Piggyback on Superbowl Ads
If you are like me, you were probably watching the Superbowl this past Sunday, trying to pay attention to the ads amid the actual excitement of the game. One week later, I have a hard time remembering and associating some of the brands with their commercials and with their products. I’m not the only one in this situation. Studies found that brand recall for many advertising participants in previous year’s game suffered quite a bit. It’s no surprise given the sensory overexposure associated with the event and the fact that the game itself was such a compelling distraction. There is no question that there is value in the nearly 100 million eyeballs this past Superbowl offered because of pure reach. Sometimes, it’s enough to be associated with the NFL and the Superbowl to make it worth your $2.7 million ad budget.
How does the 2008 marketer use online marketing to leverage the unique attention to advertising following the Superbowl? It all depends on where you stand in your Superbowl ad. Companies like GoDaddy, Pepsi and E*Trade are right in the thick of online campaigns right now. However, for anyone who competes with those companies and other Superbowl advertisers, there’s certainly an opportunity online to sway the attention of your customer away from the marketers with the bigger spend through a compelling message that reaches your audience on the niche sites that capture more and more of their attention.
Even if you couldn’t leverage a Superbowl ad for brand awareness among your target customers, you probably have opportunities to insert your brand into a void. Consumers may remember a GPS navigation commercial last Sunday – Garmin, if you need to know. Other GPS navigation companies should leverage the recall of the concept. Identify your audience (whether it be soccer moms, business travelers, etc.) and engage them on the various Superbowl-related sites out there, sites about sports and TV ads. Chances are, if there was any interest in your type of product to begin with, it wouldn’t matter whether you advertised in the Superbowl or not. You’re filling the customer’s void.
Alternatively, find your audience where they normally go outside of the Superbowl and sports sites. Sometimes, it’s not what the ad is, but where they find it. Automobile manufacturers have probably drummed up more interest in cars after the game. Even so, good luck running a campaign on car sites, as most of the major ones are sold out already. Instead, find the soccer moms on mom-oriented sites. Reach those 18-34-year old males on entertainment sites. Adjust the creative and try to capture some of the Superbowl spirit to remind them of what drove their interest – even if they don’t remember if they saw your TV ad. Companies pay a lot for engagement during the game. Marketers can have a more effective spend online, and increase engagement.
The Superbowl is an opportunity not just for the spenders in the game, but for all the companies in the category. The challenge is finding your customer and leveraging category recall to bring your message to the top. Consider it piggybacking on your competitors to reach the consumer directly. You wouldn’t use this on day-to-day campaigns, but big events tend to merit this approach. The Superbowl comes only once a year and is still significant in consumer's minds, so start piggybacking now.