Promotion Plays Increasing Role in Super Bowl

Through star power, humor and even an offer to win a trip to outer space, marketers showcased their wares in full force during Sunday’s Super Bowl extravaganza.

Brands that each paid the $2.4 million for a 30-second spot on FOX took fewer risks with their airtime, giving viewers far more toned down commercial content compared to previous years, in particular to last year.

Volvo Cars of North America used its 30 seconds to unveil a product and, literally, launch a sweepstakes. In its first-ever Super Bowl spot, Volvo directed viewers to Boldlygo.com for a chance to win a seat on Virgin Galactic’s commercial passenger-carrying spaceship.

Richard Branson in Volvo’s Super Bowl commercial

The Volvo spot unveiled its new XC90 V8 SUV by comparing its power to a rocket blasting into space. Near the commercial’s end, the ship’s pilot reveals himself as billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of The Virgin Group of Cos. The Virgin Galactic is owned by Branson.

Aspiring astronauts can log onto the site until Feb. 22 for a chance to win. Volvo and Virgin Galactic will announce the winner, chosen at random, March 24 at the New York International Auto Show.

The winner won’t be shot into outer space right away. Virgin Galactic officially begins operations this year and, subject to the necessary safety and regulatory approvals, plans to begin operating flights in 2007. The value of a seat on the sub-orbital flight—which also includes three days of pre-flight training—is $200,000.

Cadillac had the two shortest commercials of the night at five-seconds each. Both concluded with a CadillacUnder5.com banner directing viewers to a sweepstakes of the same name.

At the Web site, Cadillac is running a national contest designed to increase consumer awareness of the brand’s new V-Series, and has partnered with the cast of MGM Pictures’ Be Cool to promote it.

Once on the site, consumers are greeted by Be Cool‘s Chili Palmer (John Travolta) who challenges them to make a five-second film. The grand-prize winner receives a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V.0.

Also latching itself onto star power, Diet Pepsi sported two Super Bowl ads with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs who is stranded on a deserted road. Combs, who said he was late for an awards show, grabs a ride from a Diet Pepsi truck driver. The spot shows how the Pepsi truck becomes the latest rage, featuring other big-name stars including Carson Daly, Cindy Crawford and Eva Longoria.

Gwen Stefani in the Pepsi/iTunes Super Bowl commercial

Pepsi-Cola also sported two advertisements to touts its new under-the-cap promotion with Apple iTunes in which music poured out of opened Pepsi bottles. The ads promoted a new venture between Pepsi and Apple offering consumers 200 million free songs (Xtra, Jan. 20). One of the 30-second spots featured rap artist Eve and rocker Gwen Stefani.

The promotion gives soda-drinkers a one-in-three shot at winning a free music download. The campaign runs through April 30. Pepsi and Apple doubled its 2004 promotion with an additional 100 million downloads up for grabs.

In addition, Pepsi is offering consumers the chance to win a free iPod mini. The company gives away one mini iPod every hour through April 11. For each redeemed song, consumers will be automatically entered in the Pepsi iTunes iPod mini sweepstakes. A final drawing will take place on May 2.

Though opting not to showcase a big promotion, Napster took the gloves off on rival iTunes with its own Superbowl ads, “Do the math” to promote the launch of its portable Go Music service. In its 30-second spots, Napster shows a buzzing crowd mimicking Super Bowl attendees, with painted letters that spell out “Napster.” The ad then spans the crowd to find the Napster cat holding a sign that compares the cost of 10,000 songs on iTunes ($10,000) and 1 million songs on Napster, for which consumers pay a $15 monthly fee.

Napster put its cat in the stands

“Do the math,” the sign reads. “How much will it cost to fill up your player?” Napster offers consumers a chance to sample the services free for 30 days by logging onto
Napster.com.

Anheuser-Busch marked its 17th consecutive year advertising in Sunday’s Super Bowl as the exclusive malt beverage. But before any of the 10 30-second spots for its Bud and Bud Light brands even aired, the beer maker had been out in force in Jacksonville, FL, with four days of events, exhibitions and entertainment.

