While analysts expect PepsiCo to announce on Feb. 9 that it’s upping its spending by $400 million to $500 million in 2012 -- in large part to provide more support for its core soft drink and snack brands -- the company certainly hasn’t stinted on spending for its beverages’ Super Bowl XLVI presence. PepsiCo has released details about the components of its Bowl efforts, including sneak previews of new, celebrity-studded TV spots, plus social media initiatives and a long list of Bowl tie-in events. Flagship Pepsi’s 60-second ad, dubbed “King’s Court,” features 201’s “The X Factor” winner Melanie Amaro singing for a “royal court of rock,” including “king” Elton John. Amaro sings a contemporized version, recorded for the TV ad, of the Aretha Franklin classic “Respect.” The “medieval rock fantasy” spot -- produced by TBWA/Chiat Day and directed by Noam Murro -- ends with a (not yet revealed) twist and the tagline: “Where There’s Pepsi, There’s Music.” Intended positioning: Pepsi is the brand for people “not afraid to take a chance, raise their voices and give it their all.” Also: Pepsi’s taste “is worth challenging a king for.” Amaro’s prizes for winning “X Factor” included appearing in the Pepsi Super Bowl ad, as well as a $5-million recording contract. PepsiCo's second Bowl ad, a 30-second spot for Pepsi MAX (the official soft drink of the NFL), features Regis Philbin in his first television project since leaving "Live! With Regis and Kelly." The spot shows a Coke Zero deliveryman trying to buy a bottle of Pepsi MAX in a supermarket discreetly, only to be unexpectedly picked as the grand-prize winner of “Pepsi MAX for Life.” Philbin appears as an "on- the-spot reporter” capturing the hapless, soon-to-be-famous deliveryman’s reactions. Heightening the competitive jab, the spot is backed by a recording of the Hank Williams classic “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles. PepsiCo will tie several social media/digital programming initiatives into the game. Pepsi fans who "Shazam" the “King’s Court” spot during the game will be able to view Amaro's “Respect” music video. There will also be an NFL-themed version of Pepsi Sound Off, the brand-led social TV platform that Pepsi launched during “The X Factor” to engage consumers in a real-time “viewing party” with celebrity hosts, plus a branded, Super Bowl-themed Pandora station offering fans Pepsi-curated music/programming before, during and after the game. Finally, through the social network Get Glue, fans will be able to check in and unlock exclusive content and free Pepsi. In addition, Pepsi and Pepsi MAX will host a slew of Super Bowl activities in Indianapolis between Jan. 27 and Feb. 5, including:
PrecisionDemand, the new cross-media analytical service that maximizes TV buying for marketers, has struck an agreement with Rentrak Corp. for its key ratings service. PrecisionDemand's deal is for Rentrak's TV Essentials and StationView Essentials, which are census-based TV ratings services. Rentrak's growing business has been viewed as a potential major competitor against traditional ratings services, such as Nielsen. "It is impossible for marketers to manage their business in a successful manner with the previously available rating services," stated Jon Mandel, chief executive officer of PrecisionDemand. "In order for advertising to actually deliver results-based metrics on TV spend, it's essential to use innovative technology. That is why Rentrak's TV ratings data is key to transforming advertising from an unquantified cost to a predictable business lever." Mandel, a longtime media agency executive, recently came aboard to the top post at the company. He has said that in contrast to some emerging measurement systems, which examine how ads in a TV program drive purchases, PrecisionDemand moves in reverse -- starting with the customer/viewer and then looking at set-top-box data to find TV shows where they are most likely to respond. "The critical importance of understanding the actual success of an advertising campaign is the driver for our ROI measurement approach," said Brian Burdick, chief technology officer at PrecisionDemand. Rentrak provides daily measurement of TV networks and stations in all 210 markets, getting set-top-box information from satellite, telco and cable TV viewing in more 19 million U.S. television homes.
