Rassai Interactive « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

FUEL LINES’ Super Bowl “Advertising” Coverage

January 31, 2009

The Super Bowl is not only the Super Bowl for football but also for the advertising industry. What’s the newest trend for this year? The incorporation of social media.

Preview Super Bowl Ads prior to the game: ADWEEK MEDIA SUPER BOWL XLIII

A good variety of top articles, posts, tools and sites regarding Super Bowl advertising:

Adweek: Super Bowl Ad Drive Leads to Brand Sites - Thirty percent of respondents to a recent survey of those who plan to watch the big game said Super Bowl commercials increase the likelihood they’ll visit an advertiser’s Web site, while more than one out of five said they’ll be tuning in “exclusively or predominantly” for the ads. The survey conducted last week for Hanon McKendry also found women more likely than men by 31% to 11% to watch the telecast for the commercials.
Advertising Age: Direct-Response Cash4Gold Buys Into the Super Bowl - Cash4Gold will run a 30-second commercial in the Super Bowl and a 60-second ad in NBC’s pre-game show, making it the first direct-response advertiser in that venue, according to the Pompano Beach, Fla., company. Havas’ Euro RSCG Edge made the spot, featuring pitchmen Ed McMahon and M.C. Hammer — both celebrities who have had financial setbacks.
Brandweek: Frito-Lay’s Chester the Cheetah gets Super Bowl Spotlight - Frito-Lay is planning a 30-second ad with animated Cheetos pitch-creature Chester the Cheetah during the Super Bowl. The ad, which shows pigeons attracted by Cheetos crumbs attacking an annoying woman, will be shown in the first half of the game.
NY Times: In tough times, Super Bowl advertisers must pitch with care – Super Bowl advertisers have a tough challenge this year: providing entertaining spots that are memorable, effective and don’t appear to be making light of the economic recession. PepsiCo Americas Beverages CEO Massimo d’Amore said, “It’s an historical opportunity to bring a moment of joy to consumers who have been squeezed.” But some advertisers are sitting out the Super Bowl because of the down economy and rising unemployment. Steve Pacheco of FedEx said, “Being in the game simply sends the wrong message to employees and FedEx constituents.”
WSJ: Super Bowl Ads Try Hard Sell - This year’s crop of Super Bowl ads will be notable for the hard-sell approach, according to Wall Street Journal advertising reporter Suzanne Vranica. Attack ads also will be in the mix, including a campaign for Denny’s that takes on rival IHOP.

Additional Super Bowl Advertising articles:

Vote for your favorite Super Bowl Ads:

On Super Bowl Sunday (February 1, 2009), viewers can visit www.ADBOWL.com and rate commercials on a scale between one and five. Participants have the option of rating the ads online as they air or printing a ballot and rating all of the ads at the end of the game. A complete listing of the results, including a breakdown of winners as selected by gender and age group, will be posted on the site between midnight and 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 2nd. Sponsored by MCKEE WALLWORK CLEVELAND and RASSAI INTERACTIVE, their 9th year of hosting.

SUPERBOWL-ADS.COM: Super Bowl news, reviews and history

1 Comment | Social Media | Tagged: Advertising Age, adweek, articles, Brandweek, McKee Wallwork Cleveland, New York Times, Rassai Interactive, Social Media, Super Bowl Advertising, Wall Street Journal | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

ADBOWL: Ad Agencies Should be “Creative” Promoting Themselves

January 18, 2009

You’ve probably heard of ADBOWL, but you may not know that the idea originated at a midsize ad agency’s Super Bowl party in Albuquerque, NM. Ten years later, growing in size every year, the idea has paid great dividends to the agency generating national television, press coverage and positioning it as an industry leader.

adbowl-09

Adbowl is an advertising ranking Web site for consumers developed by Albuquerque advertising agency McKee Wallwork Cleveland in partnership with Fort Worth, Texas-based Web design firm Rassai Interactive has attracted vote-volume in the hundreds of thousands.

Steve McKee, President of McKee Wallwork Cleveland, recently shared with me how the idea for ADBOWL came about and what it has done for his agency:

“ADBOWL started as a lark. Ten years ago, we thought it would be fun to have a Super Bowl commercials party at the agency, so we did. We handed out little paper ballots on which attendees rated the spots. Pretty humble beginnings.

The next year we put it online and thought we would promote it within the industry. We approached ADWEEK and they thought it was a fun idea, so they gave us some free ad space to spread the word.

One thing then led to another, and in subsequent years things have taken off. ADBOWL has done wonders for the agency on many levels:

First, it gets us lots of free press, which is great for the “I’ve heard of you” factor. It’s gotten us in every major newspaper and trade magazine, on network affiliates all over the country, and even on national TV (a few times). It’s a great door-opener.

Second, it reinforces our desired positioning as an advertising industry leader. We are the expert “color commentators” on the year’s biggest day of advertising.

And third, it has offered us amazing opportunities to learn (by doing) new media. For example, we worked with Sprint to pioneer text-based voting that is now used far and wide, including on American Idol.

In the first years it was a pretty complex thing to execute–we really didn’t know what we were getting into. But as technology has evolved we’ve gotten it down to a science. We try to make incremental improvements each year but keep the user experience very simple and fun.”

In past years, Adbowl has attracted vote-volume in the hundreds of thousands. The following is a list of voters’ favorite ads from the past five years:

2008 – Budweiser’s “Clydesdale Team”
2007 – Bud Light’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors”
2006 – Bud Light’s “Hidden Fridge”
2005 – Anheuser-Busch’s “Applause”
2004 – Budweiser’s “Donkey Dream”

Follow ADBOWL on Twitter

Steve McKee recently wrote a book, When Growth Stalls that will be available in March of 2009. Steve has been generating pre-sales using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I’m sure the book will provide additional promotion for the agency and further position it as a leader.

Encourage your staff to be creative in ways to promote your agency. If you have examples of creative promotions to share, please include in the comment section of this post.

Additional articles regarding ad agency promotion: