The Marketing Club's Superbowl ad rundown
Stephen Tapley & Sarah Hammer, WG'07 & WG '08
Issue date: 2/12/07 Section: Insider
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Super Bowl XLI was much more than the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears slugging it out for football supremacy and national glory. With water cooler chats on the line, costs that averaged $2.6 million for a 30 second spot, and 93.2 million potential customers up for grabs, television advertisements took center stage at the most important sporting event in the United States.
Patti Williams, Associate Professor of Marketing, and students from the Marketing Club discussed the Super Bowl commercials on Tuesday, February 6 over lunch. Professor Williams suggested that firms must determine how commercials are to address the "persuasion hierarchy of effect." This hierarchy comprises the following categories: unaware, aware, comprehension and image, attitude, and action. Based on the desired effect with their target audience, a commercial should address one of these points along the hierarchy. After reviewing the commercials from Super Bowl Sunday, it was not always clear if this messaging was achieved. However, a review of the advertisements did reveal a number of trends and interesting insights.
One of the trends and statistics noted by Professor Williams were those of viewers and demographics. First, of the 93.2 million viewers, and increase of 3 million over Super Bowl XL, just over million were woman and of these women 0% watch the Super Bowl for commercials only. Second, ratings peaked between 9:00 and 9:30 PM. It might be assumed therefore that this would be the most expensive time slot for an ad. Interestingly, however, the first quarter ads cost the most. Third, Professor Williams also indicated that one of the primary demographics targeted by advertisers are males from age 18 - 32. Paradoxically, tracking this demographic is difficult for Nielson, the agency which tracks television viewship. Since many men in this age group watch games in large groups at parties or in bars and since Nielson has difficulty tracking viewership on college campuses, ascertaining the actual number of male viewers is difficult. Reports are that Super Bowl XLI was the most watched in recent history. While it may be that interest in the game increased, it may also be that Nielson has become more sophisticated in tracking people who gather in large groups for the big game.
Patti Williams, Associate Professor of Marketing, and students from the Marketing Club discussed the Super Bowl commercials on Tuesday, February 6 over lunch. Professor Williams suggested that firms must determine how commercials are to address the "persuasion hierarchy of effect." This hierarchy comprises the following categories: unaware, aware, comprehension and image, attitude, and action. Based on the desired effect with their target audience, a commercial should address one of these points along the hierarchy. After reviewing the commercials from Super Bowl Sunday, it was not always clear if this messaging was achieved. However, a review of the advertisements did reveal a number of trends and interesting insights.
One of the trends and statistics noted by Professor Williams were those of viewers and demographics. First, of the 93.2 million viewers, and increase of 3 million over Super Bowl XL, just over million were woman and of these women 0% watch the Super Bowl for commercials only. Second, ratings peaked between 9:00 and 9:30 PM. It might be assumed therefore that this would be the most expensive time slot for an ad. Interestingly, however, the first quarter ads cost the most. Third, Professor Williams also indicated that one of the primary demographics targeted by advertisers are males from age 18 - 32. Paradoxically, tracking this demographic is difficult for Nielson, the agency which tracks television viewship. Since many men in this age group watch games in large groups at parties or in bars and since Nielson has difficulty tracking viewership on college campuses, ascertaining the actual number of male viewers is difficult. Reports are that Super Bowl XLI was the most watched in recent history. While it may be that interest in the game increased, it may also be that Nielson has become more sophisticated in tracking people who gather in large groups for the big game.
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