One of the original big-ticket branded entertainment-connected TV shows, "Celebrity Apprentice" has announced a new slate of in-show sponsors: food company Kraft, drug retailer, Walgreens and confectionary brand M&Ms.NBC has also announced some of last season's -- General Motors, Good Sam, and Farouk Hair Systems -- will be making a return for the show. Now in its 12th edition, it premieres on Sunday, Feb. 19. Other season sponsors this year include Entertainment.com, Ivanka Trump Collection, O-Cedarand Five Star Fragrance.Major marketers have played a large part in the content of each episode -- especially when it comes to in-show marketing challenges. Early on "The Apprentice," the original title of the series, had a price tag of around $2 million to $3 million for a single branded entertainment deal for each episode. While media buyers say the price tag has dropped -- as have the ratings -- the show has remained an effective market tool.Last season's finalists, John Rich and Marlee Matlin, won for a '70s and '80s retro for 7UP. Winning celebrities will get $250,000 to give to charity.Through the show's 11 seasons, other brands on the show have included Best Buy, Burger King, Dove, Domino’s Pizza, Dairy Queen, The Dial Corporation, Home Depot, Kodak, Lexus, Microsoft, Nestle, Outback Steakhouse, Procter & Gamble, Staples, Pontiac, Pedigree, Priceline.com, Right Guard, Rockport, Snapple and Unilever.Donald J. Trump, host and executive producer of the show, stated: "'The Celebrity Apprentice’ proves that between our fantastic cast and the creative tasks they participate in, the show offers an extraordinary value for our partners.”
Several -- maybe just about all -- advertisers in major media events like the Super Bowl are augmenting their major media commitments with the kind of digital integration that begs the question: can people do more while watching the game -- or any TV show -- than eat nachos and drink beer? Specifically, can they be digital multitaskers? An affirmative answer is more likely to happen among Internet-savvy Hispanics, according to the LMX Hispanic study, a yearly poll of 2000 U.S. Hispanic digital respondents by Ipsos MediaCT. Ipsos defines "Hispanic digitals" as those with some degree of online access they can have anywhere -- which is a pretty broad definition. The study focused on a cohort of English-dominant, bilingual and Spanish-dominant consumers, garnered from online and in-person interviews. Once chosen, the subjects kept 24-hour media and activities diaries and usage and attitudes modules. The study found that digital Hispanics now spend 42% of their media time multitasking, meaning they are more likely than the general population to do things like combine TV viewing with online behavior. The study also finds that most of Hispanics' online usage occurs around social networking, and that Hispanics spend 12 minutes more per day multitasking than the general population. Within the Hispanic Web-savvy demographic, those who are bilingual and Spanish-dominant are more likely than English-dominant digital Hispanics to engage in social networking. And according to Ipsos, 80% of Hispanics who are active with digital technology are also a member of a social network, with 90% of those connecting weekly, and 60% checking in daily. The researchers also found that half of digital Hispanic video viewers use two screens to view video media, while about 10% use three. And while most video viewing among Hispanics is still dominated by TV, digital Hispanics use alternative TV and video channels a little more than the general online population. The firm says 85% of digital Hispanics view video on a TV, 51% on a TV and computer and only 8% on a TV and computer and smartphone.
Century 21 Real Estate has released three teaser videos for its debut Super Bowl commercial. Available on the Parsippany, N.J.-based company’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/century21, each video features one of the three stars -- Donald Trump, Deion Sanders and Apolo Ohno -- who will be appearing in the third-quarter ad. The teaser videos also will air during pre-game coverage. In addition to the third-quarter ad, the company is a broadcast sponsor of the 3:30-4:00 p.m. block of the pre-game show on NBC and will have more than a dozen other pregame commercial spots. With the theme line of “Smarter, bolder, faster,” the ad matches an unflappable Century 21 Agent in scenarios with Donald Trump, professional Football Hall of Famer and NFL analyst Deion Sanders and short- track speedskater Apolo Ohno. "Our agents are the very heart of our business, so it was important for us to create an ad that celebrates their capabilities," said Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC, in a release. "The Super Bowl is the last great campfire for the American family. For most consumers, it's centered in the home and the home is the center of the services we're in business to support." Century 21 will host its teasers, behind-the-scenes footage and the final Super Bowl commercial on its Web site, century21.com/superbowl, as well as on a customized Facebook application and upgraded YouTube brand channel. The teaser spots as well as the game spot were created by Philadelphia-based Red Tettemer + Partners. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is the franchisor of approximately 7,600 independently owned-and-operated franchised broker offices in 71 countries and territories worldwide. According to Ace Metrix, celebrities are a risky Super Bowl gimmick. During last year's Super Bowl, ads without celebrities performed 9.2% better than those with celebs. Last year, the only ad starring a celebrity that ranked in the Ace Metrix top 10 most-effective Super Bowl ads was the Snickers ad starring Rosanne Barr and Richard Lewis. Among the 10 least-effective Super Bowl ads last year, five starred celebrities including Groupon's ad starring Timothy Hutton, Lipton's Iced Tea ad starring Eminem, GoDaddy's ad featuring Joan Rivers, Salesforce.com's ad with Will.i.am and Stella Artois' ad starring Adrien Brody.
