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Jan 29, 2009 10:38 pm US/Central
Good Question: Are Super Bowl Ads Worth The Money?
(WCCO)
A lot of us watch the Super Bowl -- for the commercials. And they're not cheap at $3 million for 30 seconds. Even with the economy, that's more than last year. So are Super Bowl ads worth the money?
Even years after the commercials run, people still talk about our favorite Super Bowl ads. This year, Coca Cola is paying NBC $3 million to run a remake of their 1980 commercial that is ingrained in some people's minds.
"How can $3 million be worth it for 30 seconds?" asked Jason DeRusha.
"It rarely is just 30 seconds anymore, and often it's 30 days worth of shelf life in terms of the talk value," said John Rash, who helps clients decide where to spend ad money for Campbell Mithun.
Rash admits he's biased because his agency created a Super Bowl ad for
H&R Block.
"This is the one event every year where people lean forward not just for the program but for the commercials," he said. "Depending on the demographic, the cost per thousand ... can actually be less for the Super Bowl than it can be for some other prominent prime time programs."
If 100 million people watch the ad, it costs 3 cents to reach each viewer.
"Its hard, in many ways, to call a $3 million spot a bargain. But it certainly isn't a waste of money, and, if anything, it can be a game changer, to be in the big game, for many clients," said Rash.
Last year
E-Trade saw new accounts jump 32 percent after its Super Bowl ad.
Audi's Web traffic spiked 200 percent after its ad last year.
On Super Bowl Sunday 2005, GoDaddy.com had just 16 percent of the Web address market. One week later they were at 25 percent. Every year after the Super Bowl game it jumps; now it's almost 50 percent.
But in the economy that is struggling, does spending that money still make sense?
"It might make more sense than ever depending on the advertiser," said Rash.
However, General Motors and Fed Ex both backed out of this year's Super Bowl. It might be because it doesn't look good to spend $3 million on an ad when you're asking for a bailout and laying off employees.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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