NBC's Super Bowl Ad Business Sets Revenue Record
The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest advertising event in America each year. Viewers tune in not only to watch the game, but also to watch the commercials. This year the Associated Press reports that about 100 million viewers in the United States watched the big game. For companies looking to reach American homes with their advertising message, there is simply no other option with such high visibility. The best commercials are not only shown during the Super Bowl itself, but are picked up by television news organizations, ranked and voted on by web surfers, and can even go viral in today's era of connected consumers.
For many companies, this makes NBC's asking price of $3 million for a 30 second Super Bowl commercial worth the asking price, but only if the content of the ad can capture the public's collective attention. This year, again, NBC announced that they set a new record in selling out their entire inventory of ad spots for a total take of $261 million. Ad slots were priced between $2.4 and $3 million dollars each. For that price, NBC also features the ads on its NBCSports.com website after the game.
Even as many companies slash their spending, including advertising budgets, NBC has once again demonstrated that the Super Bowl is perhaps the most unique advertising opportunity of the year. Super Bowl ads are perhaps most suited toward branding rather than delivering detailed product messaging. While consumers do make watching the ads a goal for the day, the noise floor at the average Super Bowl party means that the attention of the viewer may be divided between on and off screen events. Like players in the big game itself, Super Bowl ads need to get off the line quick and hit hard with a simple quick message.
Speaking of simple quick messages, this year saw the introduction of the one second television commercial. Miller High Life beer purchased the one second spot, and although they could not fit the entire product name in the allotted time, their pitch man did manage to call out "High Life" while standing in front of the company's logo.
For some companies, the Super Bowl television ads represent a majority of their advertising efforts for the entire year. Go Daddy web hosting services, for example, has built its brand recognition almost entirely with its racy Super Bowl advertising campaigns in the last few years.
Diminishing ad budgets may have slowed the sale of the 69 available commercials for the game, but on January 31st, just one day before the game, NBC announced that it had sold out of its Super Bowl ad slot inventory once again. A total of 32 advertisers huddled up with NBC to buy the ads this year.
NBC Universal is owned by General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Vivendi.
Author: Brad Sylvester
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