Marketers go for Super Contests

Following the Super Bowl theme of the last article, I chose this next piece to give more insight into what advertisers do to gear up for Super Bowl Sunday.  The article, Marketers go for Super Contests, was found in USA Today on January 22, 2008 about a week and a half before the big game.  There are 5 brands outlined in this article and the promotions they are doing to "put the u in Super Bowl."  Apparently including the audience in their game day strategies was the big theme for marketers this year.  According to Bryce McTavish, sponsorship vice president for Coors Light, the reason for this is the growing popularity of YouTube.  The brands now encourage people to go the YouTube route and put their own personality and spin on the existing advertisements in order to win a prize, promotions seem to no longer be about just signing up.  For example, Alka Seltzer asked people to remake their well known "plop, plop, fizz, fizz" jingle to win a chance to be featured on a pregame ad on Super Bowl Sunday.  

These promotions seek football fans and fans of these popular products including Doritos, Coors Light, Canon, KFC, and Upper Deck trading cards.  Most brands are asking their fans to upload a video of them doing something related to the product in order to win prizes.  Some of the prizes are pretty extravagant such as the KFC "chicken dance" contest, whoever comes up with the most original interpretation of the chicken dance will a "Super Sunday party package that includes a new flat panel TV, limo service for their guests, and a cleaning team to tidy up the next day."  The perfect Super Bowl party awarded to you, all for uploading a video of you chicken dancing, that is a good deal.  

The attraction to these promotions is that the prize totally outweighs what they are being asked to do, a quick chicken dance and you have a new flat screen TV.  While benefitting the consumers, the brands are also receiving a huge amount of word of mouth coverage on their unique promotions and Coors Light also saw a 21% increase of visitors to their website.  Another reason why these promotions are so successful is because people are goofballs at heart and are always looking for silly things to do that can win them free stuff.  Even if they don't win, they still had fun coming up with their own wacky chicken dance or touch down dance, which is what Upper Deck asked fans to do.  I think that these promotions definitely put the 'u' in Super Bowl and allow people to have fun with the products.  These promotions are good ways to bring people together around the time of the big game while promoting a fun and friendly atmosphere.

"Marketers go for Super Contests." Petrecca, Laura and Howard, Theresa.  USA Today.  McLean, Va.  Jan. 22, 2008.  Pg B.5