Companies Buying 10-Second Mini-Mercials During "SportsCenter"
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MillerCoors To Begin Airing Mini-Mercials
During "SportsCenter" This Summer |
MillerCoors beginning May 15 will begin a two-month campaign for its Coors brand of "new 10-second billboards, called mini-mercials, that will run during evening 'SportsCenter' segments on ESPN," according to John Consoli of the N.Y. TIMES. A similar Miller Lite-themed campaign will begin in mid-July, while Asics "began a short flight on last Friday evening's 'SportsCenter' that will run through the end of this month." The goal of mini-mercials is to "bring more action to the traditional TV billboard that leads into 'SportsCenter' segments." The MillerCoors and Asics ads are "10-second commercials that show a person interacting with the products, and with a TV screen showing 'SportsCenter.'" As the commercial "winds down, viewers hear the 'SportsCenter' theme as the camera focuses on the product." The Miller Lite spot "shows two men in a living room opening up a Miller Lite and pouring it while turning on 'SportsCenter.'" In the Asics spot, a "man returns home after a run, turns on his TV to 'SportsCenter' and kicks off his sneakers." The spot "ends with a close-up of the Asics sneakers with the 'SportsCenter' theme song playing." The mini-mercials "run before traditional 30-second spots from those advertisers that appear during the regular commercial break." ESPN/ABC Sports Customer Marketing & Sales President Ed Erhardt said that for the "time being, the concept would be used solely on 'SportsCenter,' but that it could eventually appear in other ESPN programming." Consoli reports TV ad buying for both MillerCoors and Asics is handled by media agency Initiative, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies (N.Y. TIMES, 4/14).
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