You probably know this, but Acura's Super Bowl spot is going to be a minute-long ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld and, at the very end, Jay Leno. The ad, focusing on Acura's NSX supercar concept, will air during the third quarter. Most people also know that Leno and Seinfeld both have sizable car collections. In fact, when the comedians were playing the Improv years ago in New York, Leno was working as a chauffeur (rumor has it he once drove Jack Lemmon around.) Acura's Super Bowl ad has something of a "Green Eggs and Ham" story line, with Seinfeld following a man around who happened to grab the first reservation to buy the NSX when it rolls into showrooms this year. But Seinfeld wants to be first, and so he goes to Seuss-like (Suessical?) extremes to get him to give up the keys to the forthcoming NSX: Seinfeld offers the Soup Nazi to him; he offers him a comatose alien in a body bag; a ride on an extremely fast speedboat; and a sock puppet performance at the guy's bedside recreating “Boardwalk Empire.” When, finally, Seinfeld gives the guy access to his personal Manhattan zip-line transit system, the man gives up the NSX key -- or is about to when suddenly Leno shows up. The ad ends in a familiar setting from Seinfeld's TV program. "The goal is to present a commercial that not only clearly positions the NSX as the ultimate 'must have' sports car, but does it in a way that is memorable, entertaining and aligned with Acura's brand position," said John Hage, EVP/executive creative director at rp&, Acura's AOR, in a statement. The Super Bowl campaign includes a pre-game release of a 1-minute, 50-second extended version of "Transactions," PR initiatives, search, seeding and paid media placements. The commercial will be featured in Acura dealerships across the country. Acura and W Hotels have a long-standing association that makes the brand the "preferred vehicle" of the luxury hotel chain. As such, the commercial will also be shown in-car on the MDX's rear-entertainment DVD screen during W Hotel guest rides. Acura's sibling, Honda, is also using a celebrity, Matthew Broderick, in a Super Bowl spot for the CR-V crossover that recreates the movie that made Broderick a star, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." There is a risk in using celebrities in Super Bowl ads, per media research firm Ace Metrix. The firm notes that last year, ads without celebrities performed 9.2% better than those with them.
NBC has signed Kia, Sprint and Starbucks as top-line sponsors for “The Voice,” the singing competition that became a surprise hit last year. It makes its Season Two debut after the Super Bowl Sunday. All three will have brand integration and related digital opportunities, starting with the post-Super Bowl broadcast and beyond. Kia will use the relationship to back a new cross-utility vehicle; performers will be seen driving the vehicle and using an in-car voice-activated communications system to receive advice before hitting the stage. There will also be a series of day-in-the-life Webisodes with Season One star Dia Frampton, who will also drive the Kia Sorento. Sprint, a sponsor last season, will again back a social media room, while sponsoring the voting across multiple platforms, including Facebook, and a synced-to-broadcast NBC Live online opportunity. It will also give contestants and others phones and tablets. A live stream on NBC.com with a social media correspondent addresses fan inquiries. Starbucks, which outside of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” does little national advertising, has been running an effort to help expand jobs in America and will back online content focused on “Voice” contestants helping local communities. During shows, a la Coca-Cola’s relationship with “American Idol,” there will be a Starbucks café for contestants’ friends and families during an audition stage, while contestants and coaches -- including Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine -- will be seen with an array of Starbucks beverages. Terry Davenport, a senior vice president at Starbucks, stated: “This collaboration will leverage our shared values -- music and community -- for opportunities to make a positive impact across the country..."
Pac-12 Enterprises has hired David Aufhauser as vice president and general manager of digital media. The hire comes as the subsidiary of the Pac-12 college conference is preparing to launch a series of new sports networks to showcase the teams of its participating schools. Fox and ESPN will continue to have rights to separate Pac-12 game packages. Aufhauser will oversee all aspects of the Pac-12’s digital business, as well as the creation and management of the Pac-12 Digital Network. The digital network will be aligned with the TV networks and enable the conference to distribute many more events that otherwise would receive no exposure. The digital network will feature hundreds of live Pac-12 athletic events and other original programming from the conferences' 12 campuses. It will offer live streaming, mobile technology and social TV capabilities, allowing consumers to watch Pac-12 events on an array of devices. The new network is expected to launch in August in time for the new college sports season. “We have an exciting opportunity to create a meaningful and lasting digital media platform to enrich our fans connection to the Pac-12 Conference,"stated Pac-12 Enterprises President Gary Stevenson. He cited Aufhauser's "knowledge, creativity and experience" as assets in the space. Aufhauser, was previously a vice president at Say Media, where he managed the global ad network. Previously, he was the chief business officer at video streaming company Justin.tv, heading up business development and strategy. Earlier, Aufhauser led business development and operations at Yahoo Sports. Before that, he held posts at Bebo, Citizen Sports, Evite and Netscape. Pac-12 recently hired longtime agency and network TV sales veteran Bill Cella as as chief revenue officer.
