Super Bowl Case Study With the declining power and reach of traditional marketing media due to technological developments, growing competition and diversification of media channels, the main issue for the Super Bowl is to tap into the potential of word of mouth and buzz marketing to attract advertisements for its commercial profitability. With the decline in popularity of televised sporting events such as the Winter Olympics 2006, the Super Bowl needs to develop innovative marketing strategies to maintain its relevance in the mind of the consumer and marketer.

The Super Bowl is the most widely watched television event in the United States watched by more than 100 million national viewers and 1 billion worldwide. This provides an attractive opportunity for marketers to advertise their products. Because of the strategic value of advertisements spots during the Super Bowl, the advertisements are produced lavishly and possess entertainment value, so much so that 35% of the viewers of Super Bowl discuss the advertisements with colleagues at work and 4% tune in simply to watch the advertisements. Because of this immense interest, advertising space has become expensive. A 30-second slot typically costs $2.6 million. This may not make economic sense for many marketers. Moreover, with the development of broadband television and live streaming, consumers are now exposed to multiple channels offering greater interactivity and autonomy to engage marketers with consumers. There is a concern that marketers may shift content away from the traditional Super Bowl advertising to these more interactive channels. Newer techniques such as word of mouth marketing and buzz marketing rely on consumer communities to spread awareness and interest about the brand and marketing message. Community members with expertise in the product act as opinion leaders and are able to generate buzz among community members through reviews and opinions about the advertisement or the product (Yang et al. 2012). Thus, Super Bowl needs to maintain its marketing relevance through the use of WOM and buzz marketing.

Key Decision Criteria

The marketing plan should enable greater interaction and discussion...

2010).
The marketing or advertising format should be shareable and downloadable.

It should result in lower advertising costs for the marketers and have a higher ROI than television advertising.

Analysis of Alternatives

The first alternative for Super Bowl is to continue offering advertising space to marketers but also using its website www.superbowl.com where Super Bowl advertisements can be made available simultaneously to consumers. The advertisements can be run at the same time on both television or only online (which would be more affordable for smaller businesses). In this way, viewers who would not normally watch advertisements on television can watch them online. Super Bowl could also directly benefit from the advertising revenues instead of them going to the television channels. Large businesses would pay extra for having their advertisements retained on the website for longer periods of time. Super Bowl related information could also be placed on the website to attract visitors. One disadvantage of this would be that companies marketing to tech-savvy consumers would be interested in this marketing channel.

The NFL can create an online social networking portal centered on the Super Bowl. This would provide online communities, discussion forums, online voting polls and other opportunities for visitors to interact and discuss their opinions. The user traffic volume would attract marketers to place their advertisements on the portal. Content could be organized according to community group interests. Community members could view the advertisement, upload comments to share with other members, and tag others to the advertisement. They could also post product reviews and ratings. This kind of interpersonal communication would help marketers to reach out…