pepsi Co. as according to Ace Metrix, analytics agency, the Pepsi ads scored higher than most beer brands, says CEO Peter Daboll, "certainly Doritos and Pepsi Max are the anti-celebrity ads. I mean, basically, people filmed these in their garages, and they actually did better than some of the high-priced ads