Super Bowl Loses Ad Budgets to Internet

By: Tessa Rudd

Editor-in-Chief

Chitika | Pulse

a weekly data analysis medium for the online marketing industry

Issue V
Chitika | Pulse Archive

In 1984 Apple Computers launched what some call the most daring and innovative advertisement to premiere on the airways.

During a sixty-second spot in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII, Apple made history by promoting their Macintosh personal computer, using edgy themes from Orwell’s famous book, 1984, cleverly inferring ‘big-IBM is watching you’. As Tech Republic describes, “the commercial grabbed the attention of millions, became an artifact of pop culture and a standard bearer for event marketing and Super Bowl commercial creativity.” It also marked the advent of Mac’s popular advertising standby; the anti-PC campaign.

Twenty-four successful years and hundreds of product generations later, Apple has boldly done what most domineering brands dare not; they opted not to run a televised ad during this year’s Super Bowl XLII.

Many consumer electronic brands are chosing to shift budgets away from television’s primetime. In fact, out of USA Today’s Annual top ten Super Bowl ad line-up, not one consumer electronic brand makes the list (which is led by Budweiser).

While there is no denying the power of advertising during the Super Bowl, an event which annually reaches TV’s largest audience, 93 million viewers, and requires an ad budget ranging between $2.5 to $3 million for a 30-second spot, major brands are emulating Apple’s lead to veer away from TV.

CNET News reports, “TV’s share of ad spending has been dropping annually for 16 years,” and more advertising dollars are flowing to the internet. Internet ads, “now account for 5.5 percent of total spending by the top 100 advertisers in the US.” TV now only accounts for less than 59% of American ad revenue, after it nearly peaked at 70% sixteen years ago.

Well good news for internet marketers and ad budgets who can’t compete with a $2.5 million-plus price tag; it is predicted that more and more branding ‘big-guns’ are going to advertise online, and ad revenues are estimated to double in the next five years.

According to Internet Marketing News Watch, the, “US Internet advertising revenue will grow from $16.9 billion in 2006 to $31.3 billion in 2011,” which reflects an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.5%.

The power of branding on the internet is well reflected by Apple. While Apple stayed out of this year’s Super Bowl; the brand’s popularity among online consumers did not waiver.

Out of Chitika’s top-50 products ranked in the past week, Apple’s brand represents 20%; and thereby accounts for a substantial 31% of relative total clicks generated by the top-50.
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Despite an impressive audience reach and its commanding advertising industry prestige, televised Super Bowl commercials remain risky ventures. Following last year’s Super Bowl, Garmin received negative publicity after being named the worst among scores of Super Bowl ads broadcast.

I’m not trying to compare Apples and oranges; the Super Bowl is indisputably the biggest event when it comes to attracting TV audiences, and the respective advertisements frequently generate as much hype as the game itself. Nevertheless, big brands are finding internet advertising campaigns to be quite successful and the predicted growth in internet advertising revenue is substantial.

About Chitika | Pulse

Chitika | Pulse is a weekly publication that highlights emerging trends in online advertising and merchandising in the blogosphere.

By offering a succinct analysis of online consumer behavior in Chitika’s network, Chitika | Pulse exclusively correlates trends to address a wide range of topics related to online branding, e-commerce, retail in the long tail, and direct merchandising within the blogosphere and social networks.

By Tessa Rudd, Account Executive – Advertising Media Division