It has been only a year since the formal announcement of MetLife’s naming-rights deal with the New Jersey stadium that the NFL Giants and Jets call home. Super Bowl plans for 2014 at the venue are not close to being set. Still, Beth Hirschhorn, MetLife executive vice president of global brand, marketing and communications, has something to talk about — but she knows it will need more definition to have the impact MetLife wants, especially in an insurance category, where marketing spending has escalated to an astounding $3 billion a year. “We’re already the most-viewed brand of any NFL stadium sponsor, but it has to be about more than signage,” Hirschhorn said. Now the heavy lifting starts. “We’ve seen the kind of improvement we wanted as far as adding dynamism to a brand that was already considered strong and trusted,” she said. “Now it’s about creating an engaging experience for all the people who walk through the stadium [2 million a year] with complementary brand attributes. … It really is amazing how much this industry has woken up to marketing, but the challenge is to spend smart. Anyone can spend more.”