In N.Y., Nick Wingfield reports in a front-page piece a "new kind of advertising -- personalized and based on physical location down to a matter of feet -- will greet fans in Times Square and MetLife Stadium" during the days around Super Bowl XLVIII. The NFL has "sprinkled tiny wireless transmitters that can send finely tuned messages to smartphones." It is the "boldest test yet for a months-old technology that could change how brands of all sorts market to their customers." The transmitters, "often called beacons, will be in several hundred stores and public areas in the coming months, including at two dozen" MLB stadiums. NFL GM of Mobile Manish Jha said that the NFL "was not connecting personal and location data with its Super Bowl experiment" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/31).
SPELL IT OUT: AD AGE's Alex Kantrowitz noted SAP has built a large structure in Manhattan for Super Bowl Boulevard, and it is "fair to ask why SAP, a b-to-b company at its core, thinks it belongs." SAP Group VP/Global Sponsorships Chris Burton said, "We would not invest one dime on Broadway if we didn't think it could be, to use a sports metaphor, a game changer for SAP." He added that SAP's involvement is "what the future of b-to-b marketing will look like." Burton: "It's no longer about a Wall Street Journal ad, it's no longer about such and such runs SAP in an airport. We have to get out and show (potential customers) what the outcomes can be when SAP technology is put to work" (ADAGE.com, 1/30).
IT'S WORTH THE TRIP: ADWEEK's Christopher Heine reported Dunkin' Donuts on Tuesday night "published the first of three fun, historical, Super Bowl-themed Vines that will appear as animated, five-second commercials during ESPN's SportsCenter over the next few days." The spots are being "promoted via the Twitter accounts" for Dunkin' Donuts (495,000 followers) and ESPN (8.7 million followers), as well as Facebook pages "that collectively claim 21 million fans" (ADWEEK.com, 1/30).
THAT AIN'T PEANUTS: In New Jersey, John Brennan cites Front Row Analytics data showing that MetLife is "expected to receive" $32.4M in exposure from its sponsorship of the Meadowlands stadium during the Super Bowl broadcast on Fox. Based on the $4M cost of a 30-second commercial spot, it is "projected that MetLife will receive over four minutes of in-broadcast exposure during the game" (NORTHJERSEY.com, 1/29).
