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| | Friday, January 26 The Other Super Bowl | |||||
| The price for a 30 second Super Bowl ad continues to defy inflation.
From an average cost of $42,000 back in 1967, to an average cost today of $2.3 million, ad buys for the big game have gone up 58 times. Even inflation can't beat that.
And the ads have become a game themselves. To paraphrase the immortal bard, it's the game within the game. The NFL reports that women comprise 45% of the Super Bowl television audience. That's a lot better demographic for advertisers than the single gender audience that traditionally watches professional football on Sundays, and an opportunity for a significant financial reward, if your product can back up your ad.
Last year, it's been widely discussed, there were 17 upstart dotcoms that bought ad time from ABC for the big game between the Rams and Titans. This year, as many upstarts have become notcoms, CBS has sold time to but three dotcom survivors. That means there's plenty of time for the traditional brands selling established products, from Budweiser to FedEx, Philip Morris to Master Card..
But that's where the similarity ends. Each company is still aiming to reach the 260 million American eyeballs glued to the game, and it's creativity and originality that advertisers hope will get them there. Whether it's Bob Dole hawking something that's not Viagra, or Reebok pushing the envelope with a risqué take on how we use our sneakers, the other Super Bowl is the big day for advertisers and corporate sponsors alike.
Outside the Lines has spent time this month with the creative team and the corporate executive responsible for deciding what ad airs for both HotJobs.com and Levi Strauss. These are two distinct companies that each have expectations for the big game. HotJobs.com is the upstart, a 4-year-old on-line jobs company that two years ago invested a sizable chunk of cash into its first Super Bowl ad. That gamble has paid off, at least for now, as they've survived the wave of crashes around them, and are back for their third Super Bowl. Levi's is the traditional company, going back over 100 years. But they've struggled as of late, and need a quick turnaround to sustain the company in the tight fashion market.
We present what each company expects from their ads in the same way our colleagues at ESPN are presenting the rundowns for the Giants and the Ravens. HotJobs.com has the momentum, but can they continue to build on their previous success, and win the big game? Can Levi Strauss stave off elimination with a witty ad that will produce a positive bottom line?
Join Bob Ley as we'll show this all, and more, on Sunday morning at 9:30 ET on ESPN, and again at 11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
Jonathan Ebinger, Coordinating Producer | ALSO SEE Weekly Outside the Lines Send feedback to the weekly OTL show Mission statement of weekly Outside the Lines show 2001: Transcripts, videos of weekly OTL show | |||||