Volkswagen Confident In Value Of Super Bowl Commercials

Volkswagen of America VP/Marketing Tim Ellis said that the brand is returning as a Super Bowl advertiser "due to the positive results it saw" after airing a spot during last year's Super Bowl broadcast, according to Eleftheria Parpis of ADWEEK. Ellis said that "page views of niche models" on the Volkswagen website were up 82% after last year's Super Bowl ad, the brand's first since '01. Volkswagen used the game to launch its "Punch Dub" campaign, and the spot was "viewed more than 1 million times online, with 680,000 views alone on YouTube." This year, Volkswagen will employ "a YouTube takeover the day after the game, where a 60-second version" of a commercial for the '12 Passat will be available for viewing. Ellis said that the "push will also include outdoor, print, experiential marketing and 'innovative mobile media.'" He added, "TV is king. There is no doubt about that, but more important is a completely integrated campaign" (ADWEEK.com, 1/26).

TECH SAVVY: Bud Light yesterday announced the "Unlock the Spot" promotion, allowing fans of the Anheuser-Busch brand's Facebook page to guess the storylines of each of its three Super Bowl spots. If fans correctly identify the storyline of all three by Feb. 5, Bud Light will offer them access to an Internet-only 90-second ad ahead of its slated release after the Super Bowl. Bud Light has begun posting images of the ads on its Facebook page, with two additional images from each ad to follow over the next several days. Bud Light's plans for the game also extend to on-site activation in Dallas at the Bud Light Hotel, where the brand will become the first to build an official Radio Frequency Identification application on Facebook for guests (A-B).

GUESS WHO'S BACK? Old Spice yesterday announced the launch of its latest series of ads starring actor Isaiah Mustafa as the Old Spice Guy. Highlighting the brand's Fresh Collection, the campaign will include one 30-second and two 15-second spots, as well as print and digital execution. The first commercial, via Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, debuts Feb. 7, the day after the Super Bowl (Wieden + Kennedy). In Portland, Allan Brettman reported Old Spice will "benefit from the Super Bowl ... without actually being in the Super Bowl commercial lineup." Old Spice's initial ad in the series aired the day after last year's Super Bowl, and the "close proximity to the big game, combined with the blase response to actual Super Bowl ads, contributed to the perception later in the year that the commercial actually aired during the Super Bowl" (OREGONLIVE.com, 1/26).