Shall We up the Ante

In an article posted by adage.com the price of next year's Super Bowl commercial has official gone up.  The television network who has the Super Bowl is NBC.  NBC is reportedly asking for 3.5 million dollars for 30 seconds of air time.  This is going to be record setting if advertisiers are going to have to pay up to 3.5 million dollars for air time during the big game.  In recent years according to the article the cost of the commercials has either been at 3 million dollars or just right below it.   Is this a smart move on NBC's behalf ?





At this time I do not think that this is a wise move on NBC behalf to test the market to see if they could raise their revenue by asking for a higher selling point on its commercials.  First point that must be made is the issue of wheter or not the NFL is going to be in a lockout. If the league is in a lockout there may not be a season to play for. NBC cannot go into this poker game with the cards it is dealt with until the river is shown. After the river cards are shown then they should bet.  The bet for NBC would be they would be seeing how the NFL season is playing out and if lady be luck the two most talked about teams of the season are going to playoffs with the chance to play in Super Bowl. Also the US economy is still at a state of fluctuation.  Some companies may be hesitant to put and ad for such a hefty price and other companies have negotiated deals with the Super Bowl committee and are going to stick with the rate that they have. 

NBC can also learn a lesson from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.  Jerry Jones at the beginning of the season claimed that his Cowboys team was the best team in the NFC and would be representative in their home stadium.  As football fans we all know that the Cowboys had horrible season where the head coach was fired mid season and the team fell out of contention not even mid way through the season.  NBC do you want to ante up or wait to see what other players (marketers) are going to offer you and then play your hand ?

Subtle Placement

This past weekend that just passed saw the NBA All Star Weekend. This event hosted by the NBA is full of product placements from companies such as Sprite and T Mobile. However this weekend the smartest move made was done by KIA car company. KIA is the official sponor of the NBA and showcased there brand new mid size sedan "The Kia Optima."

Blake Griffin, a NBA Superstar, participated in the NBA SLAM DUNK competition and it was at this event where you saw the best use of product placement for the year.  When Blake Griffin entered the final round of the competition to win it, he went to the extreme to by performing a dunk that had never been done before. Blake Griffin jumped over the hood of a car as it was placed in the "paint area" underneath the hoop. The video below will show this amazing dunk.



This was not only a great move on KIA's part but they also helped out State Farm with its product placement. The banner around the beam of the backboard gave great exposure for the State Farm Logo as viewers saw these logos more than the replay of the dunk. In a statement to Darren Rovell,  the Chief Marketing Operator for KIA Motors stated that they did not have to pay an additional fee for the car to appear at the event.  The following morning the interest for the KIA Optima rose up to 20% according to edmunds.com .   This was great way to garner buzz for a car that is trying to compete for a spot amongst other mid-size sedans.

Who Will Protect This House ?

The question to be asked by Under Armour this week is "Who Will Protect this House?"  Cam Newton then replies, "I will !" For those who do not know who is Cam Newton, he is the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Auburn University. Auburn University is an Under Armour sponorsed school just like FIU is an Adidas sponorsed school. As you read this you may ask,"Why is this a big deal?"  After the SuperBowl the next great event that the NFL produces is the NFL Draft.  The NFL Draft is where college student athletes who are juniors or seniors can apply to the NFL to be selected to one of 32 teams in the league. While the college players prepare for workouts and interviews, the major shoe companies (Nike,Reebok,Adidas and Under Armour) are also preparing to see which college football star will be spear heading their football cleats and apparel line for the upcoming season.

This week the bigger winner was Under Armour. Under Armour was in a battle with Nike to land the top coveted quarterback in the 2011 NFL Draft.  This is great news for Under Armour as it keeps its marketability in line with a college superstar into his pro career.  According to the stock reports the stock rose up to $69.81 a share.  Under Armour made  the smartest marketing move by keeping Cam Newton in house.  Every Saturday while playing at Auburn the UA logo would be shown 17 times per shot. Under Armour is a baby company in the world of athletic retail but this was great win for them heading into the decade. With a stable of NFL Superstars such as Tom Brady and Ray Lewis, Cam Newton will help this company grow and protect the house.

The Hottest Issue of the Year

This week marked the release of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue 2011. Many fans anticipate the release of this issue with the beautiful glossy pics of supermodels in short bikinis and body paint. For Sports Illustrated this is the most important issue of the year for them it generates more subscribers than any other promotion given all year. In a recent interview with Darren Rovell on CNBC Power Lunch Tuesday, the CEO of the company stated that this issue draws 55% of the subscription revenue and for regular issues it is only 35%. ( http://www.cnbc.com/id/41605146)  While the numbers are staggering to say the least about mail subscriptions services that is not what Sports Illustrated is aiming for with issue. The biggest focus for them this year the magazine application which can be on found on itunes for the ipad. Over the past year according to the CEO the rate has increased up to 20% for them. "This is the new wave of the future and we must move forward," the new app for the issue has more content for fans to see about the models and the shoot. The new app on the ipad has more content laid features than the regular SI website (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/swimsuit/).   I am not an ipad owner but I am curious to see how much content is packed into the ipad subscription than on the website.According to Darren Rovell there are 80 videos on the ipad subscription for $6.99 longer than two feature films. For the price who needs Netflix.  Sports Illustrated is heading into the new medium which will be tablet subscriptions and is starting on the right track with the Swimsuit issue.  As a man we want  to see more beautiful women in bikinis and body paintings suits.  To all my followers if you have not seen the cover then you must be hiding under a rock but take a look as this is the Hottest Issue of the Year.

