"Super Bowl Ad Placement Key to Brand Recognition"

From Sport Marketing Association

Analysis by Jessalyn Stone in KIN 501

The largest football game of the year, the Super Bowl, was played on February 2, 2014 and as always the cost for the advertisement slots were steep. On average the cost for a 30-second commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl cost $4 million. According to sports marketing researchers the companies whose commercials are aired earlier in the game, particularly during the first and last block of commercials in the first period, also referred to as pods, will have a greater likelihood of brand recognition. Accordingly the effectiveness of advertising decreases as the game goes on while it peaks in the earlier game quarters. Specifically the commercials during the first and last commercial breaks of the first quarter of the game, yield the greatest results if the goal of the advertisement is to increase awareness of brand among sports viewers. Based on this research advertisers can gain a better understanding of when the most ideal time is to place an ad in a commercial break of the Super Bowl to maximize brand awareness as well as knowing how to increase advertising rates during the prime “pods”.

From a sports marketing standpoint research provided in this article could be very beneficial to advertisement and the goals of those specific ads. With this particular research it discusses the goals of advertisements as a means to increase brand recognition. That could be a very beneficial tool for companies knowing how to place ads, especially during the Super Bowl. If however ad recognition is already very well known the company should instead focus on what quarter of commercials to place their ad. Although this research isn’t full proof it can provide valuable information to marketing agencies. This particular year however this research was proven to not be entirely true. The overall number 1 commercial of the Super Bowl occurred during the 2 minute warning of the last quarter of the game. There obviously are other factors to consider as well including the target audience and how the audience is being drawn in by the ad.

Throughout this course we talk about how to target specific populations and how to appeal to a variety of individuals. The Super Bowl obviously is a key example of a large variety of individuals that are viewing the same thing. People of all ages, ethnicities, incomes, regional areas and so on are all viewing the same event. Marketing is used to try and appeal to all kinds of people. Knowing how to target a variety of audiences while getting your branding to the audience is a very important component. Articles such as this one can be utilized in this class to try and focus on the goals of marketing.

"KD well past tired of talking about LeBron"

From ESPN.com

Analysis by John Kim in SRM 334

In every sport, there are elite players and the media always try and compare to determine who the best player is. In recent years, LeBron James of the Miami Heat and Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder are considered one of the best players in the National Basketball Association. Even though they were compared for a few years now, the debate has fired up even more this season due to the fact that Kevin Durant is considered by many experts to likely take the Most Valuable Player Award after James has received it the past two seasons (Wallace, 2014). After the endless debate about these two players and the constant questions that they receive, Kevin Durant said that he is tired of being questioned about James. However, James told the press that he has no issues addressing questions about Durant (2014).

The media has been comparing elite athletes for a while now and it could be too much for both the athletes and the audiences. Even though many athletes are not too thrilled about the media asking them questions about other athletes constantly, the media keeps bombarding athletes about other players or potential rivals. The media’s intentions for comparing athletes could be to relate to the audience and promote drama; if players are compared and the media creates a “rivalry” between the players to relate to other audiences that are not so interested in sports, it could cause the audience to be interested. Also, sports audiences are interested on what the athletes say about their rivals, so they will tune into interviews, thus creating more views benefiting the media. 

This article is relevant to our course because we have constantly talked about the drama that the media creates and how it attracts both audiences that are extremely passionate about sports or not so passionate about sports. By releasing stories that include rivalries and dramas, the media relates to the audience and attracts them to what interests them. Even though Kevin Durant stated that he was tired of being questioned about James, the media will not stop asking questions about James or other athletes because people want to hear what Durant has to say about other players that he is compared with.

"N.F.L. Prospect Michael Sam Proudly Says What Teammates Knew: He’s Gay"

From The New York Times

Analysis by Tyler Brecht in SRM 334

The 2014 draft could be a huge milestone for the future of the NFL and the players in the league. Michael Sam was a defensive lineman for the Missouri Tigers in the 2013 season. He was a defensive star for the Tigers with 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. This helped Sam achieve a 12-2 season with a bowl win, Missouri's MVP, and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. The curiosity of what this athlete could do in the professional stage was on everyones mind. This was before Michael Sam announced something that would change the way fans, future coaches, future teammates, and the media would view Michael Sam possibly for the rest of his career. On February 9, 2014 Michael Sam openly came out about his sexuality. He did so before the draft in order for the media attention to hopefully simmer down before he starts his rookie career. Michael Sam would be the first player to go into the NFL being openly gay in a prospective third round pick(Branch, 2014). With the possibility of changing the way the NFL has functioned since its existence, the media is going to take no day off from this young man.

Michael Sam first coming out has since been the beginning of the media attention that have spiraled around this player. One event came from the support of his own school prior to a home basketball game. Fellow students created a manmade wall to block off protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church in order to rally around Sam's homosexuality(Patterson, 2014). Sam has also received support from our President, Barack Obama, and his first lady. Obama said to Charles Barkley, "I really like the fact that Michael did it before the draft, because his attitude was, 'You know what? I know who I am. I know I can play great football and judge me on the merits.(Patra, 2014)" With support from others outside the league the question of how future teammates would respond came into question. ESPN took a poll from 51 current NFL players asking how they would feel around a openly gay teammate. The results were that they were comfortable knowing he was gay, but the issue was whether they would have to behave differently around him and how they would relate to him(Goessling, 2014). Another problem raised when two CFL players were fined for their remarks on social media towards Michael Sam.

The real question is wether Sam's plan of dispersing the media attention before game day to focus on football is really going to work. There are going to be many future days were the media is going to have easy coverage of Michael Sam including the NFL draft, Missouri's pro day, the NFL Combine, and preseason attention. I think that it was a courageous act to pave the way for future gay athletes trying to make it to the big leagues. With that said Sam must be ready for the amount of media scrutiny coming his way. The media has a reason to give the amount of attention to this athlete because it is a game changer. Other athletes waited until they were retired from the game. Most likely the attention will fade away once they see what he can do on a professional field. Michael Sam may not be the only one receiving negative media attention from his actions. Other players and teams might be criticized for their actions because of his sexuality. Johnny Manziel is a great quarterback entering the draft, but might be overshadowed in his early career due to Michael Sam. Also, teams not willing to draft Sam because of team chemistry might be criticized. Teams might also have to worry about their players' remarks towards Sam's sexuality. In the case of the CFL two players were fined for their remarks(Alper, 2014).

This current event is important to understand in media for knowing that media affects everyone. Stakeholders are important to understand. Sports Information Directors are challenged with confidential information all the time and must know what to do in that situation. Before going to the media they must know how it will affect the stakeholders involved. No matter what media will always be there and it is important to understand the correct steps in approaching it. It was Sam's advisor's decision to allow Sam to release this confident information to the media before draft day knowing the consequences that would arise from the media. All this attention will not be set aside either. Future events will bring the topic back to surface and the media and those involved must be ready for it. With the new communication model in today's world, many forms of media can address this issue. It is important for those to look at the feedback in order to learn what to do in these situations.