You know what the term pre-gaming refers to, but that's not how I'm using it in this blog post, well, not exactly. I'm using the term pre-gaming in the sense that I believe advertisers are metaphorically trying to make you "drunk" with their ads before the ads air during the upcoming Super Bowl. How are they doing this? In recent years, advertisers have learned to become more efficient with their advertising expenditures. After all, does anyone really think $3 million for a 30 second ad is worth it? Perhaps if you calculate the value based on CPM it may constitute an effective "reach" if the audience is large enough. But exposure does not equal effectiveness, as consumers don't necessarily pay close attention to television advertising, even the Super Bowl ads. My favorite example of this phenomenon relates to the results of the day-after recall surveys that oftentimes indicate that consumers mistake a brand like Tostitos for Doritos, even though it is the latter that is paying the big bucks for the Super Bowl ad. So, how do advertisers defend against this? Extending the relationship beyond exposure to the 30 second TV commercial is one way of engaging the consumer in an experience that I'm calling pre-gaming. The pre-gaming to which I refer to involves multiple opportunities for consumers to deepen their experience with a brand, product or service. Doritos stands out for its consumer generated advertising (CGA) effort. But other corporations, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, are engaging in this tactic: Pedigree dog food, E*Trade, Cars.com, Pepsi's SoBe, and CareerBuilder.com, among others. Opportunities abound this year to engage with the brand on perhaps a deeper level and in a more sustained way.
I attempt to do similar things in my courses: provide experiences that extend our learning community beyond the classroom. Think about the numerous ways we "engage" this semester on Netvibes the course aggregator, the Wetpaint Wiki, and the blog sites. I know students are often distracted during class, this is particularly so when we convene in a computer lab where, instead of focusing on the work at hand, students send email, text-message, and of course, check out their Facebook page. Did I mention day-dreaming? For me, utilizing social software is an attempt--my experiment--to engage students beyond the classroom (the classroom is s-o-o-o 20th Century). Learning through contextual experiences, and participating in simulations are alternative ways to create and maintain a learning community. You'll let me know how well this works in our class by the end of the semester.
The Super Bowl extravaganza takes place in a much shorter time frame, so the intensity and forcefulness of the engagement must be up to the task. I've got a little more time. Advertisers want you to engage with their brand, knowing that 30 seconds isn't enough time to do so. Water-cooler talk that takes place the day after the game (post-gaming) helpful in extending the experience of the brand, but interactive websites, games, contests and other on-line activities are more immersive. In this way education and advertising have something in common: we both want you to pay attention, engage deeply with our content, and learn something as a result of the experience. I hope what I'm doing appeals to a higher cause; marketers just want you to buy a six-pack.
Pre-gaming is a way for consumers to deeply engage with brands, products and services through their interactions on web sites and through social media. For those of you who are considering imbibing alcohol prior to the Super Bowl, I offer this alternative. Pre-game with the brands and all the engaging activities marketers have to offer. Fat chance.
3 comments:
Reading over this blog and taking a few minutes to think about it, I think that advertisers have the right idea here. Being a consumer of Super Bowl ads myself, I have to be honest and say that I don’t pay close attention to every single commercial. I only find myself paying close attention to the commercials that I look forward to seeing, like the beer ads. The rest I sort of ignore to some extent. Even the ones that I do pay close attention to are over in 30 seconds. I watch it, I laugh (hopefully), and then I move on. Super Bowl commercials never really seem to have a huge impact on me. Just because a Bud Light commercial is funny doesn’t mean I am going to go right out and buy some Bud Light. That is why I think it is crazy that advertisers pay millions of dollars just to have Super Bowl ads.
Therefore, I think this idea of “pre-gaming” is a smart idea. For advertisers, why spend millions of dollars on just a visual if consumers are not going to take action towards participating in the brand/product? I believe that the only way for one to really decide if they are interested in something is to participate/become involved with the brand/product. Giving consumers the chance to experience things first hand only raises the likelihood that they will like it.
I do feel that this same concept does go along with learning in the classroom. If everyone were to just sit and listen to lectures everyday and not get involved with anything else, I don’t think that they would be experiencing as much as they could. This is just like sitting and watching a TV ad. If we as consumers don’t go out and take the opportunity to engage with products, brands or services in other ways then really what is the point of advertising.
I really do think that this idea of “pre-gaming” that marketers have is a great idea. It would be very interesting to see what this “pre-gaming” is all about, how it works, and how many individuals choose to participate.
One brand that I have noticed "pre-gaming" their Super Bowl ads is Miller High Life. Recently, they have been running a 30 second spot explaining why it is so ridiculous that advertisers pay $3 million for a commercial that runs only 30 seconds. They say that they don't see the logic in running an ad for that much money. Instead, they plan on running 1 second ads throughout the Super Bowl at a $100,000 each. They say the reason for this is to make their message short and to the point. Their campaign is really clever because people will certainly be looking out for it, trying to catch it in the midst of all the other 30 second commercials. Advertising like this during the Super Bowl has been unheard of in the past so even the fact that it is only a one second commercial does enough to create buzz for the brand. It is a concept that also may resonate well with spectators especially during a time of such turmoil in our economy. If people associate Miller High Life with not being wasteful with money in light of current events, they may see the beer brand as somewhat of a down to earth brand. I agree with Ali, this may not make people get up and go out with the intention to buy that specific beer, but it creates an identity for the brand even for those who don't necessarily drink it. To be honest, I never see Miller High Life much in advertising and would never pin it up against the likes of Coors or Bud Light advertising, but they are certainly putting their best foot forward in this years Super Bowl and breaking through a lot of other advertising. I think it will be interesting to see how others measure up to their ground-breaking and risky campaign.
Unfortunately (or fortunately), I was beaten to the punch, but I had wanted to comment on the Miller High Life pre-commercial in class last Thursday. Like Dr. Alperstein and others have commented, this idea of previewing the long-awaited commercials even before Super Bowl day is something new, and widely used this year. In my opinion, Miller High Life had the right idea. At least two weeks before the Super Bowl was to air, my boss told me about the brand's 30-second commercial that was created to generate buzz about their "revolutionary" 1-second spots. Obviously, I went online to check it out and was pleasantly surprised to find the rejected 1-second commercial ideas. They were hysterical. Some of them had absolutely nothing to do with the beer (example: the guy barking), but if you had seen the pre-commercial you knew exactly what was going on. In my opinion...genius. If you can figure out a way to get people's attention AND save money, more power to you! Because of the brand's preview, I found myself much more aware, and practically waiting in anticipation, for these 1-second ads. I didn't want to miss them! I'm not sure if I was distracted by the ridiculous amounts of food in the my room, or simply involved in conversation, but I only saw one or two of the 1-second spots. I found myself pretty disappointed. Whether or not I missed more that were aired, I agree with the previous comments in that "pre-gaming" was a smart idea. It certainly had me!
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