Adweek的February 1, 2016目录

From teary-eyed dads to weighty PSAs to a now-infamous dead kid, last year’s Super Bowl ads struck a pretty somber tone. Judging by the early buzz around this year’s spots, however, Sunday’s game is shaping up to be a much more upbeat affair. Brands are enlisting the help of celebrities sure to tickle America’s funny bone, like Kevin Hart (Hyundai), Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen (Bud Light), Alec Baldwin (Amazon) and Key & Peele (Squarespace). You can expect things to get a little weird, too, thanks to Kia’s Christopher Walken-starring “Walken Closet,” the unlikely pairing of Jeff Goldblum and Lil Wayne for Apartments.com and, of course, Steven Tyler’s appearance for the always-quirky Skittles.…

Amazon, Apartments.com and online lender SoFi all announced their first Super Bowl ad buys last week, joining returning advertisers Esurance and website makers Wix and Squarespace. The moves shed light on an old industry debate: Is it smart to burn $5 million on a single TV spot instead of aggressively targeting Google and Bing users based on what they’re searching for at that moment? The question is “completely valid,” acknowledged Chris Paul, Squarespace vp of media and acquisitions, before pointing to the ever-increasing use of tablets and smartphones during TV viewing. “We’ve turned a digitally native analytics team toward our TV efforts and found that the second-screen approach can be real and valuable,” he said. A million viewers visited Squarespace’s microsite while its ad aired during last year’s game. Meanwhile,…

Like other advertisers, Volvo last year said no thanks to plunking down more than $4 million for a 30-second Super Bowl spot. But it didn’t sit on the sidelines. Rather, the automaker crashed the game via Twitter, unleashing “The Greatest Interception Ever,” a campaign that encouraged fans to tweet the hashtag #VolvoContest and enter a friend to win a Volvo XC60 during the airing of rival automakers’ spots. Created by Grey New York, the effort went viral, generating 55,000 tweets using the hashtag and scoring 114,000 mentions. Over the course of the game, Volvo trended globally on social media, while the promotion yielded a 70.7 percent year-over-year increase in XC60 sales in February 2015, Volvo said. The cost for all that? Not one media dollar, according to Grey. As the…

Stephen Colbert’s postgame Late Show represents only one piece of CBS’ 13-plus hours of Super Bowl Sunday programming, as the network looks to keep audiences glued to the screen throughout the day. CBS will air seven hours of pregame content starting at 11 a.m., leading up to a kick-off show at 6 p.m. and the game itself at 6:30. After Colbert comes local news, followed by The Late Late Show with James Corden, which ends the day’s programming. “There’s always a lot of pressure associated with the Super Bowl, but I think we’re ready for it,” says Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports and executive producer of Super Bowl 50 coverage. Last year, NBC’s Super Bowl telecast was the most-watched TV program ever, with 114.4 million viewers and a 49.7…

THE SEAL Among the 25 steps it takes to make a regulation football is the stamping of this seal. Wilson has furnished the NFL with its footballs since 1941. THE LEATHER Tanned and given a pebbled finish, football hides come from steers raised in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. In general, one cow is enough for 10 footballs. THE LACES Originally, they enclosed an inflated pig’s bladder (hence the term “pigskin”). Today, the laces mainly help the quarterback get a grip on the ball. Feeling pressured Americans never thought about the official air pressure of footballs (it’s 12.5-13.5 psi) until the 2015 AFC championship game, when allegations of underinflated footballs fell on Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady. The scandal known as “Deflategate” is still under appeal. On the Sunday night of the…

‘Even in our highly fragmented media world, great storytelling remains the best way to break through.’Marisa Thalberg, CMO, Taco Bell Bio Hired by Taco Bell as chief engagement officer last May, Marisa Thalberg was promoted to CMO of the fast-food chain less than a month ago. Previously, she spent eight years overseeing digital and content marketing at Estée Lauder. STANDOUT SPOTS From a talking Chihuahua to seniors chowing down on “fourthmeal,” a sampling of the company’s best-known ads and teasers Taco Bell has created plenty of pregame buzz around its Super Bowl spot without revealing very much at all. The Yum! Brands fast-food chain teased its first appearance since 2013 with a cheeky Jan. 7 press release. While much of the text was comically redacted, we do know that a…

What with all the bad news involving leading brands—from Volkswagen’s diesel-emissions scandal and Chipotle’s food-safety issues to FanDuel and DraftKings’ insider-trading blowup—it’s little wonder Americans have grown more cynical about marketing. Meanwhile, audiences continue to splinter, clients are asking their agencies to do more with less, and the price of a 30-second spot has hit the stratosphere (again). It all means that the stakes for Super Bowl-bound brands have never been higher. BBDO global CCO David Lubars said: “Either you’re not noticed, or you’re noticed for the wrong things. Going under the radar is a waste of $5 million.” Here, top creatives predict themes we’re likely to see as football’s biggest event celebrates its golden anniversary. SKIP THE SERMONIZING Consensus is that the tone this year will be lighter. “We’re…

