Last night, many of the largest global brands once again targeted the Super Bowl as a vehicle to promote themselves and their latest products – but many of those brands chose to do so via mediums other than the typical television commercial.

Buying ad time during Super Bowl LIV (by the way – way to go, Andy Reid), cost brands upwards of $5.6 million for a measly 30-second spot. Having that many eyes on the brand undoubtedly brought consumer exposure to perennial big spenders like Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, Doritos, Hyundai, Jeep, and others. Even Super Bowl newcomers like Facebook and shoe brand Saucony forked over millions to get their brands in front of football fans and casual watchers alike.   

Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash.

But was TV ad time the best possible spend for those brands? In today’s “cord-cutting” consumer landscape, the answer is most likely “no.”  

Broadcast advertisers use the catch-all airtime of the Super Bowl to cast as wide a net as possible. The NFL die-hards will love the league’s “Inspire Change” ad featuring former player Anquan Boldin, while the casual fan probably got a kick out of Ellen DeGeneres’s “Before Alexa” spot for Amazon. 

The consensus is that brands are democratic, and someone watching will be – at the very least -reached and engaged with as a desired prospect or customer. That thinking seems out of touch with a niche-driven micro-analytics world that targets increasingly specific personas to ensure that content reaches and engages a desired audience. 

With overall viewership on the decline — the Super Bowl television broadcast tumbled from 111.3 million viewers in 2017 to 103.4 million in 2018, and sunk to a ten-year low of 98.2 million last year — companies are realizing they can spend less on event-based TV ads and shift to multi-channel digital strategies instead. After all, a brand gleans more information from ad clicks than a single-broadcast TV spot. Now more than ever, viewers know they’re in control. Consumers know that brands don’t have to rely on outdated ad spends predicated on increasingly obsolete watching practices.       

For every Bud Light or Michelob Ultra commercial, there is a counter. Take for example the approach of D2C alcohol delivery service Drizly. “Consider this our Big Game ad,” read one app notification Drizly users received. Clicking on that notification let users order up their Super Bowl beverages for delivery. “We’ve been pretty transparent about our love of beer commercials,” read the notification. “We wanted to have one during the Big Game just like everyone else, but it turns out our marketing budget was just $5,289,450 shy of the minimum cost for a 30-second ad.” 

Global beer brand Stella Artois, which made a big splash at last year’s game with an ad starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges revisiting his character “The Dude,” from The Big Lebowski, avoided commercials altogether. Instead of spending millions on 30 seconds of airtime, it sponsored a three-day food and music event in Miami, site of Super Bowl LIV, called Port de Stella. Brands that spent big last year, including Burger King, Skechers, and Wix, similarly did not return to the small screen or scaled back considerably.

The big-time spenders can afford to continue straddling both the conventional and the digital ad spaces. But with increasingly more effective and less costly ways for brands to reach viewers, you can expect the brands at that “next-rung-down” to pivot spend away from Super Bowl TV spots in the next five years.

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The 2019 EDGE Awards was hosted on June 3^rd at the elegant Pier Sixty in Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers. Emceed by Sprinklr President Carlos Dominguez, the EDGE Awards has become known as the “Academy Awards” of marketing, paying tribute to the best-of-the-best in the marketing field. Each honoree exemplifies outstanding leadership, innovation, creativity and a commitment to giving back through supporting marketing education.

This year’s honorees included (in order of presentation):

• Financial Innovator Award, Presented by Worldata: Michael Loeb, Founder and CEO, Loeb.NYC
• Corporate Disruptor Award: LiveIntent
• Education Award: Stern School of Business, New York University, accepted by Tulin Erdem, Ph.D. and Russ Winer, Ph.D.
• Rising Stars Awards: Anneka Gupta, President, LiveRamp; Kelsey Kates, Head of Analytical Academy, Google; John Kelly, Senior Director, NikePlus Member Benefits; Mykela Krieg, Vice President, TCM Creative; Sharifah Niles-Lane, Vice President Digital Marketing and Social Media, Eastern Bank; Vincent Pietrafesa, Director of Business Development, Stirista
• Corporate Heritage Award, Presented by Epsilon: NBCUniversal

This year’s roster of presenters included distinguished business executives, academic leaders and Marketing EDGE alumni, including:

• Terri L. Bartlett, President, Marketing EDGE
• Drew May, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, Acxiom, and incoming Marketing EDGE Chair
• Stacey Hawes, President, Data Practice, Epsilon
• Charles Mast, President, Mast Circulation Group
• Paulette Oliva, formerly Executive Vice President, MeritDirect
• Matt Rizzetta, Chief Executive Officer, North 6^th Agency (N6A)
• Lizbielka Rosario, E-Commerce Content Operations Associate, Unilever

“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity and support of everyone in the Marketing EDGE community, particularly our corporate sponsors, board members, academic partners and students,” said Terri L. Bartlett, President of Marketing EDGE. “This has been a transformational year for Marketing EDGE. The energy, spirit and enthusiasm on display at this year’s EDGE Awards continues to inspire us in our mission to shape the future of marketing by connecting students, academics and professionals in the field of marketing.”

