Superbowl | Social Networking and New Markets

The Saints have the vote | Advantage Brands

February 9, 2010 Leave a comment

OR, Did Manning make it anyway?

The Network did. It celebrated Platinum twice over. 106 million viewers. 70 spots for $2.6 million each. Almost value for money, duh!

CBS estimates that Super Bowl XLIV was watched by 106.5 million viewers, which would inch it past 1983′s “M*A*S*H” series finale, which was watched by about 105.9 million.

The network is also reporting that the post-Super Bowl premiere of “Undercover Boss” was hardly incognito, as the 38.6 million viewers made it the most viewed post-pigskin show since the 2001 “Survivor” season premiere.

via Adage – The Rash Report

That, however is only 1/4th of the number of people on Facebook and that is 30 minutes on average, every day of the year!

Filed under Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with Audience, CBS, Facebook, Superbowl

The Ad Menagerie | Superbowl Sunday

February 8, 2010 Leave a comment

Apart from the Oprah plus Jay Leno plus Letterman ad for CBS, the advertisements that got fun ratings at the Brand Bowl and the USA today rating championships were more or less the dull and boring repetitive themes from yester years. Doritos’ crunching a few bones and a casket this time, The Betty White Snickers Football game and some of the Bud and the Coke magic.

Hyundai was a good consolation prize and Audi and Motorola more marks for freshness than anything else. It seems to be swinging Pepsi’s way, their social millions designed to deliver much less noise and much stronger bonds with the growing audience.

And then there is that apparition 40 million of you will be getting used to in the next few days with Comcast reinventing itself. TV watching has become too tedious. Reinventing the Game is up next for the NFL guys as we ready for the Draft rush. Come by tomorrow..and do not miss the big story of the new IPL in India up at http://brands.advantages.us. The game just reinvented itself. And Saints have their only Superbowl of date. All the campaigns you want to see are already here and at Advantage Brands site on advantages.us.

Filed under Digital Media, Marketing, NFL, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with Advantage Brands, Advantage social, Advertising, Branding, dvertising, Marketing, NFL, Superbowl

Gator takes you down that road… | The Brand Bowl

February 7, 2010 Leave a comment

There is Coke, but no Pepsi

Meanwhile, the others we didn’t let you know and The Big Kahuna who has it all on a chart Look out for the fangle dangle on the right listing all the fan sites for the ads..( A few Facebook pages too)

MCDONALDS: The Ads again a Basketball biggie, with Dwight Howard and LeBron James

McDonald’s has signed LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers to a multi-year deal that includes promotional and fundraising efforts.

BOOST MOBILE: The 1985 Chicago Bears reunite to perform a new version of the Super Bowl Shuffle, this time pitching the prepaid wireless carrier.

Coke, Mr Burns?

COCA-COLA: Mr. Burns, the richest man on “The Simpsons,” loses his fortune but finds happiness. In another, a man goes sleepwalking through an African safari.

DENNY’S: The restaurant chain is giving out free Grand Slams again and shows what the announcement will mean for chickens. (And if you don’t know about the DEnny’s Grand Slam breakfast, write to us & we’ll fill you in)

DOCKERS: Men march across a hillside, singing happily about not wearing pants.

KIA: Children’s toys joyride in the Sorrento SUV. They go bowling, get a tattoo, and party in Las Vegas, set to rock tune “How do you like me now?” by British band The Heavy.

HOMEAWAY.COM: Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as the quirky, traveling Griswold family, sends viewers to a 15-minute film on the company’s Web site.

SNICKERS: Actress Betty White plays football actor Abe Vigoda also appears.

VOLKSWAGEN: The car brand reinvents the game of “Punch Dub” to acquaint Americans with its lineup. Comedian Tracy Morgan appears. The ‘Ouch Dub’ is a hard punch on the face, Don’t drive if you get one.

TACO BELL:Charles Barkley rhymes about the NBA 5 Buck Box. Two Tacos, a Burrito, Cinna Twists and a Drink. Barkley is a well known commentator who played for the ‘Pho’ suns

Yup, i’m hungry..for the game.

