Super Bowl Commercial Preview: Chris Lester on Fox 5 News

Posted by: Chris Lester, Principal Feb 16, 2010 0 Comments

This year, because of the impeding blizzard, I was a guest on Fox 5 News for a Super Bowl ad preview instead of the post-game ad summary that I have done for the last few years.

Once again, the ads offered a little something for everyone. There were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. My mother in-law, whose house we descended upon because our power was out, was taken with the Bud Light ads, my five-year-old son couldn’t get enough of the Dockers “I wear no pants” ad, and my business partner here at Rock Creek found the Punxsutawney Polamalu ad devilishly diabolical.

There weren’t any big surprises this year. The Tim Tebow Focus on the Family ad that stole the pre-game ad spotlight was hardly noticeable buried in the panoply of highly produced big brand ads. The absence of Pepsi was not obvious, even though it may signal a fundamental shift from traditional to new media. The return of the Griswolds was welcomed by older audiences but not recognized by younger viewers, many of whom had not seen the Vacation movies.

The Super Bowl continues to reign as the supreme traditional ad venue due to the 100 million viewers and their heightened interest in the ads. However, as advertisers refocus their efforts on more fragmented and specific audiences, the share of budget that historically has gone to networks is shrinking, and the Super Bowl is not completely immune to this trend. We have seen big advertisers give up their Super Bowl spots in favor of new interactive opportunities, but the TV networks have quickly filled those spots with other ads. There are not many opportunities for advertisers to reach 100 million viewers, so it’s not inconceivable that the Super Bowl will continue to increase its revenue as other network venues suffer greater losses.

It’s hard to predict whether the shifting media landscape will affect Super Bowl ad revenues in the future, but for the time being, it continues to be a winner.

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Chris Lester

Principal

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