Superbowl XLIII Advertising Recap

Two weeks ago The Nielsen Company released its annual Superbowl advertising report. Findings include total viewership, advertisement recall and likeability, and new advertisers.

Click here for a list and description of all Superbowl XLIII advertisers.

True to form, the sponsorship, product placement, and brand exposure numbers caught my eye first. Not surprisingly, Gatorade, Reebok, and Motorola come out waaaaaay ahead of other sponsors in total time of exposure, due to their consistent placement on the sidelines, in the stands, and on the field of play.

Gatorade is owned by PepsiCo, so technically they have both "in-game" product placement, like sideline cups and coolers, and also paid advertisements, like the following ad for the "What's G" campaign:




Which brings us to an interesting thought... Not every advertiser or sponsor can pull double duty like Gatorade. Would you want to be a sponsor like Motorola, with 336 seconds (over 5 and a half minutes) of exposure throughout the game, but without the creativity and flair of a big Superbowl ad? Or an advertiser like Doritos, which only had two :30 spots throughout the entire game, but utilized the Superbowl advertising buzz and scored high on both ad likeability and recall?



(Courtesy of Nielsen and Ad Age)