Filed under Marketing, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with #SB44, Brandbowl, NFL, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl

Samba? Just more Superbowl in Asia!

February 4, 2010 1 Comment

NFL Cheerleaders promote the NFL Superbowl in Shanghai. Did you also notice the World Series Baseball is as popular in Japan and Korea as the homeland? Of course we export Cricket and esp npow the $3 billion IPL ( Valuation likely to go up by 50% by the time March ends! And Superbowl was sold cheaper this time..:lol

Filed under Marketing, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl

The Audi Spyder 2011 is here

February 4, 2010 Leave a comment

Those space frames look awesome. Again the adverts look stunning and might even be mandatory viewing during the Superbowl. Nah! just sayin’ To watch the video , go on to our Advantage Brands site 82000 cars in the US, 1000 in India..sure is a long way from home

Filed under Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with Audi, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl, Volkswagen, VW

Audi defines the great unknown for VW | Advantage Brands

February 2, 2010 137 Comments

Audi sold 82,716 cars in the US in 2009, no mean feat considering the recession and the great reputations of the Hondas and the Toyotas. It’s Diesel campaign for the first time put something other than a car on the road for its leitmotif

It’s Audi’s third Superbowl now and Scott Keough, Audi CMO makes a great ambassador across Forbes, Adage and other business knowns, publishing his great.

It helps that the makers of the Prius and the Insight have their hands full with millions of cars in recall and that Sporty Contracts like Maria Sharapova for Landrover and Tiger Woods for Buick are no longer available.

As Scott Keough mentioned to Forbes last week:

The migration from luxury cars is playing into Audi’s hands. Consumers are separating old luxury with brand baggage from new, sleek, light luxury. They’ve moved away from old badge brands, but they’re moving toward substance and technology. We’re finding that people appreciate Audi for being an understated brand.

According to the Adage video Podcast, Audi’s budget for the year is up 20% selling more Clean Diesel to Americans against the odds. It’s campaign last year proved that it doesn’t take much to send all the 1.5 million BPD of Saudi Oil back. The campaign is a refreshing reminder to Dodge, Ford, Nissan and BMW that they need not just their car models on a highway in their next advertisement on the network.

Hyundai’s Joel Ewanick on the other hand will continue to upscale Hyundai’s offering from cheap small cars. The company guaranteed new buyers a year’s worth of gas at $1.49 per gallon after early 2009 ads promising good credit history failed to click. Hyundai’s advertising has ben the exact unremarkable variety with cash backs, discounts and a full screen car close up that has characterized informed Car advertising in the US for the past two decades.

With Digital Advertising revenues up 15% for 2009, linkages to online business models have become critical for Superbowl campaigns since last year as well when Go Daddy, Careerbuilder and E*Trade successfully converted their euphoric ad response into instant online Karma. Audi however has tougher eggs to fry with each unit purchase of the advertised product costing a tangible % of the cost of production of the advertisement and even its $2.6 billion Superbowl insert charge paid to CBS.

Audi’s 2009 Ad dented the value proposition of the Prius and set new standards for Car Advertising in the crunch season. FOR THE VIDEO CLICK HERE

The other Superbowl campaigns continue to work around their old favourites, Coke using anime in the Avatar campaign, more than a couple of banned commercials in, with KGB the newbie also adding a couple. Doritos campaign is still choosing the winners and CB and EA will be their toning down their inital ads. Bud’s burning down a house made of beer cans alone.

In Car business, Toyota has to get a Social Rebound budget to make up for $1.6 billion lost in 4 weeks of Sales shutdown ( 20000 Cars at $20k per week)

Filed under Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with Advertising, Audi, Autos, Branding, CMO, Honda, Luxury Cars, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl, Toyota, VW

Spanking new brands get into the Superbowl

January 13, 2010 1 Comment

We’re still talking Superbowl ads

Sports are back in town

We’ve tweeted about CBS’ success with Superbowl before. It is this year and it has won in more ways than one. The Superbowl’s runaway success brings to us a changing avatar with new brands that are more familiar to the global marketplace. We global travelers definitely look a li’l more acquiescing to the ads even if it is likely to be drab and dull on the field. Go Charlie!