Angel Annussek has been promoted to vice president of original programming for truTV.
Are you marketing an original TV show on the Internet -- and hoping to get an audience of a decent size? You need to advertise on TV. At least that's what those behind Glenn Beck’s digital video efforts seem to think. A regular schedule of commercials has run on the likes of MSNBC, CNN and elsewhere (Fox News, we presume), encouraging viewers to sample Beck's online evening show, under a free trial, for 30 days. After that trial, for just Beck's main show, airing from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., it'll cost consumers $4.95 a month. Access to all of Beck's GVTV.com costs $9.95 a month, or $99.50 a year. You can get try the entire site under a free trial for 14 days. The spot has Beck -- on a TV set -- plainly asking people what they are doing between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., concluding with the marketing line, which is also on his website, that "The Truth Lives Here." You don't see much, if any, other TV marketing for original Internet shows. That’s because the marketing costs can be too high when weighed against possible ad revenue gains for those shows. Some digital executives would say that much of this isn't needed -- that social media and other buzz are enough to bring viewers and success to much more modestly budgeted Web-centric shows, some that can get 1 million or so regular viewers. Additionally, digital video executives tout the idea that social media -- more specifically, recommendations from friends and other people -- is much more effective these days than traditional paid advertising, especially for Internet video shows. The difference is that Beck's digital effort is targeted as a higher- hurdled paid-for news opinion TV project. Reports suggest Beck already has 230,000 monthly subscribers and is grabbing $27.6 million a year. Unlike many other original video shows on the Internet, Beck already has some built-in brand name appeal -- though not of the higher profile he had he was on Fox News. All this may sound like a good business, especially when targeting core Beck aficionados. Even though Beck is getting a tenth of the viewers his daily Fox News show received, these digital video revenue projections means it makes sense to spend some regular media money on daytime cable TV news networks. Whatever the political leanings of new digital TV show entrepreneurs, many will be watching.
It’s nice to see PBS back in the game. There was a time when discerning viewers looked to public television for cutting edge, high-end TV. But that was before HBO began producing innovative original programming, opening the floodgates to competition from the private sector that frequently overshadowed public television. Now “Downton Abbey” has recaptured the imagination of certain core PBS audiences: Anglophiles, dowager enthusiasts, and costume drama fans. The season-two premiere attracted twice as many viewers as PBS normally gets in prime time. More important it catapulted PBS back into the national conversation in a way it hadn’t been since “Brideshead Revisited,” which could generate audiences for other outstanding shows like “The American Experience” or “Frontline.” Of course we shouldn’t delude ourselves into thinking that “Downton Abbey,” which this season dramatizes the effect of World War I on the aristocratic Crawley family and its retainers, is as good as “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” “The Wire” or other recent great television series. It’s not even in the same league as “Upstairs Downstairs,” to which it is frequently compared. “Downton Abbey” is to “Upstairs Downstairs” as “Dallas” is to “Friday Night Lights.” One is a serious drama and the other is a romp. If a soap opera is a heavily plotted, relationship-focused, coincidence-dependent, continuing series in which the shenanigans of the characters advance the plot rather than explore how actual humans handle the vicissitudes of life, then “Downtown Abbey” is a soap opera. In the real world, would Lady Crawley remain so oblivious to the machinations of O’Brien, her malign lady’s maid? Would Bates, the long-suffering valet, continue time and again to sacrifice his own happiness for his exaggerated sense of honor? Would two soldiers missing for weeks at The Front materialize unexpectedly at Downton Abbey just as a morale-building concert for wounded officers reaches its emotional peak? I thought season one of “Downtown Abbey” was an amusing comedy of manners – a fun concoction of snobbery, Snidely Whiplash villains and elegant costumes revolving around a pre-war inheritance struggle. But then I made the mistake of going back to watch season four of “Upstairs Downstairs,” which also depicted the wartime experience of an upper-class family and its servants. The contrast exposed “Downton Abbey’s” lack of gravitas and spoiled the fun. Superficially, “Upstairs Downstairs” and “Downton Abbey” have much in common: an heir and a manservant off at war; a fuddy-duddy butler overly concerned with the lack of footmen; a cantankerous cook; a privileged