Forget the Colts vs Bears, forget smug Chicago fans and Manning apologists, the real game will be taking place when the clock is stopped. Topping $80,000 per second, PR people still say that if done properly a Super Bowl ad can still be a bargain.
What advertisers really crave is eyeballs -- millions and millions of them. And when it comes to delivering them all at once and in real-time, the Super Bowl has no equal, especially as TV viewership divides and sub-divides among the hundreds of channels now available on cable and satellite. "It's fragmentation-proof, or least fragmentation-resistant," said Jason Maltby, president of national broadcast for MindShare, a media-buying firm owned by WPP Group. "You are reaching almost 1 out of every 2 Americans. Nothing else in any media even comes close." In addition, "there is a much higher level of attention and engagement with the commercials," he added.
Minutes after the conclusion of the game, Google will have a link on its home page to a YouTube.com site featuring every single commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, which is anticipated to provide a nice post-show boost in advertising effectiveness, too.