Superbowl ads have been a favorite for new brand launches and the global professional fraternity has indeed been screaming loud and clear to get more meaningful brands and this CBS Superbowl is welcome in getting Unilever Dove men’s care brands, Papa Johns and Diamond Foods’ Popcorn and nuts a wider audience and greater brand recognition. A revolution brought about by us, Twitter and those global viewers that are also looking forward to a more direct competition between NFL and IPL in this season. And even as the greater games of Football and Cricket are headed for a more direct marketing showdown.

That subject in more details at the motherlode Advantage Brands

“Last year, time was being sold entering into a recession,” Mr. McClintock said. “This year, it’s being sold apparently coming out of one.”

Another difference is that a year ago, many marketers that bought Super Bowl spots were playing down their participation, fearing that the sour national mood made the usual hoopla seem inappropriate. Now, though, the hyperbole machine is being cranked up by many sponsors as they seek attention for their ad plans.

Although Super Bowl ad mainstays like FedEx, General Motors and Pepsi-Cola have said they will skip this year’s game, several newcomers have signed on, along with advertisers that buy Super Bowl spots irregularly.

They include Boost Mobile; the Census Bureau; Dockers, sold by Levi Strauss; a line of men’s skin care products from Dove, part of Unilever; Electronic Arts; HomeAway, a vacation-rental listing service; Knowledge Generation Bureau, which offers a text-message information service under the KGB brand; Motorola; Pop-Secret popcorn, to be advertised with a sibling Emerald Nuts in a spot being bought by Diamond Foods; the truTV cable channel, owned by Time Warner; and Volkswagen.

“There comes a time to step out of your comfort zone,” said one first-timer, Chris Moss, creative chairman at KGB in New York. “We’re confident we can give viewers something entertaining to watch with a little more standout than the rest.”

via Advertising – Super Bowl Ads Sales as Economic Indicator – NYTimes.com.

Something for the new kids on the block

Of course we welcome the texting team from KGB on board. And their superior punch in 3 Q3 spots will definitely be their one and only chance to get yummy action. And we love the nuts even more. The KGB hotline is 542542.

However, CBS may not have won over the kingdom yet and the next Superbowl may be back with the old favorites GM, Pepsi and more Bud flowing..

Filed under Marketing, NFL, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with IPL, NFL, SMS, Social Media, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl, Twitter

A leg of tweets …with IPL n between – Distraction or Brands?

October 15, 2009 Leave a comment

Barack Obama is learning testimonial marketing on the ground for healthcare, clunkers are away and superbowl is already 2/3rds sold with Red Sox and Cardinals falling away to give a sticky brand even with fat expenses for Yankees, Phillies and both the LA franchises ( Dodgers – NLCS and Angels – ALCS, for the newbies)

In Asia, IPL has taken root, Champions League has shown the other Cricket brands in the Commonwealth and probably US has a couple of teams switching from Soccer to T20 Cricket this time

Closer to where it hurts, Apple is redesigning Disney retail ( one last time?) IBM is riding god knows what hopscotch strategy, and Amazon and Walmart are getting ready for the holidays – some more would be shutting down this time in the face of retail discount wars…

Funding new infrastructure..a global imperative The new USA with new infrastructure « Obamanomics http://bit.ly/3kSJ2k about 3 hours ago from HootSuite

Apple is not going to ruffle anyone as Windows 7 brings $MSFT back into the game (by the by, just to wake up your senses before dinner ..) about 5 hours ago from HootSuite Two-thirds of Superbowl AD inventory was sold/booked even before Week 1 of NFL..and there is six more months for the “new” network CBS about 6 hours ago from HootSuite

If the Chargers win today, they will likely meet the Blues for the next KITA motivation #clt20 about 20 hours ago from HootSuite

Welcome @hotshotsin to the Advantage zyaada fold @zyakaira @zyaada 8:13 AM Oct 14th from web

Gyancafe follows http://advantages.us/brands for updates on Sports Marketing, IPL and social media #clt20 7:48 AM Oct 14th from HootSuite