young woman who volunteers to be a nurse; a somewhat dim kitchen maid; references to actual historical figures. But they are fundamentally different shows. “Upstairs Downstairs” is one of those rare old television dramas that is actually better than you remember. It’s a low-budget effort with primitive production values and no soundtrack, but the characterizations, dialogue, storytelling and portrait of an earlier era are as sharp as they are on “Mad Men.” Unlike “Downton Abbey,” where everyone besides elder daughter Mary Crawley (the one complex character on the show) is either odious beyond rehabilitation or has a heart of gold, “Upstairs Downstairs” features real people with flaws and strengths. They aren’t heroes or villains, just characters struggling with vanity, pride, fear and ambition. They rarely do or say anything that seems contrary to human nature. There are no unearned resolutions or sentimental breakthroughs between classes in “Upstairs Downstairs.” “Downton Abbey,” on the other hand, is all about sentimental endings and the warm glow of understanding that flows between people when conflicts are resolved. But where “Upstairs Downstairs” really outshines “Downton Abbey” is in its stark depiction of the war. Unable to dramatize trench warfare because of budget constraints, it relies on the testimony of the shattered men who return home. Their stories are heartbreaking and terrifying, given voice to a hell where millions of men were turned into so much cannon fodder. We are left with a bleak and nihilistic picture of war’s waste. “Downton Abbey” tries to depict the horrors of war, and it is undeniably sad when a significant character dies from his war wounds, but the mood is melodramatic, rather than tragic. The show’s truest moment is when the grievously wounded Mathew Crawley sees his mother approaching his hospital bed and begins to cry (what could be more primal than a grown man crying for his mother?) But the producers quickly cut away from this scene, apparently afraid to show raw human emotion. The problem is that the sensibility of “Downton Abbey” is sunny, not tragic. World War I, the most epically disastrous event of the 20th century, is not the right subject for a feel-good soap opera. It’s too bad the series couldn’t have just skipped the war altogether and jumped ahead to the Roaring Twenties. Looking back at “Upstairs Downstairs” today says a lot about how the audience for prestige television has evolved over the years. In the 1970s, a small but significant percentage of the population (educated upper-middlebrow Americans) had the patience and the attention span to watch what was essentially a staged play with only intelligent writing and solid acting to recommend it. That same audience in the 21st century needs to be catered to, challenged less and given more eye candy and tidier resolutions. I’ll keep watching “Downton Abbey” to see how the various couples sort themselves out, but I consider it a “guilty pleasure,” not one that requires a lot of brain cells. For more serious dramas I’ll head back to HBO, AMC or the rest of the PBS line-up.
Less programming usually means more viewers -- especially for sports and reality shows. ESPN is reporting that, through 14 NBA games, its total viewers are up 21%, to 2.1 million. And its numbers are 31% higher among 18-49ers -- a 1.7 average rating so far. The NBA, in the midst of a shortened season, seems to have pushed viewers to climb on board for what has been called a "sprint" finish. All of which reminds us of other stuff that may run longer than it should. "The Biggest Loser" has been holding down the fort for NBC over the last few years, doing all kinds of work with multiple programs and nights, and with many two-hour episodes. All that has meant some wear and tear on the show. Mind you, some networks have gone this route before. Think back a decade or more when ABC ran "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" almost every weekday night, giving the network a sharp short-term spike in which it won a rare 18-49 viewer crown. Then it came crashing down to earth, bringing the network down with it. It was too much, too long, and created viewer fatigue. In some ways, you can understand why the NFL works so well opposed to other sports -- especially ones with extensive numbers of post-season games. Just 16 NFL regular season games means more value for viewers and fans. Years ago, there was much talk that "American Idol" should try to run two seasons a year -- especially in what seemed to be the much more important big fall premiere period. Turns out Fox made the right decision, keeping it just to the spring, making it seem more special. Of course, this doesn't work for everything. The scarcity of, say, AMC's "Mad Men" over the last few seasons didn’t really give it a sizable bump in viewership when it returned to the air. If "Men" were more consistent -- as well as running a broadcast network-sized schedule of 22 episodes a year, rather than the typical cable slate of 13 -- that would be worse. In general, networks should give viewers what they want -- which usually means a lot less.