Want To Score A Super Bowl? Go Co-op

Super Bowl pricing usually gives buyers nosebleeds. But one West Coast ad agency has a novel idea to bring down the entry price substantially, as part of an advertising co-op with other marketers.

Los Angeles-based agency Cesario Migliozzi wants to pool the resources and images of eight modestly sized marketers into one 30-second spot. The price for each marketer will be $395,000, which includes the cost of media buy ($375,000) and their part of production of the spot ($20,000).

The agency says it is in talks with marketers such as American Apparel, Virgin Mobile, Facebook, Smart Cars, Vespa, The Hard Rock Café, Puma, The Athlete's Foot, Scion and jetBlue.

Michael Migliozzi, partner and creative director of the agency, believes the weak economy, already in recession, is the right time to coordinate such an unorthodox deal. "Now the economic climate allows for it," he says. "You are not being cheap--you are being smart."

Logos from all eight marketers will appear on the screen at the same time for the entire length of the spot. The entertainment backdrop, says Migliozzi, will mimic an old-style 1940s musical, complete with tap dancing.

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TV networks typically don't allow re-selling of their advertising time. Migliozzi says that is not the case here. "We are not re-selling," he says, "We are doing a co-op."

Migliozzi says he has experience in this area, having done advertising work for retailer-manufacturer "co-op" TV spots, which feature logos and/or brand names of two different companies. For example, the agency has done creative work for electronics retailer Radio Shack and Verizon, and another project with sports apparel retailers Champs and Nike.

Migliozzi says he has been working on this co-op Super Bowl plan for over a year. NBC executives did not respond to emails and phone messages by press time. NBC is broadcasting "Super Bowl XLIII" on Feb. 1, 2009.

Last week, a similar plan was offered by an apparel manufacturer, Weatherproof Garment Company, which wanted to get nine other advertisers to contribute to a 30-second Super Bowl spot; each would pay $300,000. The small apparel company spent $3,000 to run an ad in last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal to appeal to marketers.

Even if some of these deals are approved, TV networks and the NFL have final approval of all creative content of any Super Bowl commercial.

1 comment about "Want To Score A Super Bowl? Go Co-op".
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  1. Laura Brooks, December 23, 2008 at 4:58 p.m.

    It's an interesting approach; however, I wonder how effective it will be to each individual participant. With so many brands participating in such a (relatively speaking) small time-frame, I'm not sure how well the spot will be able to promote each company. It also doesn't sound like the agency will be doing anything to tell each brand's unique story. In the end, the question is whether having a company logo visible for :30 during the Super Bowl delivers enough buzz (and ultimately sales) to justify the cost.

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