A Super Bowl ad can reach 90 million viewers, but that does not guarantee success. Super Bowl XXXIV, which aired on ABC on Jan. 30, 2000, has infamously become known as the "Dot.Com" Bowl due to the 17 mostly rookie online or tech companies that purchased time at more than $2 million for 30 seconds.

Savvy marketers can escape this black hole of sponsorships, improving the impact of both individual sponsorships and their entire portfolio of sponsorships if they tackle three sets of issues.

There is no easy answer to the question posed by the headline of this column. Shifts in discretionary spending will become a permanent new normal for some and an aberration for others eager to resume the free-wheeling ways of just a few years ago.

The fact is the game is two days away, but where's the buzz? Why is it that with its increasing popularity, television ratings, great storylines and the championship matchup everybody wanted, why does it still seem like something is missing?