“Is it a waste of resources to advertise during the Super Bowl?” That is the question that Tappan Zee High School Business teacher Andrew Bimonte asked students in his Entertainment and Sports Marketing class this week.
Before researching the statistics, students had to decide why they agreed or disagreed with the question and work in groups to create an argument explaining their decision. The majority of the class disagreed with the question and felt that creating a commercial for the Super Bowl is a good investment and will help a company increase exposure and sales due to the amount of viewers. With the price of Super Bowl advertisements costing around $7 million for a 30 second commercial, other students felt that it would be difficult for companies to increase their sales enough to not only break-even, but make a profit following the commercial.
After debating their arguments, students were asked if their decision was swayed at all by the points their classmates made and if they now strongly agree or strongly disagree with the question. Most students stayed with their original opinions but a few students were even further convinced that it is not a waste of resources to create an advertisement and choosing to advertise during the Super Bowl is one of the best ways to increase exposure.
After this exercise, students began looking at past commercials and seeing if sales increased for the company following the Super Bowl. “This exercise is meant to help students understand what makes an advertisement successful against another and how they are rated based on criteria that is used by Northwestern University,” explained Bimonte. “Students will watch the Super Bowl this weekend and during class next week, we will look at some of the commercials that aired and discuss what characteristics the companies used to create a successful ad such as a celebrity endorsement, humor or strong messaging.”
