Insurers Target Pre-Game and Local Ad Time in Super Bowl Marketing Blitz
January 31, 2014 by Michael Buck, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Michael.Buck@ambest.com
OLDWICK, N.J. – “Peanuts” characters, private events, professional athletes and military participation are among the marketing tools insurers are deploying in the hopes of capturing the millions of eyes fixed on the NFL’s Super Bowl championship at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
While marketing plans vary, one similarity among insurers has emerged: making end-runs around expensively priced national in-game advertising slots, in favor of cheaper pre-game, post-game time or local ad time.Some insurers, including MetLife Inc., American Family Insurance, Starr Cos., Esurance and USAA are looking to the event to help push out and raise the profile of their brands with what is arguably the most-watched sports event in the United States. The game is to be held Feb. 2, pitting the Seattle Seahawks against the Denver Broncos in the NFL’s first cold-weather title match.
“It is the one time, once a year, that you get the largest TV-viewing audience that will cut across all demographic sets,” said Telisa Yancy, American Family’s vice president of marketing. The company will feature the only commercial with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
Some insurance advertising heavyweights have opted to forgo Super Bowl ads, like Berkshire Hathaway’s Geico; Farmers Insurance; Progressive and State Farm, according to respective company representatives. Communications firm Kantar Media estimates the average rate in 2013 for a 30-second ad in the Super Bowl was $4 million, making it by far the most expensive time on television.
MetLife is running a marketing blitz for a game that will be played in its namesake stadium. The company has ads planned for various sports networks starting mid-morning and has seven ad slots on Fox in the pre-game hours, including in one of the last airings before kickoff, said Richard Hong, vice president of global brand and marketing for MetLife.
“We made a decision not to be in the game proper because the game is at MetLife Stadium and you’re not going to be able to miss our branding throughout the actual telecast,” Hong said.
One of MetLife’s ads will feature “Peanuts” character Schroeder hunched over his piano playing The Star-Spangled Banner. Other MetLife ads will highlight the company’s employees benefits business, Hong said. Another MetLife ad features famous football players singing the national anthem.
Allstate Corp.’s direct-to-consumer unit, Esurance, will join the advertising fray, but in the post-game ad slots. This marks the first time the company bought national ad space associated with the Super Bowl. The in-game adjacent slot saved the company a bundle, it said in a statement.
“This is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world, and the fact that Esurance is on this stage for the first time speaks volumes to our positioning as a major contender in the insurance arena,” said Esurance Vice President of Marketing Darren Howard, in a statement.
A portion of the Esurance campaign will attempt to get consumers tweeting about the company. The company is running teaser ads in the week leading up to the Super Bowl saying “hashtag for the win,” a reference to categories on Twitter.
American Family will have some of its ads featured during the game, but those were bought on local ad time, not national, which offers significant savings, Yancy said. The insurer writes business in 19 states, primarily in the Midwest, so it didn’t need to reach a national audience. Because the company bought local air time, its ads will debut at different times in various media markets. Yancy said half of the ads will be aired during the pre-game show, while about a third will be during the game and the rest during the post-game show.
The company’s ad was a marketing coup for the Super Bowl, as it will be the only one featuring Wilson, the Seahawks starting quarterback. American Family and Wilson have a relationship that goes back some years, when Wilson became familiar with the insurer when he played football for the University of Wisconsin, the insurer’s home state. Yancy said American Family had their eye on him for some time.
“Not just because of his sports prowess, but because of his general philosophy on life; the way he approaches not just the game, but what he wants to do and achieve in his life. We thought he could be a champion for our dreamers,” Yancy said. “We went down that path more than a year ago.”
That was well before anyone had an inkling that Wilson would be in the big game. The insurer knew it wanted to partake in some form of Super Bowl advertising this year, and prepared two takes on the same ad: one if he made it to the big game and one if he didn’t. Inspiring and protecting dreams is the ad’s theme. The spot will also feature voice-over work from singer and actor Harry Belafonte.
Other companies, like USAA and Starr, chose to allocate their marketing resources to other forms of advertising. Starr signed on as a member of the New York/New Jersey host committee, an organization that raises money to fulfill obligations set forth in the bid document with the NFL, teams, hotels and other entities. Starr will have its logo on host committee materials and have it displayed inside the stadium, said Leilani Brown, chief marketing officer for Starr. The company is also sponsoring ancillary events, she said.
“This made sense,” Brown said. “We made the calculated decision to sponsor in this unique way and we feel strongly that it will pay off for us.”
USAA, the official military appreciation sponsor to the NFL, is tapping into the Super Bowl frenzy starting Feb. 1, when it and the NFL gives out its Salute to Service award during a televised program on the Fox network.
“The Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl are actually a culmination of a season-long initiative that we have with the NFL: It’s the salute to service initiative,” said Don Clark, a USAA assistant vice president for media and sponsorship marketing. “That really combines our collective desire to thank and honor the military community.”
The company will also host an event for some military members and their families Feb.1 at a New York City hotel that includes hall of fame quarterback Roger Staubach, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III and Chicago Bears cornerback Charles Tillman, Clark said.
USAA sells its products to current and former members of the U.S. armed forces and their families. The company is distributing thousands of Super Bowl programs to military members at bases across the globe, Clark said.
“All over the world, there are service members who come together to watch the Super Bowl,” Clark said. “It’s a great way for them to build camaraderie.”
