Advertisers hope to score big

Some stalwarts pass on big game commercials while first-timers root for glory

A Budweiser Super Bowl ad featuring a Clydesdale was filmed at Warner Bros. studios. (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press/File 2008)

When the Arizona Cardinals face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, it will be Arizona's first trip to the NFL championships. But the team won't be the only newbie to the Big Game.

Alongside the requisite number of flashy movie previews, Budweiser Clydesdales, and peppy Pepsi ads, several rookie Super Bowl marketers will strut their stuff. Thanks to the down economy, which has caused some Super Bowl advertising veterans to sit this one out, ads from rookies - and marketers who are returning to the Super Bowl after sitting on the sidelines for years - will be more prevalent.

Newbies such as Teleflora, the flower delivery company, Castrol Motor Oil, Denny's restaurant chain, General Electric, and Pedigree dog food will have their first-ever Super Bowl ads this year. At the same time, Maynard-based Monster.com, the online jobs site, is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2004. And H&R Block, which last appeared in that year as well, also will be back.

Meanwhile, as the economy continues to crumble, so have the desires of some longstanding marketers to run commercials in the game. FedEx, which has run ads in 18 Super Bowls since 1989, will be absent this year. And only Anheuser-Busch and PepsiCo have spent more than General Motors on Super Bowl ads between 1998 and 2007, according to market researcher TNS.

But GM won't appear in the coming Super Bowl. For that matter, no US automaker is expected to appear, an obvious nod to economic issues that are crippling the auto industry.

At present, the only family restaurant advertiser that has said it will have a presence in the game is Denny's, though others may come forward in the next few days. In the past, the game has attracted such fast-food stalwarts as McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, and Quiznos. Likewise, no pharmaceutical marketer has said it will have a Super Bowl presence; in years past, the Super Bowl hosted a battle of the erectile-dysfunction drugs Cialis and Levitra.

Additionally, aside from E-Trade, few financial-services companies have lined up to advertise.

The absence of some of the usual suspects "might free up a little more inventory," said Jon Hickey, senior vice president of sports and entertainment marketing at Watertown's Allen & Gerritsen agency. "It's an opportunistic play if you've got the right message."

There's certainly good reason for some advertisers to stay clear of the Super Bowl in these tough economic times. Advertising time in this pigskin classic is among the costliest on television. NBC, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl for the first time 1998, sought around $3 million last spring and summer per 30-second spot, a record sum, compared to last year's initial asking price of around $2.7 million. The network found sales were brisk, and unloaded around 85 percent of its inventory by early fall. Since that time, however, activity slowed: NBC is telling media buyers it has less than 10 percent of its Super Bowl ad slots unfilled, mostly later in the game - and has been willing to negotiate on price.

Yet some marketers have discovered a Super Bowl berth can help them even when the economy is shaky. Audi of America hadn't advertised in the big game in years, but believes last year's appearance is helping it win over consumers, said Scott Keogh, the automaker's chief marketing officer. With the company continuing to launch products and publicity around the Super Bowl ad driving Web traffic, he said, "it was a no-brainer. We wanted to be back."

Absence of some of the Super Bowl's usual Goliaths doesn't mean the Davids have the field to themselves. Anheuser-Busch InBev will bring back its famous Clydesdales in several spots. Pepsi and Coca-Cola may end up fighting a savage cola war. DreamWorks and PepsiCo's SoBe Lifewater will team up to offer commercials in 3D with New England Patriots tackle Matt Light.

"I think there are some advertisers who buy Super Bowl spots because of ego, pure and simple, and some who think it is the best way to launch a brand but forget that they have to have money to sustain the campaign," said John Verret, associate professor at Boston University's College of Communication. "Still others may belong in the Super Bowl but come away disappointed with the results because they didn't invest in great creative at a time when viewers are expecting the very best you have to offer."

Many of the advertisers have corporate strategies to promote, rather than a yen to see their commercials talked about for hours and days after the game. Teleflora, for instance, will be making its debut with snarky talking flowers touting what the delivery company already promotes as "the Teleflora difference."

Monster has a redesigned website and new functions it wants to drive consumers toward, said Ted Gilvar, executive vice president and chief global marketing officer.

"The decision came out of product innovation," he said, adding: "We would never spend the resources to be in the Super Bowl if we didn't think it was going to drive business."

And Denny's had long been preparing a campaign to "reintroduce" its Grand Slam breakfasts, said Mark Chmiel, the restaurant company's chief marketing officer. Its ads will tell consumers that Denny's offers "real breakfasts" of eggs, bacon, and sausage, not "candy breakfasts - whipped cream and lollipops and pancakes," he said.

The company even hired a new ad agency, he said, and has planned for a print ad to appear near USA Today's annual Super Bowl coverage the day after the game. Without a broader business plan, Chmiel said, even a Super Bowl ad can fail.

"I think you need the legs underneath it," he added. "I don't think it's the end-all. That's for sure."

Brian Steinberg is the television editor of Advertising Age.