I’ve been watching the Super Bowl since it started. Years ago I actually watched for the game but I lost interest in football about 15 years ago. Now I tune in for the commercials. However, this year will be a little different because of the economy. Just this morning I said to my husband, “I wonder what kind of return on investment advertisers get from their Super Bowl ads.” Now when the term ROI comes out of my mouth, you know the economy is bad.
Later I found an article in USA Today, Marketers face pressure to deliver with Super Bowl Ads. After reading pretty far down in the article I found this quote:
Eyeing return on investment (ROI). “In an environment like this, we are even more so looking for return on investment,” says Richard Castellini, marketing chief at CareerBuilder.com, a job-hunting site jointly owned by Tribune, McClatchy, Microsoft and USA TODAY parent Gannett.
Advertisers are factoring in ROI because employees, shareholders and viewers will ask hard questions, says Linda Sawyer, CEO at ad agency Deutsch. “This year, consumers will not only weigh in on whether it’s a great ad, but whether it’s a good investment.”
Super Bow ads are a form of entertainment for me. I want to see which ones are the funniest, which ones are the most clever and which ones are just plain stupid. But here’s the thing – I rarely remember the products. The only product I always remember is Budweiser, which is ironic because I don’t drink beer. The only time I buy beer is when I cook bratwurst. But, I remember Bud because of the Clydesdale horses.
I found the list of this year’s advertisers and see that General Motors and Federal Express are not advertising this year. I was also glad to see that Chrysler and the banks will not be using our tax dollars to advertise either.
This year Super Bowl ads are $3 million for 30 seconds or $100,000 per second. That’s a lot of money to spend just to entertain people like me. How many people actually remember the product and how much influence does the ad have on purchasing the product?
Why do you watch the Super Bowl? Is it really for the game, is it for the commercials, or a combination of both?
I’m sure advertisers will be GLAD to hear that you watch for the ads.
It depends upon who is playing as to whether I’m watching for the game or the ads. This year – I’ll be watching for the commercials and it may be the first time in history Tivo has been used to skip the programming to see the commercials! If the commercials in the first quarter don’t “deliver” though then I’ll be off to Animal Planet to watch the Puppy Bowl instead.
Kathy @ Virtual Impax’s last blog post..First Impressions and the Placebo Effect
Kathy, did you end up watching the Puppy Bowl?