Even the biggest TV and sporting event of the year isn’t enough to get smartphone addicts to look up. Or at least that’s what the game’s promoters and advertisers are counting on, as they offer interactive experiences to their potential customers.
In what is being marketed as the first “second screen” Super Bowl, the game’s promoters and advertisers are offering interactive experiences aimed at getting people to spend more money and time on mobile phones and devices.
Roughly 60% of Super Bowl viewers will use their phones during the game, says a survey by Velti, a mobile marketing firm. An E-Trade survey says 31% of viewers expect to use Facebook, and 6% will be on Twitter. “This is the first year where you’ll see fans using the cellphone more often than the remote,” says Krishna Subramanian of Velti. “Advertisers are trying to figure out how to leverage the second or third screen.
Verizon Wireless and the National Football League are partnering to live stream the game. This will be the first Super Bowl to be broadcast live to mobile phones, according to Verizon.
Be careful, says Public Knowledge, a communications advocacy group, live video streaming can be costly, if you’re already over your data limit, it can cost as much as $20 for a three-hour game.
Interactive ads will be plentiful. Shazam, known for its app that can identify a song being played, is moving into TV ads. It has signed with about half of all Super Bowl advertisers to run a Shazam logo on their ads. When you “tag” the ad with the app, it’ll take you to other pages or websites that offer more marketing info about the product. Tagging Toyota’s ad will enter you in a sweepstakes to win two Camrys. Best Buy is giving away a $50 gift card for a mobile phone. Cars.com will donate $1 to charity each time its ad is tagged, up to $100,000. Teleflora will issue coupons.
Shazam will also display a blog about the halftime entertainers and offer links to buy the performers music.
IntoNow, who offers an app that provides detailed information about TV shows as you’re watching them, is teaming up with Pepsi Max. Viewers who use IntoNow’s app to tag the ad will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a lifetime supply of Pepsi Max. Users will also be able to rate the Super Bowl ads, and replay 16 of them. Highlights of plays, stats, and relevant news articles and tweets will also be available.
Go Daddy will use a QR code on its commercials. Those who scan the code will be taken to its website, where they can view a longer, and somewhat racier version of the commercial.
Coca-Cola’s website, CokePolarBowl.com, will feature computer generated polar bears who will react to game plays, ads, and the halftime show. The “bears” will also tweet on the @CocaCola Twitter account on game day.
Will viewers actually stop watching TV to view more ads on their smartphones? Advertisers are counting on it.