The NFL season is coming to an end and the biggest night on television will soon be upon us. This legendary night means good food, friends, and the always hyped Super Bowl commercials that dominate conversations in classrooms and offices around the country. Infamous for outrageously expensive advertising placements and extraordinary commercial productions, the idea that time is money is being pushed to the extreme this year.
With in-game advertisements running at over $100,000 a second, the traditional 30 second commercial spot is going to cost businesses a cool 3.5 million dollars. Minimum. It’s no wonder that 12 packs of Coca-Cola are almost 6 dollars a case.
To put this number in perspective, the price of a 30 second advertisement is more than what it would cost to pay for more than 80 workers yearly salary at the national average of $42,000 annually. Yes, this does seem ridiculous, but results in past years have shown that the competitive television spots are worth the investment for several reasons.
First off, the ratings in 2011 showed that the Super Bowl between the Packers and the Steelers drew an audience of over 111 million viewers. That made this 4 hour media event the most watched program in television history by a fairly wide margin. Obviously, the objective of businesses running advertisements is to make as many impressions as possible, which is the initial reason why spending so much for a commercial spot during the Super Bowl is a profitable idea.
Furthermore, not only do advertisers have the opportunity to reach such a wide and diverse viewing audience at once, but they have the opportunity make impressions on viewers who are excited to see the promotional clips. On a normal Sunday afternoon, the brief two minute commercial breaks make for a great opportunity to grab a snack, pour a drink, or simply move around and stretch for a few moments. This is not the case for the Super Bowl, however. Year in and year out, viewers wait anxiously for the next extraordinary ad to run, allowing for advertisers to have their full attention and easily communicate a specific message. This makes running the placements much more effective and valuable than a traditional commercial.
Last, but not least; these advertisements have tremendous staying power. By this, I mean the impact of the placement does not end as the next businesses advertisement begins. The 30 second clips are often the subject of millions of conversations around office water coolers and lunch lines for several days following the big game. The free, word of mouth advertising that occurs is a tremendous way to continuously increase your brands visibility and improve consumers attitudes toward your company.
To many, these oversized commercials that run several times throughout the game at over 3 million dollars each may seem outlandish. And I agree, but history has shown that this investment is one that can generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue. I don’t know any business that wouldn’t want that.