Super Bowl I took place in 1967, although at the time it was called the “NFL-AFL World Championship Game.” The temporary unofficial name of “Super Bowl” was contrived when Kansas City Chief owner Lamar Hunt observed his daughter playing with her super ball. After some time with the original name, fans and media took to the shorter unofficial name over the wordy original name, and in 1969 the name was officially changed to “Super Bowl.”
As a marketer, however, what is more interesting to me is the other half of the Super Bowl spectacle: the advertisements. It is arguably the one time of year when advertisements take center stage and are given almost as much attention as the regular television program. The reason this came about is because the Super Bowl has grown in viewership to become the most watched program of the year, and high ratings attract competition among advertisers. This demand has caused the price for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl to rise dramatically, and thus pushed advertisers investing in spots to put special amounts of innovation and creativity into these expensive ads.
To see this transformation in action, we turn directly to the numbers. When looking at television ratings, the “rating” indicates the % of all television-equipped US households who tuned in to the program, while the “share” indicates the % of those viewing the program out of those who were watching television at the time. Super Bowl I in 1967 was shown on two networks with ratings of 22 and 18, shares of 43 and 36, and viewership of 26 million and 24 million. Back then, a 30-second spot cost about US $40,000 (adjusted for inflation would be about US $245,000). In 2009, Super Bowl XLIII grabbed a 42 rating and 62 share with almost 99 million viewers. A 30-second spot in 2009 cost US $3,000,000.
One of the first really memorable commercials aired during the Super Bowl was a Noxzema ad shown in 1973 featuring Farrah Fawcett applying shaving cream to Joe Namath's face. Both were popular celebrities of the time, and audiences of the 1970s showed little issue with sexual innuendo in advertisement.
However, the bar was truly set in 1984 with the engaging Apple ad directed by Ridley Scott introducing the Macintosh to the world and inspired by the George Orwell novel “1984.”
In 2010, prices for Super Bowl ads will unusually dip slightly to between US $2.5M and US $2.8M due to the dip in the global economy, and some big players in Super Bowl advertising such as PepsiCo and General Motors will be absent, potentially making way for creative newcomers to enter the scene. I am personally looking forward to this event, and plan on reviewing the advertising in full in a special Super Bowl entry of this blog.
References
http://www.superbowlhistory.net/superbowl/index.php
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/01/18/historical-super-bowl-tv-ratings/11044
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-02-01/entertainment/17140446_1_super-bowl-bud-bowls-super-ads
http://advertising-influence.suite101.com/article.cfm/superbowl_advertising
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/super-bowl-ad-prices-fall-but-still-cost-millions/article1426695/
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
2010 Trends to Watch
Trendwatching.com recently published a list of trends to watch in the coming year (some of which may have already begun, as trends don't necessarily follow the calendar). I will summarize them here:
1. Business as Usual: Despite any difficulties in the economy, businesses need to continue to follow consumer trends and demands, which include stepping up to sustainability or being a good corporate citizen, in order to compete for business. Which ironically is not really "business as usual..."
2. Urbany: More and more people are now living in cities, and becoming more "sophisticated, demanding, try-out-prone, and super-wired. This also leads to a sub-trend of pride in one's own city.
3. Real-Time Reviews: Consumers crave instant gratification, and are sharing more of everything they do, including reviews of everything they consume.
4. (F)Luxury: The definition of luxury is whatever seems scarce to the consumer, which can be any number of things, and seems to be in flux.
5. Mass Mingling: Although people are spending much more time socializing online, the trend has not been to create more homebodies. On the contrary, people are spending more time socializing offline, perhaps driven by finding social networks online with similar interests, the need to be with warm bodies away from the computer more often, etc.
6. Eco-Easy: A trend toward making it easy for consumers to do the right thing for the environment, which is made most possible by strong government or other large entity intervention, such as city-wide bans on plastic bags or bottled water.
7. Tracking & Alerting: The idea that relevant information will find its way to consumers based on their preferences, instead of consumers having to hunt down the information.
