Last year I had the pleasure of watching the Super Bowl from a small flat in East London. The game was great, aside from the fact that it started at 11:30pm GMT and there were absolutely no commercials or promotional considerations AT ALL.
Normally this would be fine. But not during the big game, not during the Super Bowl!
As a less popular alternative, I was greeted by two English commentators and one ex-NFL player, awkwardly hanging out in a small dark media booth during every “commercial break.” I found myself looking up Super Bowl commercials on the internet during these breaks and started paying more attention to them than to the game itself.
And I don’t think I am alone.
The Facts:
When about 100 million viewers sit down on February 2nd to watch Super Bowl XLVIII they will be eagerly awaiting these long famed super bowl commercials. In fact, According to Nielsen, 51% of people surveyed said they watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and brands are taking advantage.
According to CNN Money, 43 advertisers will have spots during the big game and as you can imagine, as interest in commercials has skyrocketed in recent years, so have the costs associated for these highly sought after 30 second spots.
The cost of a 30 second spot during super bowl 1 was a meager $42,000 and it wasn’t until the 29th Super Bowl that the price reached $1,000,000. The price of a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl has climbed 10.18% year over year (according to SportingCharts.com).
The steep increase in costs hasn’t kept big name companies from taking a shot at having their brand in front of 100 million potential viewers.
We couldn’t resist taking a sneak peak at some of the commercials set to go live this year and wanted to share our favorites.
Our Top 4
1. Audi - Audi bought one 60-second Super Bowl commercial in the first ad break after the third quarter kick-off, according to the company.
New Trends
A new trend this is commercials for the actual commercials. Teasers, clues, contests and previews are among some of the tactics used for 2014 that could be seen as far back as December.
From a marketing standpoint, brands are making an even bigger impression by building up hype before the coin toss.
Enjoy the commercials!