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As principal for POP, Tony Hoskins provides strategic direction and facilitates the implementation of interactive services for global consumer brands like Target, Microsoft and Epson. For 10 years, Tony has been on the executive team at one of the largest privately held interactive agencies in Seattle. POP is 120 full-time employees with offices in Seattle and New York. Prior to POP, Tony worked for various groups at Microsoft. Prior to joining the technology world, Tony worked as a producer for local and national television commercials and film projects, where he supervised production
activities for several key national brands including Chevy, Acura and
T-mobile.

Tony served two terms as President of the Board for the Puget Sound chapter of the American Marketing Association (PSAMA) and is a member of the Association of Professional Design Firms (APDF).

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Super Bowl XLIV: Pass It to the Crowd

Written on
Jan 29, 2010 
Author
Tony Hoskins  |
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Super Bowl XLIV: Pass It to the Crowd

football_smallADOTAS – Things are changing with Super Bowl TV advertising. In the last few years we’ve seen big name players like Doritos and Pepsi refocus their efforts to leverage a different kind of consumer — a consumer excited to be engaged and empowered; a consumer with access to a ready community, eager to be influenced.

Ninety-three million people watch the Super Bowl. How many Facebook friends, Twitter followers and members of the blogosphere does this audience represent? Don’t miss out. Seek to engage this massive audience by empowering them to act. Don’t just entertain them with an expensive or celebrity-focused TV spot.

Leveraging the social media universe is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a key strategy for some of the world’s largest consumer brands. As new advertisers consider the hefty price of entry into Super Bowl TV advertising, it’s critical that they focus less on the 1:1 communication of a “sit back and watch TV” experience, and spend more time considering the many opportunities a socially-networked audience of nearly 100 million Super Bowl viewers represents.

These viewers want to get involved. They want to voice an opinion, be a part of a conversation and get involved. Give them ways to interact with your product and your brand; they have the tools at their fingertips.

Advertisers need to think beyond a one-screen strategy. While football fans might be watching the game on a TV screen, many will have a computer screen nearby. The vast majority, regardless of where they’re watching, will have a phone in their pocket. They’ll have several options to interact before, during and long after the game is played.

How will you utilize these eager brand champions? Give them a task. Today’s consumer loves to participate, collect, share, recommend, post, identify, tag or “like” something, especially when it involves a brand they love or some strategic creative with buzz-building appeal.

Today’s savvy marketers don’t need to get out of the traditional TV game, but they do need to use it correctly. As part of a larger multiscreen social strategy, having access to 100 million captive viewers is a powerful opportunity. When properly utilized, this can be an influential and effective tool.

Engaging these viewers can be as easy as a 30-second spot during the game. Empowering them starts when you give them a task with marching orders.

Consider a scavenger hunt where the items collected are calls in the game, announcer catchphrases, certain fan antics or objects that could be photographed on the TV screen. Items could be “hidden” in advertising or in the actual game.

In many cases, these activities can be managed from viewers’ phones via a Facebook application, iPhone app or on Twitter. Sitting at home, at a bar or at a Super Bowl party, they can be sending data to their social network about your brand while enjoying the game.

Who’s having the best Super Bowl party? Send pictures, video, guest lists, and menus to a Facebook Super Bowl site where judges can vote. The voters are the community and contest participants will be lobbying for their “party.” It’ll bring traffic to your brand and transform your brand champions into evangelists.

Things are changing. We, as consumers, continue to evolve. We are spoiled by access to information and opportunities to engage. Our expectations are higher. We expect a two-way or multi-way conversation and meaningful opportunities to interact with a brand. Just sitting and watching a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl is much more about buying “wow” factor and far less about meaningful brand interaction.

Brands are engaging the consumer now with more frequency, inviting them to interact with, participate in and even own a portion of the experience. The typical Super Bowl ad formula is becoming less and less effective and it makes less sense for large advertisers to spend the money on a “throw it over the fence, and see what happens” strategy. Not when we have social networks to leverage and analytical tools that allow us to see immediate results.

93; 350; 65; Add “million” to each number and you have the Super Bowl audience, amount of total Facebook users, and the amount of Facebook users accessing Facebook on their mobile device right now. These are exciting times for the savvy digital marketer. The consumers are ready and expect us to include them in our brand conversation. They want to be engaged and empowered. They want the opportunity to become active players for our brand.

Are we ready for them?





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