K Car: Krzyzewski Appearing In Chevy Ad During March Madness

Driving The Lane: Krzyzewski Appearing In Chevrolet Spots

During CBS’ coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Thursday afternoon, GM’s Chevrolet aired two separate 30-second commercials featuring Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski talking about the brand. The first spot shows Krzyzewski standing on a basketball court surrounded by several Chevrolet trucks and saying, “In leadership, no word is more important than trust. You can trust Chevy, the brand more Americans choose.” In the second ad, Krzyzewski stands near two sedans and says, “Nothing is more powerful than the truth, and the truth is more Americans choose Chevy than any other brand.” The voiceover on both spots then describes details of the “Chevy NCAA March Madness” sales event (THE DAILY).

DOWN ON THE FARM: NCAA Corporate Partner State Farm is running two college basketball-themed ads during CBS’ tournament coverage. “Paint” opens with a State Farm agent telling a college basketball fan about how she can save him on insurance rates. The fan, who is wearing a cape and has his face and chest painted in blue and orange, barks after hearing about one discount, yells “Booyah!” after another, and then gives the agent a high five and does a celebration dance. The voiceover says, “Join our 40 millions fans as State Farm salutes NCAA March Madness. Call an agent today.” A new version of the “Brackets” ad that debuted last year opens with the copy “Car Insurance Finals” across the top of a “blackboard” in a locker; brackets list State Farm, Geico, Progressive and Allstate. Crowd noise is heard in the background. The question, “Who’ll go to the Big Dance?” than appears on-screen with Geico and Progressive being scratched out and State Farm and Allstate advancing to face each other in the finals. Then the question, “Who’ll drive to victory?" appears, followed by Allstate being scratched out and State Farm being written in as champion (THE DAILY).

SECTOR WATCH: CBS Sports Exec VP/Sales John Bogusz said that the financial-services sector is “one of the biggest advertising buyers” during the tournament with firms like State Farm, The Hartford, Charles Schwab and AIG all buying time on CBS’ coverage. Bogusz added that “other big buyers” are automotive and technology companies. Bogusz said that the price of 30-second ads ranges from $70,000 for first-round day games to $1.2M for the championship game. In Chicago, Becky Yerak reports Allstate, which advertised during last year’s tournament, “is sitting out this year.” Allstate’s Mike Siemienas: “In 2006 our focus is the Olympics, college football and NASCAR” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/17).

ONLINE: USA TODAY’s Theresa Howard reports marketers “spent about $100,000 for Web packages, including video-streaming ads.” Pontiac Marketing Dir Mark-Hans Richer, whose company is an NCAA Corporate Champion, said of companies marketing on TV, as well as online, “This is a seminal year; there’s a lot more going on in that space.” Pontiac has created its own “virtual tournament online and signed up more than 2,000 gamers,” and is also running ads on March Madness On Demand, CBS’ free online games offering. NCAA Corporate Champion Coca-Cola has increased its online advertising by 80% this year (USA TODAY, 3/17). Adams Media Research President Tom Adams called CBS’ Internet coverage a “perfect vehicle for niche broadcasts supported by advertising” (USA TODAY, 3/17).

ON CAMPUS, A GOOD PLACE TO BE: CNBC’s Donny Deutsch said of increased ad spending during the NCAA tournament: “It’s the great, great, great ‘little guy makes big’ story. It’s the ultimate American sporting event ... and it’s a great demo. It’s a very affluent demo, it’s a young demo. It cuts urban, it cuts rural. It cuts across everybody celebrating. It has both an upscale element to it and a mass element at the same time” (“Closing Bell,” CNBC). Ad Age Editor-in-Chief Scott Donaton: “Everything in advertising these days is heading towards ‘hit your target and don’t waste money on people who aren’t your target’ and that makes (March Madness) a better buy (than the Super Bowl) for advertisers” (“On The Money,” CNBC, 3/16).