As the cost of Super Bowl ads continues to rise—rising 76 percent over the last decade, according to Kantar Media—more brands are looking for creative ways to score the audience without the price tag. SOCIAL MEDIA SWEEPSTAKES On a crowded night for marketing messages, Esurance got viewers’ attention with a sweepstakes via Twitter—passing what it saved from not advertising in the game to a lucky winner. FAKE SPOTS Controversial marketers PETA and Ashley Madison made headlines by pretending their ads were too racy and therefore banned from the game. REGIONAL AD BUY Among brands that employed the strategy last year were BuzzFeed, The Verge and Newcastle Brown Ale. The spots were also made available online.…

Specs Current gig CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York Previous gig Global creative president, TBWA Worldwide Twitter: @Schwartzie14 Age 50 Will the Super Bowl always be advertising’s crown jewel? This is the last stand of nonfragmented media moments when we have the world watching. Awards shows are done. Between the Oscars and Grammys, there’s a little bit [of influence], but the Super Bowl remains the biggest in terms of scale. Yet, of the 50-some spots that will run during the Super Bowl, we will only end up talking about three to five of them. How far ahead of time does your team begin working on Super Bowl campaigns? If the game is January 28th, then the planning [for next year’s campaign] starts on the 29th. The first step is postmortem, and…

Wieden + Kennedy knows Super Bowl ads. In the agency’s 34-year history, it has worked with 15 clients to create Big Game-worthy spots. On Sunday, W+K will air its 50th Super Bowl commercial—though it’s hard to determine which ad comes in at No. 50 as the agency is producing for both Bud Light and Turbo Tax. Although W+K boasts eight locations around the globe, it’s most famous for its original office in Portland, Ore., which houses 600 employees and about 30 dogs. But the agency’s size doesn’t detract from the intimate and welcoming vibe of the space. “Dan [Wieden] and David [Kennedy] really envisioned W+K as a physical space first and a company second,” said W+K Portland ecd Mark Fitzloff. “A place where people could come do the best work…

While Twitter will likely remain marketers’ go-to platform to build Super Bowl social buzz, Snapchat, Facebook, Google and Instagram are all hustling this year to grab a greater share of ad dollars. In the past two years, marketers have devoted serious effort trying to replicate Oreo’s “Dunk in the Dark” 2013 viral hit, but this year could be a game changer—and they may find their Oreo moment elsewhere. For one, Snapchat is a hot commodity on Madison Avenue, while Google and Facebook have more robust ad offerings. “If you want more bang for your buck, Twitter is a safe place—but if you want to be highlighted for doing something novel and unique, Snapchat’s really your opportunity to stand out,” said Meghan McCormick, social strategy director at Deutsch New York. Here’s…

Specs Claim to fame Mike Sundet, svp and director of sports and entertainment at Momentum Worldwide, is a sports junkie, four-time Ironman and music enthusiast. Base St. Louis Twitter @msundet On the eve of Super Bowl 50, the biggest global sports and media event of the year, I have good news and bad news. First the good news: Our recent global We Know Sports Fans study of 2,000-plus sports fans across the U.K., U.S., Japan, Spain and Brazil reveals 86 percent would welcome more sponsorship in sports experiences. Now the bad: 80 percent said that sponsors never consider fans when activating, and only 17 percent believe brands are interested in them. While fans are willing to start a dialogue, brands aren’t doing enough to truly connect by building memorable platforms…

LG Ultra Short Throw LED Home Theater Projector $1,400 Until recently, anyone looking to ditch their big-screen TV for a high-tech projector required plenty of space—not to mention a complicated ceiling mount—for proper installation. But that’s not the case anymore thanks to a new generation of projectors like LG’s recently released “Ultra Short Throw” model. When placed just 15 inches away from a wall or screen, the pint-size device delivers an impressive 100 inches of HD 1080p quality picture. With built-in Wi-Fi and LG’s Smart TV software, it can stream directly from services like Netflix and Amazon, while its HDMI hookup lets you connect to your gaming console or laptop. And did we mention it makes a great viewing companion for the Super Bowl? Buy it: bestbuy.com RECLINE Kick Back…

Specs Age 40 Claim to fame Lead reporter for the NFL on CBS and NCAA basketball, as well as Super Bowl 50 sideline reporter Base New York Twitter @tracywolfson What’s the first information you consume in the morning? I wait until I get my three boys off to school before I consume any information. But the first thing I consume is definitely the sports pages. Then I look on Twitter, see what’s trending, and depending on the game I’m focusing on that week, I start searching for those teams and save those articles for further reading. How does social media play into your sideline reporting? It’s extremely, extremely useful in what I do. I follow all the beat reporters from every team that I cover, whether they’re in the NFL…