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Check Out Line: PepsiCo offers up to $5 million for amateur Super Bowl ads

Check out how you can earn $1 million by wearing an electric dog collar.

Okay, not exactly. That was the punch line of a successful amateur ad this year created for PepsiCo’s Super Bowl commercial contest, which the food and beverage company is running again for the 2011 Super Bowl with a prize pool of up to $5 million.

Makers of the best ads for zero-calorie Pepsi Max soda and Doritos chips can win $1 million for an ad that scores No. 1 on a USA Today ad poll, $600,000 for No. 2 and $400,000 for the third spot. A sweep of all three spots earns a $1 million bonus for each winner.

Pepsi ran four ads during the 2010 Super Bowl. A 30-second spot during the National Football League championship game tends to run about $3 million. That electric-collar ad — in which a man winds up with the collar around his neck while the dog makes off with his bag of Doritos — was ranked one of the best of the Super Bowl in many post-game surveys.

You could put up with getting shocked a few times for that, right?

Also in the basket:

Olympic Gold for Coke, McDonald’s and Visa

When is Olympic sponsorship money well spent? A Performance Research poll shows it may depend on how the funds are used.

Coke, McDonald’s and Visa dominate consumer awareness when it comes to the Olympics, according to a study by the Rhode Island-based research firm that evaluates the sponsorship industry.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans polled confirmed the Olympic sponsorship of Coke and McDonald’s, followed closely by 66 percent for Visa, Performance Research said. Those three companies also were listed as having consumers’ favorite Olympic TV commercials and doing the most to support the Games.

“They start their advertising early and they’re continuous with it,” Performance Research President Jed Pearsall said of the three companies’ success. “They’re always reminding people they’re Olympic sponsors.”

Other sponsors trailed far behind in consumer awareness — AT&T (36 percent), Procter & Gamble (27 percent), Polo Ralph Lauren (26 percent), GE (25 percent), Samsung (24 percent) and Panasonic (20 percent), according to the study.

Meanwhile, ambush marketing is alive and well at the Games despite the efforts of the International and U.S. Olympic committees as restaurant chain Subway was associated with the Olympics by 26 percent of respondents, Performance Research said.

Nearly half of respondents saw Subway’s ad with swimmer Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals at the Beijing Summer Games in 2008, and 79 percent of those believed Subway supported the U.S. Olympic team.

from MediaFile:

No Super Bowl blues; expect big TV ratings

The U.S. economy might be weak, but the Super Bowl still scores with consumers.

The CBS broadcast of the National Football League's championship game on Feb. 7 between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints should draw strong TV ratings, possibly challenging viewer levels not seen since the late 1990s.

"We're looking at a big rating," said Neal Pilson, former CBS Sports president and head of his own sports consulting firm. "The fact that the two conference championships got better than usual ratings usually indicates that there's a lot of public interest."

The NFC Championship game between New Orleans and the Minnesota Vikings drew 57.9 million viewers, ranking it as the most watched conference championship game since the 1981 contest between Dallas and San Francisco that featured "The Catch." It was also the most heavily watched TV program, excluding Super Bowls, since the 1998 "Seinfeld" finale.

Meanwhile, the AFC final between Indianapolis and the New York Jets drew 46.9 million viewers, ranking it as the most watched AFC Championship in 24 years.

While a Super Bowl with popular Vikings quarterback Brett Favre might have scored a higher rating than the current matchup, the Saints are an exciting team that received a lot of exposure in the championship, Pilson said. It also helps that it's the first NFL championship to feature both conferences' No. 1 seeds since January 1994, when Dallas played Buffalo.

If the game remains close into the fourth quarter, he expects a rating of 43.0 or better. A ratings point is a percentage of U.S. television households that watched the game.

Auto show-Super Bowl TV ads don’t score for Mazda

Advertising during the Super Bowl doesn’t score for Mazda.

While the Japanese automaker plans to boost its marketing budget this year as it launches the Mazda 2 small car, running TV ads during the National Football League’s championship game in February won’t happen.

“You’re never going to see us on Super Bowl,” Mazda North American chief Jim O’Sullivan said at the Detroit auto show. “We’re not going to spend that kind of money on that kind of property because, yeah, you get a lot of impressions and stuff out there, but the fact of the matter is, do you really get to the target you really wanted? That’s more of a feel-good ad for a lot of people.”

O’Sullivan said it was a “given” that Mazda’s media budget will be up in the first quarter, as well as for the year, although he didn’t say by how much. He said Mazda, which expects its U.S. sales to possibly rise faster than the overall market this year, will spend more on social media and digital advertising this year as it tries to reach younger buyers for its late summer launch of the new 2 model.

However, O’Sullivan said advertising on the Super Bowl — where Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia, and Germany’s Volkswagen will advertise this year — is more about the creativity of the spots than the product or service being sold.

“The one thing about the Super Bowl too, if you’re going to go and do ads at the Super Bowl, you better make sure you got some very good creative because you’ll get criticized for your ads if you don’t have very strong creative,” he said. “So is it about selling cars or is this an agency’s competition? They’re memorable in some cases, but that’s a very expensive property.”

“I’d rather take those resources and go where our customers are and focus on what our brand is,” O’Sullivan added.

RadioShack ditching Radio in favor of The Shack

RadioShack is giving itself a new, shorter nickname – The Shack.

The gadget retailer is introducing a new ad campaign and intends to refer to itself as The Shack – something it says customers have already been doing.

“Our customers, associates and even the investor community have long referred to RadioShack as ‘THE SHACK,’ so we decided to embrace that fact and share it with the world,” said Lee Applbaum, RadioShack’s Chief Marketing Officer, in a statement.

