While advertisers "gently declined to make an explicit comparison" between the CFP and the Super Bowl, they view the CFP as a "deeper dive into a world of college football that is about fans’ deep attachments to their favorite universities," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. AT&T Mobility CMO David Christopher said, "College sports is a huge priority for us, and college football is a real bright spot.” AT&T used a quartet of former NFLers in a "series of humorous ads that were designed specifically for the Playoff." Allstate Senior VP/Marketing Lisa Cochrane said, “I’ve never referred to this as another Super Bowl, but it’s a wonderful, fresh new opportunity.” She said that Allstate on Jan. 1 used the Sugar Bowl "as a launching pad for new ads." Sandomir noted the new ads are "an eight-episode arc of 'Mayhem' commercials." Subsequently, traffic to mayhemsale.com "reached 30 million page views." Cochrane said, "I was dancing in the hallways of the Superdome because of what we were seeing. It happened right away, with the first spot. People got the message that it wasn’t just another ‘Mayhem’ spot, but about how cool ‘Mayhem’ was.” Allstate "shifted its strategy on Friday away from returning to Mayhem in the final to a campaign that first broke last month targeting young households" (
N.Y. TIMES, 1/10).
MAS POR MENOS: AD AGE's Jeanine Poggi cites sources as saying that while ESPN "is not officially sold out of the game, there are just a handful of units left" for tonight's game. Taco Bell plans to run three ads during tonight's game, and CMO Chris Brandt said that the cost of those spots in the Super Bowl "would be astronomical." Brandt: "The Super Bowl is only one day and with (college) we can be part of it through the college football season, the semi-finals and two weeks building up to the finals" (AD AGE, 1/12 issue). Meanwhile, ADWEEK's Christopher Heine reports Allstate and Dr Pepper were the only advertisers during the CFP semifinals to approach those games via social media "with the same kind of real-time vigor typically reserved for TV's biggest events." Both brands "tweeted dozens of times that day while also posting via Facebook and Instagram." The results "will likely give social marketers reason to rethink their strategies" for the CFP. Digital marketing consultant David Deal said, "More brands will treat the football playoffs next year like they do the NCAA basketball tournament -- as an opportunity to create conversation throughout the entire playoff" (ADWEEK, 1/12 issue).