Thrown out of the "Ad"rena

Advertisers take a gamble every year on Super Sunday to see if they have generated a buzz for the product or company which they worked for. These commercials should have kept their money because they were not worth 3 million dollars for 30 seconds of air time. Some of these commercials needed to be rethought and some just needed never to air. These are the five commercials that should have never aired.


5. Chatter.com (Salesforce): The reason that this commercial gets placed is because this was a new company trying to introduce itself to the world but the message displayed looked to be another form of Twitter. Unless the viewer went online to see what they were about nobody had a clue.




4. Groupon: This commercial used an opening scene that was controversial in discussing what is happening in Tibet to only then promote how Timothy Hutton got a great deal for a restaurant in Chicago. I think that company should have pulled the plug on this commercial.



3. Stella Artois: Why cry over spilled milk when you cry over a beer? Also I did not like the use of Adrien Brody as the spokesman and why not Robin Thicke who has a much better voice?



2. Doritos: Doritos offered viewers a few commercials but they were not as years past. The attack of the pug commercial was a cliché commercial as the idea has been played out over the years. Where is Ali Landry?



1. GoDaddy.com: This is by the far the worst commercial placed. Since the beginning of the millennium the company has been known for using the sexiest woman of the calendar year to help sell the domain name website. The commercial for 2011 was the most shocking as they used Joan Rivers on another woman’s body to promote sex appeal and be funny. I think GoDaddy.com should have taken a page out of the Snickers commercial used Betty White.

The "Ad"rena Super Bowl

One of the biggest sports weekends has now passed us by, yes I am talking about Super Bowl weekend.  This is the one weekend where all households sit in front of the television sets not only to watch the game but to see what commercial will everybody being talk about around the water cooler Monday morning.  Advertisers have spent over 3 million dollars for a  30 second spot on a four hour football game.  This years commercial saw humor but also a battle of the car brands.  You had companies such as Chrysler,Audi,Mercedes,and Volkswagen give memorable commercials.  Viewers also saw humor from companies such as Pepsi and Doritos. (FYI both of these companies are part of the same branch).  The next buzz of commercials that had audiences talking were the movie trailers.  Over the last few years the movie trailers have been feature trailers but to my disappointment we were only able to see teaser trailers which left us wanting more.  As a fan I was certainly disappointed but it was a smart move on the movie studios to use this technique because it will push the movie's website and Facebook page.

Now let us Proceed with the TOP 5 Super Bowl Ads (Descending Order)

5. Captain America: First Avenger Movie Trailer.  This movie trailer had not been seen by the public and a highly anticipated movie coming from the Marvel Studios company. Marvel is expecting big things from there franchise for the release of next year's Avengers movie.





4. Budweiser - Budweiser is known for there Super Bowl commercials and this was no exception. This year the iconic Clydesdale's made an appearance even if it was for a brief second, but what made this commercial so memorable was for it's ending.



3. Chrysler - This commercial right here was by far the most surprising and boldest commercial of the evening. The surprise factor came about with the spokesman being a famous rapper from Detroit using one of its hits singles to represent themselves as a rebuilding company and they will not "Lose" themselves. This was a gamble and certainly paid off.



2. NFL Game Day Family Montage - The NFL is a Multi-Billion dollar company.  This is the second commercial that they have posted this season about "What it means to be a fan" and this commercial hits the spot.  This commercial is the epitome of what Super Sunday is all about and the use of classic TV icons truly enhances the appeal.



1.Volkswagen Darth Vader - The appeal of the young Darth Vader and the use of the Imperial March song with use of the "Force" was pure genius. The ad agency must be commended for it's use in creativity. Watch !




These are only five but I am sure that I left some out but feel free to display which were your favorite.

"Advertising is Everywhere"

We live in a society where we cannot escape advertisement. It is everywhere.  From the clothes we wear to the helmets on college football teams uniforms with the Adidas logo patched on the shoulder. Companies are becoming savvy in there creative departments and using product placements as a tool to reach the mass audience. This blog will show how sports advertisement and new media are connected at the hip. Along with companies, athletes use media outlets like Twitter and Facebook to promote themselves or endorsement product. I will write every week on topic of how sports business is using new tools to get the product message to the audience. Topics up for discussion will include Super Bowl commercials and Lebron James Nike commercial. This blog will grow within the weeks as the events arise and sports business will flourish and I will be reporting on all the latest happenings. Advertising is in everything and everywhere.