Blog post by: Melissa Ignasiak
Millions of football fans will tune in this Sunday to watch the Ravens and 49ers play for the title of the Super Bowl XLVII champions. 
The Super Bowl is the most widely viewed single-day sporting event each year.
In many ways, the Super Bowl is more than just a sporting event. A very large percentage of the people who watch the Super Bowl watch it solely for the commercials. Because of the amount of viewers, advertisers will pay a large fee for commercial slots, which are the most expensive in television. This year, a 30 second commercial will cost more than $4 million dollars. To justify the millions of dollars they will spend for such a short amount of time, advertisers plan to present fans with entertaining and unforgettable commercials.
So what can you expect to see during the Super Bowl this year? Many brands will be showing humorous commercials, which are always a big hit, but they will also be airing longer commercials. The most popular ad from the 2012 Super Bowl was the Chrysler commercial featuring Clint Eastwood, which lasted a full two minutes.
According to the Los Angeles Times, about 20% of this year’s ads will air for a minute or longer. Another thing viewers have noticed during this week leading up to the game is online teasers. When advertisers spend this kind of money for a Super Bowl ad, using social media to get added exposure helps to offset the cost by generating significant amounts of money in free publicity.
This year’s ads will also be featuring more real people rather than celebrities or hired actors. Lincoln has been asking their drivers to Tweet details of their craziest road trips, football fans have been uploading videos of themselves yelling “Hut, Hut, Hut!” to Pizza Hut’s Facebook page, and Doritos is allowing their consumers to vote on which fan-made commercial will be shown on Super Bowl Sunday. The reason for this? Advertisers are trying to get consumers more involved with their brands with the belief that if they have an emotional attachment to the commercial, they will be more likely to sit through and view the entire ad.
Since a good amount of viewers on Super Bowl Sunday are not watching for the game, there is a large amount of time they will not be looking at their television. To capitalize on this opportunity, many advertisers will be using smartphones and the Internet to advertise during the game. This year, Coca-Cola will be running a CokeChase.com campaign. Viewers will be able to vote online before or during the game for the ending they would like to see is in the 60-second ad. Target also released an app in which users will shoot snacks into the mouths of characters moving around a virtual living room.
So are the months of planning and million dollar price tags worth it? Some marketers say yes! Although it is a huge investment, it is one of the best ways for marketers to maximize their time in front of such a large audience. With the addition of the web and smartphones, the Super Bowl is increasing its audience every year. For some advertisers, the Super Bowl is not just one day, it is the highlight of the entire year with the hope that their consumers will become a part of the national conversation before, during and after the game.
Sources:
5 Top Trends for 2013 Super Bowl Commercials
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/why-super-bowl-big-deal
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/despite-4-million-price-tag-marketers-clamor-super-bowl-ads-1C7100946