While consumers often think to go to RadioShack to buy cables or batteries, the retailer said it is “critically important” that customers also think to go to it for mobile products.

“You will see a real focus on mobility and wireless products from leading brands in our new advertising,” Applbaum said.

The branding change brings to mind a switch made by former rival Circuit City.  Circuit City began calling its stores “The City” not long before it filed for bankruptcy protection and then liquidated it stores.

Starbucks strikes back

Starbucks wants you to know that it is not the home of $4 coffee, and it’s launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to make sure you get the message that its brew is not an expensive luxury.

“Starbucks coffee does not cost $4,” Chief Executive Howard Schultz said this week when he announced the new ad blitz. The ad at left will run on Sunday in the New York Times.

In an email promoting its new campaign, Starbucks said: “Everybody is looking for value, but value doesn’t just mean what’s cheapest; it’s about what’s best for consumers, their families, their communities and the world around them.”

When the company was growing like gangbusters, it relied mostly on word of mouth advertising. ”But during that time … they became, kind of jokingly, the home of $4 beverages,” said William Blair & Co analyst Sharon Zackfia.

The reality is that most Starbucks rivals — with the exception of McDonald’s — have the same pricing, Zackfia said.

Starbucks drip coffee starts at around $1 and stays well below $4, while its specialty coffee drinks like mochas, lattes and Frappuccino blended drinks can top $4.

Pothole filling that’s finger-lickin’ good

KFC wants to fill potholes in your city.    But there is a catch: instead of streets full of tire chewing craters, your streets will be filled with KFC logos, at least temporarily.   To promote its freshly prepared fried chicken, KFC is sponsoring “fresh”ly [sic] “filled up” potholes in up to five major cities in the United States.   KFC has sent offers to mayors nationwide asking them to describe the bad shape their city’s streets are in. Four of those cities will be chosen and KFC will pay for materials and labor to have potholes filled in those cities. KFC already began filling potholes this week in its hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.   A spokesman for KFC would not say how much it will cost to fill the potholes. But the offer comes as cash-strapped cities are looking for ways to save costs.   “Budgets are tight for cities across the country, and finding funding for needed road repairs is a continuing challenge,”  Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a news release.   Some of the filled potholes will also be stenciled with a logo that says they were “re-freshed by KFC.” The spokesman said the stenciling will be done with nonpermanent spray chalk, so they will eventually go away.   And what’s a little logo here or there if it means a smooth ride?

(KFC photo)

Jack is Back!

By Shivani Singh

Jack Box, hamburger chain Jack in the Box’s snowman-faced mascot, is alive and kicking.  

Last month, the mascot was hit by a bus in an advertising spot aired during the Super Bowl. The campaign continued online for a month, with a cliff-hanger that left fast-food fans wondering whether Jack would survive.     Following some intrigue involving corporate underlings, Jack woke up last week to take back the reins of the company and launch its new logo that blows up the word ‘Jack,’ which is how most customers refer to the fast-food chain.    The post-Super Bowl viral campaign targeted the company’s core audience of mostly 18- to 34-year-olds, who used YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to cook up millions of hits, Chief Marketing Officer Terri Graham told Reuters.     The multichannel campaign was also supported by coupons. On Tuesday, the company gave a free soda and small fries to people who printed a coupon on the ‘Hang In there Jack’ site. Restaurants saw an increase in traffic on the days the coupons were offered, the company said. 

Fast-food companies have been quicker than other restaurant operators to embrace technology and social media. Rival Burger King made a splash earlier this year with its Facebook campaign that gave a free Whopper to users who dumped 10 friends.   The next phase of the Jack in the Box campaign is scheduled for March 16, when the company debuts a new website where users can sign up to get Jack do their dirty work — whether it’s calling in sick or breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend.

(Photos\Jack in the Box)

from MediaFile:

Kellogg drops Phelps after photos

We won't be tempted by puns. Or any sort of lame wordplay.  We'll play this straight. Seriously. Here goes: After all the bad publicity caused by a photo of Michael Phelps apparently taking a bong hit, Kellogg has decided to dump the superswimmer.

Okay, now that's out of the way. Here's the basics from Reuters:

The world's largest cereal maker said on Thursday it would not extend a contract with Phelps, who charmed audiences in Beijing last year with a record-breaking, eight-gold medal haul, saying the photo of the swimmer was inconsistent with its public image.

Phelps, estimated to make millions of dollars annually from marketing deals, issued an apology this week after a British newspaper published a photograph purportedly showing him smoking marijuana during a student party at the University of South Carolina in November.

The move doesn't come as a complete surprise. Marketers often get nervous about this sort of thing, especially when forking out big bucks in this economy. Phelps has other deals worth millions of dollars with brands including Speedo swimwear, Omega watches, Visa Inc, Subway sandwiches and Hilton Hotels. Phelps's agency, Octagon, said earlier this week that it had been in touch with his sponsors and that none had indicated any intention of backing out of their deals.

What changed? What's the deal with Kellogg? The difference? One marketing executive tells AdWeek that it's all about the kids.

Dump 10 Facebook ‘friends,’ win a Whopper

If ever you needed a reason to clear the dead wood from your Facebook posse, here it is: Burger King will give you a free Whopper hamburger every time you cut 10 of your “fair-weather web friends.”

But beware. While Facebook lets you anonymously eliminate your “friends,” the Burger King application notifies them when you “sacrifice” them in your quest for free fast food.

The Whopper Sacrifice ad campaign, spotted by Adweek, sends a message alerting your former friend that the sentiment you carry for him or her is nothing compared with the sizzle of a Whopper.

According to the Whopper Sacrifice web site, more than 12,000 friends have been bitten the dust — all for a (roughly) $2 Whopper.

In an economy like this, is anyone safe?

(Photo/Reuters)