• by Carrie Cummings , January 20, 2013

As Super Bowl XLVII approaches, many marketers and advertisers are scrambling to find ways to ensure maximum returns on their ad spends.

Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and co-author of the annual Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review, has some suggestions for marketers and advertisers who want to get the most out of their Super Bowl buy: 

• Start early: People start talking about the Super Bowl well before the game actually happens. This is true for both the teams and the advertisers. To get the most from an ad buy, a company should launch PR and social media campaigns several weeks before the game starts.

• Focus on branding: One of the most common mistakes advertisers make is that they neglect to focus on the brand; in a bid to attract attention they focus on the creative elements and the brand gets lost. If viewers don’t know exactly who is advertising and for what, the ad will fall flat.

• Launch a campaign: The most successful Super Bowl advertisers think of the game as just one part of a larger marketing campaign. So when creating a spot, it is important to consider how the creative can extend into other marketing elements. What comes next?

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