What’s the fastest way to spend $100,000 of a marketing budget? It has to be buying a 30-second commercial during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast. At approximately $3.3 million for 30 seconds of air time, it costs advertisers $100,000 per second to have a presence during the big game. The $3.3 million figure is misleading because it really represents the initial commitment of a marketing investment that should include spending both before and after the Super Bowl to maximize the exposure a commercial provides.
Examples of communication tools Super Bowl advertisers can and should utilize include public relations efforts in advance of the game to tout their commercial, a presence on YouTube to show teasers or other video to pique interest, search engine ads driving traffic to the advertiser’s web site, and a social networking presence to allow interested persons to connect with the brand around the Super Bowl commercial message.
One advertiser that has successfully marketed around its Super Bowl ad involvement is E*Trade. The online brokerage firm gave us the popular talking baby commercials in 2008. He’s back in 2009, and he has a presence on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace so that the interaction with E*Trade is not limited to 30 seconds during the Super Bowl.
Is it worth the big bucks of a Super Bowl ad buy? E*Trade reported it increased its number of brokerage accounts by 32% following last year’s Super Bowl. The E*Trade example serves as a reminder for all types of advertising: measurable outcomes, such as the number of new accounts, should be tied to any communication effort.
Link: Media Post News Marketing Daily – “E*Trade’s Baby Brings Friends to Super Bowl”