Football season doesn’t officially start until the Saints and the Packers kickoff tonight at 8 PM, yet NBC Sports has already scored a touchdown. They’re just five spots away from selling out the 2012 Super Bowl for a record breaking $3.5 million per 30-second commercial. That’s a $1 million increase since last years Super Bowl. As if that wasn’t enough, the network is requiring that advertisers buy flights in other NBC Sports broadcasts as well.
For the few short years social media has been around it has completely changed the game for advertisers. As we saw last year, half of the Super Bowl advertisers simultaneously launched social media campaigns. The unique nature of the Super Bowl can help spark social momentum like few other ad opportunities can. For example, you may remember last year’s Volkswagon ad, “The Force”. This ad became the most talked about commercial on Twitter and drove in 12.5 million YouTube views before kickoff. Today, that YouTube clip has been viewed over 42 million times. That’s not only bragging rights but 42 million free impressions that never would have happened without Volkswagen’s Super Bowl campaign.
If executed well, social media can help offset the one time cost of a 30 second spot. Knowing that it will help acquire more impressions might actually make the $3.5 million price tag sound a little less ridiculous.
Among the upcoming Super Bowl advertisers this year: Budweiser, Pepsi, Kia, Mercedes and Sketchers. It’s sad that I’m already looking forward to the last game of the season when the regular season hasn’t even begun. All I want to see are good, creative commercials and the Patriots win the title. I don’t think that’s asking too much!
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