I love the NFL

For those who love American Football, the Super Bowl is an interesting event, even more so if you are a business owner.

The interesting thing for this event is the cost to advertise it. With a viewing public of over 111 million, a 30-second slot is around $5 million dollars!!!! The most expensive slot of advertising in the world. With the event estimated to generate over a quarter of a billion dollars in advertising sales…Wow!!!

The whole world is watching

The reason I bring this up is that we need to understand why the hell any firm would pay that much? The simple answer is that tiny or large space in between your ears. Your mind. For a brand to insert itself in a potential customer’s mind is invaluable. Coke and Pepsi having been fighting tooth and nail for that tiny space that sits in your head which is called ‘soft drink cola’.  So that whenever you think of buying a cola drink their name pops into your head first.

An expensive war to wage

To put this in a further context, the battle for your mind is worth a lot more than any physical space. The cost of the last Gulf War was estimated at around $150,000 per minute. A mere bargain compared to a Super Bowl advert, something with a lot less horrific consequences.

That’s why small and medium sized companies really need to pick their fights carefully. Advertising at the best of times is fraught with making difficult decisions. This is further compounded when you try and get your message to say too much and to a very broad audience. Really see what is winnable, where can you really get some breakthrough, and are you going to get into someone’s head or not. Cos if you ain’t, it’s better to just put your feet up and watch the game…