Despite Super Price Tag, Super Bowl XLVI Advertising Time Still Super-Valuable

NBC pretty much sold out its Super Bowl ad inventory by Labor Day of last year, which is amazing in this economy. The network wisely held back a few units for stragglers who wanted in but were late to the party. Those advertisers ponied up as much as $3.5 million for 30 seconds of ad time on the big game telecast. In an era where some may proclaim that TV is dead, how does this example of super premium TV advertising command such a high price tag?

Audience + Live sports = Appointment TV
Hype
Bringing out your best
Efficiency
Engagement

Once you decide you’re “in” and commit to buying the media time there are some do-s and don’t-s to consider:

Don’t produce ads that are purely intended as vehicles to win awards
Have something to say
Tug at the heart or pound on the funny bone
Work the PR machine, hard!

As your getting ready for Super Bowl 46 consider this: People show up to your Super Bowl party for various reasons. Some are genuine football fans deeply passionate about the game and wanting to see every minute of football action because it will be 7 long months until the season begins again (heavy sigh). Some can’t resist an invitation to drink your beer, eat your pizza, your cocktail wienies and other culinary delights…all for free! But nearly everyone shares one thing in common. They all gather around the TV anxious to see what the advertisers will bring forward on network television’s most widely viewed event, Super Bowl Sunday.