By @zyakaira Cape Cobras meet Victoria Bushrangers in the Super League Kickoff #CLT20 Sad day for Wayamba and Sussex #clt20 7:48 AM Oct 14th from HootSuite

By @boutred :ask for analysis CIT debt swap struggles, bankruptcy looms: NEW YORK (Reuters) – CIT .. http://bit.ly/9hApR @zyaada 7:47 AM Oct 14th from HootSuite

Wonder how soon we can extend the IPL club brands to Cape Cobras and the Sydney Blues ( sponsor the SA/CA teams) #CLT20 #ipl

a selection of other tweets in the inbetween ( Advantage zyaada )
Dow 10K definitely took its time coming! G’night all about 13 hours ago from HootSuite

Gas sales ( At pump) down 25% from last year ( US, September 2009) about 16 hours ago from HootSuite

car sales dropped 10% in september “After Clunkers” shock, October shd indicate holiday season about 16 hours ago from HootSuite

$GLD up above $107..can it cross $115? about 16 hours ago from HootSuite

Why is $CI getting such a great buy rating? One can’t believe the industry’s whitepaper of all things! The fool’s in goop http://ow.ly/un4a about 16 hours ago from HootSuite

Will $GS follow $JPM into the emerging markets, and expand globally? $GS earnings could far exceed expectations of $4.24, JPM likewise about 18 hours ago from HootSuite

Sign here! RT @barackobama Health reform just took a huge step—but the insurance lobby is.. Urge Congress to pass reform: http://u.nu/6jhi3 about 19 hours ago from HootSuite

$JPM Treasury and Custody Portfolio of $16 trillion likely to grow along with fee services of investment bank.. Buy to USD 60-65 in 2009 about 19 hours ago from HootSuite

And after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize! RT @barackobama humbled. about 19 hours ago from HootSuite

$JPM reports restructuring with Jes Staley taking over as CEO at the $1.9 billion richer investment bank, Mary C Erdoes takes over at AMC
about 20 hours ago from HootSuite

$JPM reported a further $2 billion added to loan reserves and $3.7 billion in extra charge offs in retail, Credit card losses of $700 m about 20 hours ago from HootSuite

Filed under IPL, Marketing, Online Marketing, Premier League, Sports Marketing Tagged with Barack Obama, Holiday Season, IPL, Mid-week Drop, Sports Marketing, Superbowl, Tweets

Sports Salaries Show What We Really Value: FiLife (a WSJ partner)

July 9, 2009 1 Comment

The issue of escalating compensation and rising ticket prices in professional sports has been around for years. But next month it could reach a boiling point when 21-year-old Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 pick in this year's Major League Baseball draft, signs for at least $15 million. And that's just a bonus before salary is even discussed.

The blogosphere and radio call-in shows are already buzzing, with people saying things like “Man, the [Washington] Nationals” — or whatever team ends up signing Mr. Strasburg — “are sure going to have to raise prices to pay for this guy. You'll be lucky to afford a beer when you go out to the ballpark to see him pitch.”

Well, if you can't afford to buy a beer at the ballpark then it didn't do the team much good to sign the player, did it? Sportswriters and radio guys delight in reminding fans that every time a team acquires an expensive player the cost of everything goes up. But that's just not the way economics works.

It certainly seems as if the prices of peanuts and Cracker Jack go up after they sign that new guy or build that new ballpark (always with a large chunk of taxpayer money). But that isn't because the owners of sports team are greedy. They are greedy, but that's not the point.

The point is that prices go up because the owners think that's what you're willing to pay. If you are willing to pay, the price stays high. If you aren't — or at least if enough of you aren't — then the price will come back down. It's that simple.

via Sports Salaries Show What We Really Value: FiLife (a WSJ partner).

Filed under Cricket, Facebook, IPL, Social Media, Sports, Sports Marketing, Twitter Tagged with 2009, Big Media, Facebook, Facebook valuation, FiLife, FT, IPL, Marketing, NY Times, Predictify, Social Media, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl, Twitter, Twitter Valuation, WSJ