While some of us may not admit it, part of the reason that we watch the Super Bowl more intently than we might other games is that the commercials are always better than that of any other game. Television advertising execs know that their advertisers have your undivided attention and charge the advertisers accordingly.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that CBS had sold out of its online advertising inventory for its online presentation of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament. They billed this inventory to their advertisers as something that was “un-DVR-able”, meaning that none of these ads can be fast-forwarded, unlike their television counterparts.
So what you have is a several-weeks-long series of sporting events, many of which take place during what would be considered off-peak hours, to an audience that cannot fast-forward commercials. What’s more is that many of these viewers, while transfixed by tournament play, may not even watch basketball regularly. Add this to the fact that this is costing (or soon will be) costing advertisers an arm and a leg, assuming the law of supply and demand.
What you end up with is a situation in which advertisers may have one really good shot at reaching an audience that they may not otherwise reach, and to do so uninterrupted. So, as an advertiser, you had really better make it count. Hopefully, we’ll see big agencies and advertisers alike stepping up the online advertising for this sort of thing to the level of commercial that you see during the Super Bowl. After all, if you have to watch a commercial, it may as well be worth watching.
#marchmadness #digitalmedia
