NBC tonight broadcasts Packers-Seahawks to open the '14 NFL season, and some of the "biggest names in marketing are introducing ads," while other brands "are to start new initiatives over the weekend or next Thursday," when CBS begins its new package of primetime games, according to Stuart Elliott of the N.Y. TIMES. GE and its creative agency, BBDO, tonight will roll out a "two-minute commercial about a 'boy who beeps' and can communicate with machines, part of an effort to promote GE’s role in what the company calls the industrial Internet." During college and NFL games this weekend, Lincoln Motor Co. "will bring out the initial ads in a multiyear campaign" featuring actor Matthew McConaughey that promotes the '15 Lincoln MKC. Among other marketers "using the new football season as a launching pad for campaigns are Aflac, Braun, Campbell’s Chunky soup, GMC, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Nationwide, USAA, Verizon, Visa, Xbox and Levi’s, whose campaign is centered on its inaugural season" as the 49ers' stadium naming-rights sponsor. Elsewhere, Frito-Lay's Doritos brand will, "for the ninth time, sponsor a contest called Crash the Super Bowl, which gives the public a chance to create two commercials that will be shown during the game." NFL Exec VP Mark Waller said that the league tonight is "capitalizing on the draw of football" to promote its NFL Now over-the-top service and today planned to announce "a partnership with NBC’s 'Today' show for weekly fan-focused segments carrying the theme 'Together we make football,' which will be produced by NFL Films and narrated by Josh Elliott" (
N.Y. TIMES, 9/4).
GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS: In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Terry Lefton reports 11 league sponsors "will activate at the Thursday night opener, where a concert with Pharrell Williams and Soundgarden precedes" Packers-Seahawks. Tostitos, which is now "activating behind the NFL after dropping its 18-year title sponsorship" the Fiesta Bowl, is "launching a seasonlong campaign called 'Party Challenge.'" Anheuser-Busch "will sponsor both a VIP beer garden at the concert and a post-concert party." A-B "is expected to continue its 'Up For Whatever' reality campaign from the last Super Bowl." Pepsi "will push out an 'All For Football' campaign via digital, at points-of-sale and with restaurant partners Buffalo Wild Wings and Papa John’s." Pepsi's "Get Hyped for Halftime" Super Bowl campaign "has been moved to a November launch" (
SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/1 issue).
