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CREATING THE |
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Alan/Anthony, Inc. - February-March 2005 |
Now that its over, we can safely say that Super Bowl XXXIX was Americas quintessential engine of advertising, merchandising and mass cultural marketing a $2.4 million-per-minute juggernaut for introducing and reinforcing brands. They tell me it was also a football game. But how many football games have Paul McCartney singing during half-time and two ex-Presidents of the United Statesin attendance? How many football games cause 6% of the people watching them to call in sick for work the next morning? (This might be due to the 8 million lbs. of guacamole that were consumed during the 24-21 New Englandvictory.) And how many one-day events bring $367 million into a local economy, as the Super Bowl brought into San Diego? That is not "spin" - it is leveraged, value-added marketing at its finest. The Super Bowl phenomenon did not end on Sunday night. It is still making waves. This newsletter is one of them. Like the carrier of a virus, we are helping to spread the word and reinforce the Super Bowl brand. This is the true lesson of the event: the way it has managed to spread itself into the world. It wasnt always this way. The first Super Bowl in Los Angeleswas remembered for having 30,000 empty seats (even though the ticket price was a mere $12.) Despite the fact that the game was broadcast on two of Americas then-three networks, advertising rates were only US$42,000 per TV minute. Worse, the game was called, The NFL versus AFL World Championship Football Game. A name that no one except the leagues ever used. But something happened that no one expected. Newspaper sports writers began to derisively refer to the game as The Super Bowl. To the horror of the league, which was really and truly committed to their terrible name, it stuck. And while the audience in LA may have been small, the TV audience had been vast. Because of this, the game became more than just a game. It grew into an American ritual and a vital concern for everyone in the family and for everyone on the evening newscast, from the lead anchor to the weather reporter who just had to give viewers the forecast for field conditions for the game (despite the fact that the game was always played in a warm climate or indoors!) The virus continued to spread. There were recipes for grilling during halftime; Super Bowl parties became social events and people whose ancestors tried to ban alcohol and gambling in another era placed their one bet of the year on the Super Bowl. Viral Marketing The story of the Super Bowl is one of epic proportions in our business. It is a testament to the ability to capture the imagination by using the imagination. But it is also the story of the power of viral marketing. Viral marketing is powerful but it also takes a very indirect route to its goal. For the Super Bowl, the ultimate target market is the television advertising buyer. These are the people at the major consumer and business product and service companies, and their advertising agencies, who actually fork out the money on those TV commercials. The viral marketing of the Super Bowl, however, was not aimed at them. It targeted the viewers. It targeted the entire culture. The virus spread to the farthest corners of the land, and that is what justifies the prices that the league is able to charge its B2B customers. Viral marketing works, not just for events like the Super Bowl, but also in the intimate niches of B2B markets. You would be surprised how the right message can be carried along on a wave flowing in multiple directions to ultimately reach its destination. This is how rumors are floated and, if your story is true or imaginative, you will find many willing agents. A company in the B2B space does not need big dollars to succeed in getting the message out through viral marketing. But they do need imagination and they do need to know how to spread the virus and leverage its flow to maximum effect. Where should you begin? Should you consider putting your telephone number in Roman numerals? Probably not. A better idea would be to think about what would interest you about your own company, and then ask yourself: what grapevine would we most want it heard through? News Briefs
Spread Out the Offense