The Super Bowl is an event that transcends the on-field battle between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. Consumer spending on team apparel, food, party supplies and even new TVs alone is expected to reach close to $11 million for this year’s game according to a recent survey conducted for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.
At the cost of $3.5 million for a 30-second commercial, advertisers are eager to extend the life and impact of their Super Bowl spots to consumers more than ever. In the past few years that meant uploading the commercial to YouTube after the game to take advantage of the buzz.
A 2011 study of mobile users by Yahoo and Razorfish found that 60 per cent of users are multitasking on a mobile device while watching live televised sports, creating the opportunity for an enhanced second screen experience.
This year, advertisers are paying extra attention to second screen experiences before, during and after the game. Most of the ads (or teasers for the ads) that will appear during the game have been posted on YouTube. Honda’s CR-V ad featuring Matthew Broderick reprising his Ferris Bueller role has more than 10 million views in just seven days, while Volkswagen’s “Bark Side” teaser has more than 11 million views and an extended version of the “Dog Strikes Back” ad has 2 million after just a few days. The Acura ad “Transactions” featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno is nearing 11 million views, while other advertisers like Hyundai, First Bank, Kia and Chevrolet are also getting attention with ads posted days before the big game.
Beyond providing access to the ads, other advertisers are providing interactivity and enhanced content on social platforms and mobile devices. Coca Cola is bringing their animated polar bears – wearing a Giants or Patriots scarf – to their Facebook page where they will react to events in the game in real time.
Chevy is rolling out the Game Time mobile app, allowing Android and iPhone/iPad users the chance to win prizes from Papa John’s, Sirius and Bridgestone by answering trivia or participating in polls. App users also have a chance to win one of 20 cars if their app code matches the license plate of the cars in the Chevrolet ads.
Audio recognition app Shazam announced late this week that the entire game, halftime and nearly half the ads would be Shazamable enabling viewers to access live stats, unlock immersive ad experiences or qualify for sweepstakes from advertising partners such as Pepsi, Disney and Anheuser-Busch.
GoDaddy will be featuring (what now seems old fashioned) onscreen QR codes that when scanned will direct mobile users to the GoDaddy site for additional content.
To accompany Toyota’s ad theme of reinvention, the car company is requesting that viewer’s tweet which item they would like to see reinvented with the hashtag #reinvented. The most imaginative ideas will receive a response and illustration of the reinvented item.
Advertisers can no longer rely on the Monday morning water cooler walk. The Internet is providing a parallel, real-time shared experience to broadcast TV programming and live events. The buzz and word-of-mouth is happening through social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook with or without the advertisers. The question is whether viewers will embrace these advertiser-driven enhancements into their TV experience or ignore them and save the second screen for their friends.