Wharton Future of Advertising

The Super Bowl is to Madison Avenue as the Oscars are to Hollywood: all eyes are on us.  Who will win and who will lose?  We’re talking Brands as much as Baltimore.  Social Media as much as San Francisco.  And everyone is rooting for a close game right down to the final whistle.

The Tradition Continues

The Wharton Future of Advertising Program will be hosting the 3rd Annual Wharton Future of Advertising Program’s Super Bowl Ad Tweet Meet during the Big Game, featuring industry luminaries, witty pundits, Wharton professors and social-savvy students to offer live commentary on the ads.  We’ll all be at our respective parties, and some may even watch the game, but our job will be to lean into the TV, our tablets and our smartphones for the ads, listen with our Future of Advertising ears, take the pulse of the room and tweet out real time.  Just include the #whartonfoa hashtag to join the conversation.

This year’s line up includes Scott Goodson @scottfrog, CEO of StrawberryFrog, and the co-founder of the event, along with fellow Wharton FoA Global Advisory Board members and Blue Focus Marketing’s own powerhouse, Cheryl Burgess @ckburgess.  More panelists are confirming daily (some dropped out because they are going to the game. What??) so check back on the Wharton FoA Super Bowl Ad Tweet Meet page for updates.

Why Watch?

The 2013 Super Bowl Ad landscape is shaping up to be more interesting than ever.  The Ads during the game, and all that brands and their fans are wrapping around them, provide a focused lens for how the industry continues to be redefined by investment, innovation and experimentation.  Join us starting today for pre-game chatter at #whartonfoa, to learn, share and collaborate as this bigger than life event rolls out real time. If you can’t make it for pre-game chat, make sure you join us for Super Bowl coverage on Twitter. You also can follow our panelists and all #whartonfoa tweets on our Twitter stream online.

How important is the Super Bowl to the future of advertising?  Here’s where we see it fitting in.

  1. Spend.  Advertisers are spending more than ever on this play, from $3.7m to$3.8m for a 30-second spot on this one, single medium on this one, single night.  It’s a big bet, just for the price of entry.  With such a big wager, how are brands ensuring that they place a winning bet during the game?  How have they connected with the rest of their advertising AND marketing spend to complement and enhance the media outlay?
  2. Secret.  Or not?  This is not a question of whether an advertiser should or should not release some or all of the ad before hand.  The question is who should release it to the public for consumption and sharing before the big game, how and why? And perhaps more interesting, do the ads suggest any secrets to be unveiled, and conversations to be generated after the game?
  3. Social & Screens.  It’s official: compelling research shows that the more sharing, the more fame, the better for the brand.  Online or offline, positive talk about your ad creates social capital, especially on a scale as the Super Bowl.  How will advertisers enable the conversation and keep it going?  Who collaborates, enables and empowers their audience best? With data showing that two-thirds of TV viewers are using multiple screens, how are marketers planning and orchestrating across tablets, smartphones, TV and more.
  4. Story.  How do the ads touch our core?   What do we remember?  What is it about the creative that rises above the clutter and captures our attention?  And our heart?  So much so that we want to talk about it.  And we want to be associated with it.  Or does the story have the opposite effect?
  5. Success.  Did people make a purchase as a result of the ad?  Or are the brands using it as part of a bigger ecosystem and bigger data analytics to impact ROI?  How do they measure success? Is it about the touchdown or the whole season?  The team on the field or the whole franchise?
  6. Social Impact. What happens when an ad is more than an ad?  What happens to the returns for the brand and to the impact on society? Should advertisers care? What if empowered consumers made them care through social media?  How do entertainment, aspiration and escapism fit into social good creation?

Join our Super Bowl Ad Tweet Meet Party for real-time tweets from pre-game to kickoff and help co-create the future. #whartonfoa, @whartonfoa and wfoa.wharton.upenn.edu/superbowlads

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