Marketers that advertise during the Super Bowl, the championship game of American football, are always seeking more bang for their buck.
This year, with each 30-second commercial during the game estimated to cost a record $3 million — yes, $100,000 a second — and the recession threatening to dampen viewer enthusiasm, the sponsors are intensifying efforts to amplify the force of what they plan for Super Bowl XLIII.
“Especially in this economy, people are saying, ‘I’d better get my money’s worth,'” said Andrew Graff, chief executive of Allen & Gerritsen, a marketing firm.
So a first-time Super Bowl advertiser, General Electric, intends to make its commercial the springboard for an elaborate campaign — in print and online as well as on TV — focused on innovative ideas in areas like energy and the environment.
The campaign promotes GE products like Smart Grid energy technology as “innovation you don’t have to wait for” rather than far-off fantasies. The various aspects of the campaign, including digital holograms, online films and a special Web site, are all scheduled to go live Sunday, when the Super Bowl takes place in Tampa, Florida.
A returning sponsor, Coca-Cola, is using the Super Bowl to help introduce an “Open happiness” campaign for its flagship soft drink. The campaign will be supplemented by everything from short spots on “American Idol” to bottles of Coke at lower, recession-friendlier prices. In addition to two commercials during the game for Coca-Cola Classic, there will be a Coke Zero spot.
Another returning advertiser, E*Trade, is surrounding its Super Bowl spot with a variety of Internet initiatives, including some that will begin on Facebook and YouTube (youtube.com/etrade) on Friday and on Twitter early next week.
The E*Trade commercial will bring back a character from two popular spots the company ran in the game last year, a talking baby wise beyond…