N.Y.-based Unicast Communications is giving three
companies "the chance to rise above the din" of ABC's
broadcast of Sunday's Super Bowl by previewing their Super
Bowl ads on its "inaugural SuperStitial Showdown and
sweepstakes," according to REUTERS. The Showdown previews
ads by MCI, Universal Pictures and kforce.com and can be
seen at www.supershowdown.com. Visitors to the site are
able "to vote for their favorite of the three ads" and, by
doing so, enter to win $10,000. Unicast VP/Marketing Allie
Shaw: "This promotion happening during the Super Bowl really
leverages what the Internet was designed to do, which is
preview things and then the Super Bowl takes place and the
users are able to communicate back to the advertisers."
Jupiter Communications Online Advertising Analyst Michele
Slack said that both Unicast and the advertisers "stand to
benefit substantially from the venture": "The advertisers
can expand the time that they have to connect with consumers
beyond the actual event of the Super Bowl itself." Shaw
said that Unicast "has approximately a dozen potential
advertisers that expressed interest" in the venture, but it
"wanted to narrow it to three distinctive companies." The
site will receive promotion on NFL.com and ESPN.com, as well
as six full-page ads in USA Today (REUTERS, 1/24).