8. Embedded Generosity: Making gift-giving easy and painless, if not automatic, such as companies who automatically donate something to a charity when you make a purchase.
9. Profile Myning: This isn't about advertising mining your personal information, but about users managing their own digital profiles, whether it be offering bits up for sale to advertisers, or hiring someone to manage digital real estate after death, etc.
10. Maturialism: No doubt due to much more exposure to racy media, people don't want to be treated as uninformed or easily shocked, and can handle much more quirkiness, raciness, and daring and exotic innovations and communications in marketing and otherwise.
/summary
What is interesting to me in all of this is how these trends overlap. There is definitely an increased trust and dependence on technology (3, 7, 9) and a movement toward edgy youth away from the traditional (2, 10). There is also more focus on doing the right thing (6,8). Any companies that are not already finding ways to reach consumers through these trends are really missing an important opportunity and will likely have a difficult time staying relevant. It is also interesting that these trends point away from the thrifty and cautious consumerism of the recession and toward spending a little more, whether it be on technology, sustainability, social activities, or the more expensive urban lifestyle. 2010 will be an interesting year, as we will still be seeing the effects of the recession with jobs struggling to come back and consumers slow to start spending again. But the desire is there--people are tired of being holed up in their homes watching every penny. They will invest again eventually, get their jobs back eventually, and start spending again soon. They are ready.
1. Business as Usual: Despite any difficulties in the economy, businesses need to continue to follow consumer trends and demands, which include stepping up to sustainability or being a good corporate citizen, in order to compete for business. Which ironically is not really "business as usual..."
2. Urbany: More and more people are now living in cities, and becoming more "sophisticated, demanding, try-out-prone, and super-wired. This also leads to a sub-trend of pride in one's own city.
3. Real-Time Reviews: Consumers crave instant gratification, and are sharing more of everything they do, including reviews of everything they consume.
4. (F)Luxury: The definition of luxury is whatever seems scarce to the consumer, which can be any number of things, and seems to be in flux.
5. Mass Mingling: Although people are spending much more time socializing online, the trend has not been to create more homebodies. On the contrary, people are spending more time socializing offline, perhaps driven by finding social networks online with similar interests, the need to be with warm bodies away from the computer more often, etc.
6. Eco-Easy: A trend toward making it easy for consumers to do the right thing for the environment, which is made most possible by strong government or other large entity intervention, such as city-wide bans on plastic bags or bottled water.
7. Tracking & Alerting: The idea that relevant information will find its way to consumers based on their preferences, instead of consumers having to hunt down the information.
8. Embedded Generosity: Making gift-giving easy and painless, if not automatic, such as companies who automatically donate something to a charity when you make a purchase.
9. Profile Myning: This isn't about advertising mining your personal information, but about users managing their own digital profiles, whether it be offering bits up for sale to advertisers, or hiring someone to manage digital real estate after death, etc.
10. Maturialism: No doubt due to much more exposure to racy media, people don't want to be treated as uninformed or easily shocked, and can handle much more quirkiness, raciness, and daring and exotic innovations and communications in marketing and otherwise.
/summary
What is interesting to me in all of this is how these trends overlap. There is definitely an increased trust and dependence on technology (3, 7, 9) and a movement toward edgy youth away from the traditional (2, 10). There is also more focus on doing the right thing (6,8). Any companies that are not already finding ways to reach consumers through these trends are really missing an important opportunity and will likely have a difficult time staying relevant. It is also interesting that these trends point away from the thrifty and cautious consumerism of the recession and toward spending a little more, whether it be on technology, sustainability, social activities, or the more expensive urban lifestyle. 2010 will be an interesting year, as we will still be seeing the effects of the recession with jobs struggling to come back and consumers slow to start spending again. But the desire is there--people are tired of being holed up in their homes watching every penny. They will invest again eventually, get their jobs back eventually, and start spending again soon. They are ready.
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