For me, sporting events like the Super Bowl are displays of sports marketing perfection—the media frenzy is amazing. As one of the 111 million viewers expected to tune in this year, I particularly enjoy looking out for the Super Bowl commercials said to cost $3.5 million per 30 seconds for 2012. A total of 70 TV ads are ran during the game—do the math! There is a segment of Super Bowl consumers who tune into the Super Bowl just to see the commercials, they tweet about them, vote for their favorites and so on. Such is the level of expectations that has come to accompany this particular sporting event. The sponsors know it and see these time slots as investments, coming with their own game face to impress the viewer.

The sponsors feature their most appealing, most entertaining and often, funniest, commercials during the game, to maintain the momentum that fills the atmosphere of television viewing. This year, there will be a little something for every kind of viewer during commercial time, even some newcomers to look out for. For the car heads, Honda and Toyota will be showing off their luxury car brand of car Acura and Lexus respectively, joining industry players Audi, Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and General Motors. For the ladies, aside from being able to watch superior athleticism and physique during the game itself, the H&M retail chain will be advertising their new line of David Beckham Bodywear underwear… I’m just saying (wink, wink). For the alcohol consumers, Anheuser-Busch, manufacturers of Budweiser, will be present. For the healthy eater, Dannon as they launch their media campaign on a macro level featuring their newest product Dannon Oikos Greek yogurt (it’s called The Teaser, check it out—hilarious!). For a complete list and if you cannot wait until game day, you can see all the sponsors and their commercials here:http://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-ads-you-will-see-on-super-bo… . Advertising agencies really get their mileage at this time as well, gaining significant recognition for their 30-second to one minute productions, sometimes winning awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a hallmark of achievement recognising creativity in communications.

Media giants operating on this scale with commercials in this year’s Super Bowl include Poptent for Dannon, Grey New York for E*Trade (you might recall the commercial with the baby boy that talks about investments), Red Tettemer & Partners for Century 21 and Innocean Worldwide Americas for Hyundai. As part of their big-ticket item, sponsors are given the platinum privilege to use the phrase “Super Bowl” in their commercials. Unless you are an official sponsor of the event, the use of this phrase is sacrilege, the violation of which will be met with a firm “cease and desist” letter directly from the NFL, which apparently is done 80 to 100 times each year. Interestingly, the spin-off phrase, “The Big Game” was targeted for trademarking by the NFL in 2006 but was abandoned in 2007 when the argument was presented that the rivalry game between University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University has been known as “The Big Game” for over a century. “Respect your elders!” (Ha.) So, the small players find the loopholes and tap their way into the Super Bowl hype. A profitable investment as, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune (February 1, 2012) it is estimated that the average Super Bowl consumer spends US$63.87 on some aspect of the event—be it clothing, snacks or paraphernalia of some sort accumulating—to a value of US$11 billion. Sports business is such an exciting industry to me, from every aspect. I just wish that the local sports environment supported it more. Everyone talks about the potential that exists in T&T, maybe one day we will believe in our abilities enough to invest in it constructively.

Source: Asha De Freitas-Moseley, Guardian Media Ltd