The Bud Bowl 2005 took place Feb. 2-5 at the Anheuser-Busch Jacksonville brewery, open to the pubic, with appearances by the Budweiser Clydesdales and a variety of SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove animals. The Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Experience was a mobile, interactive exhibit highlighting NASCAR racing and the driver (Earnhardt) of the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. Invitation-only nighttime concerts headlined alternative rock group 3 Doors Down and country artist Lonestar. The invites came via in-market giveaways by local radio stations and at area bars, clubs and restaurants.

On game day, Anheuser-Busch partnered with companies that provided services for the Big Game to include $16 in instant redeemable coupons and a $10 rebate for a deli platter purchase. Partners included Brawny napkins, Dixie party cups, Tabasco hot sauces, Hormel party trays, Gladware and others. The company also introduced its new low-carb, low calorie beer, Budweiser Select, in a TV ad during the game. The brew becomes available Feb. 21.

And the party isn’t over yet. Anheuser-Busch has its exclusive malt beverage category locked up through the 2006 Super Bowl.

Blockbuster jumped into the promotional frenzy offering consumers a chance to sample its new online rental services. Consumers who log onto Blockbuster.com can sign up for a free two-week trial to Blockbuster Online. Similar to Netflix, consumers can order up to three movies at a time online for a monthly rate of $14.99. The campaign runs through Feb. 22.

Bubblicious got a little star power boost from basketball superstar and 2004 Rookie of the Year LeBron James. The 15-second spot featured James and his new sour raspberry Bubblicious flavor, LeBron’s Lightning Lemonade. The commercial is part of a multi-year endorsement deal James signed with Cadbury Adams USA in February 2004. J. Walter Thompson, New York, created the ad.

Campbell Soup Co. touted Chunky Soup with appearances by Wilma McNabb—Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb’s mom, who stars in Chunky TV spots—and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The two celebs served as captains for two teams of fans who played football-related games that culminated in a Campbell donation of 1 million cans of Chunky soup to America’s Second Harvest-The Nation’s Food Bank. The event was part of Campbell’s annual Chunky Tackling Hunger campaign, which runs throughout the NFL season; fans trigger donations to local food banks when they vote online for their fave NFL team.

McNabb made several p.r. appearances for Campbell (including CBS Early Show, Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel Live), as did Chunky Chili spokesperson Joe Cahn, the self-proclaimed “Commissioner of Tailgating.”

The Chunky Tackling Hunger tour was set up for sampling and games at the NFL Experience.

“People waited in line over two hours to do the ‘Armchair Quarterback’ game,” said Campbell spokesperson John Faulkner. Campbell gave away 100,000 samples of Chunky Turkey Pot Pie soup and Chunky Chili, which launched last fall with a slate of NFL-related promos (August PROMO).

THQ Wireless developed and implemented an in-game promotion where fans texted “MVP” to 88288 to find out how to vote for the game’s MVP. Though not a commercial, FOX Sports broadcasters announced the NFL’s promotion in-game, as well as instructions to vote through the Internet at AOL.com.

An estimated 140 million viewers tuned in to Sunday’s big game.

Despite the large audience and the millions of advertising dollars spent a number of advertisers missed the mark to launch and sell products, generate buzz and capture the attention of consumers online, according to Reprise Media, a New York City-based search engine marketing company.

“In an era when consumers turn to search engines to research companies and investigate products, Super Bowl advertisers must harness the online demand they’re creating, and turn viewers into instant customers,” said Peter Hershberg, managing partner and co-founder of Reprise Media, in news reports.

Reprise Media said although many included a Web address in their Super Bowl ads, consumers at the site had no specific path to follow on the interest the advertisement generated.

“Our findings show that advertising practices are not keeping pace with today’s consumer behaviors,” Hershberg said. “While there are some clear exceptions to this, such as Ameriquest which aced our evaluations, the majority of Super Bowl advertisers seemed to miss the mark when it comes to search. In short, they are walking away from their Super Bowl investments with a lot of money left on the table.”

In addition to Ameriquest, Reprise Media said that the companies with the highest scores were Staples, Napster, CIBA Vision, GoDaddy, Cadillac and CareerBuilder.com.