This announcement continues to build on the momentum that Marketing EDGE has received thus far in 2019. Most recently, the organization announced a stellar roster of new officers and trustees for its latest fiscal year. For more information on Marketing EDGE, visit www.marketingEDGE.org and for details on the EDGE Awards, visit www.EDGEAwards.org.

ABOUT MARKETING EDGE
Marketing EDGE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is shaping the future of marketing by connecting students, academics and professionals to the resources and relationships they need to continue to see, move and stay ahead. Empowering skill-ready, responsive and responsible marketing leaders for more than 50 years, Marketing EDGE expands access to leading research, resources and events, fosters deep personal connections and diverse ideas, and provides real-time insights for real-world impact. For more information, visit www.marketingEDGE.org.

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DiGuido rose to prominence as one of the founding pioneers of email marketing during his tenure as CEO of Bigfoot Interactive. In 2005, he sold Bigfoot to Alliance Data’s Epsilon business unit for $120 million and became the CEO of Epsilon Interactive.

Under his leadership, Epsilon became one of the dominant email providers in the marketplace and expanded aggressively through the acquisition of DoubleClick’s email unit. In April 2019, Epsilon was acquired by Publicis for $4.4 billion.

“I’ve known Al for my entire career, and have witnessed his vision, integrity and spirit on display for clients, employees and shareholders,” said Matt Rizzetta, Founder and CEO of N6A. “There is nobody I can think of who is better suited and aligned with N6A’s vision to transform the public relations industry through business outcomes. I am honored to have Al play on our team as we take N6A to new heights for our clients and team members.”

DiGuido’s track record of identifying opportunities for innovation and successfully transforming legacy media and marketing service categories extends well beyond email marketing. He has been at the forefront of transformational shifts across print, direct response and digital media.

Following his tenure at Epsilon, DiGuido became CEO of Zeta Interactive. At Zeta, he realized his vision of transcending the solo email business to build an agency that helps marketers realize the full potential of integrated technology platforms, services, and strategies.

DiGuido’s career ascension began at Ziff-Davis, where he was Publisher of Computer Shopper during the PC boom of the 1980s. DiGuido successfully expanded the Computer Shopper franchise, transforming it from a print publication into a breakthrough online media property. Under his leadership, ComputerShopper.com accounted for more than 40 percent of the advertising revenue of ZDNet.

At N6A, DiGuido will oversee sales and revenue functions, as well as M&A and capital initiatives to support N6A’s vision and growth strategy. Additionally, DiGuido will work alongside CEO Matt Rizzetta and the N6A leadership team to introduce a new model that will transform the public relations category by aligning with specific business outcomes of CMOs, CEOs and brand marketers.

“I have yet to meet an agency that can rival N6A’s track record of client results, innovation and outcome-oriented culture,” said Al DiGuido, President and Chief Revenue Officer of N6A. “There is a tremendous opportunity to transform the legacy public relations category with a laser focus on being accountable for the specific business outcomes that CMOs, CEOs and brand marketers demand today. I believe N6A is perfectly positioned to lead this transformation.”

DiGuido, who will be based in N6A’s New York office, is also the founder of Al’s Angels, a non-profit, charitable organization whose mission is to provide assistance to children and families suffering hardship due to life-threatening illnesses or poverty. Al’s Angels has built a network of more than 2,000 volunteers in the Tri-State area, and delivers thousands of Thanksgiving meals, holiday gifts, and much needed resources to more than 1,600 to children and families each year.

For more information on N6A please visit www.n6a.com, follow N6A on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and click on this video to learn more about N6A’s roots and culture.

ABOUT NORTH 6^TH AGENCY, INC. (N6A): 
North 6th Agency, Inc. (N6A) is an award-winning brand communications agency based in the heart of SoHo in New York City.

Through its suite of communication services, including media relations, analyst relations, awards and speaking programs, crisis communications, content programs, paid and earned social media programs, N6A has helped its clients successfully realize their desired business outcomes. N6A’s clients have successfully exited to more than 30 global enterprises, increased revenue by up to 100%, created more than $10B in enterprise value, improved market share over their competitive set by 40%, won recruiting battles for the industry’s best talent, IPO’d on NYSE, NASDAQ, leading international exchanges, and raised more than $5 billion from the world’s most prominent investors.

N6A has received several industry accolades, including the Observer’s “PR Power 50” list, Entrepreneur’s Top Company Cultures in the United States, PRWeek’s Best Places to Work, and Digiday’s Most Innovative Culture.

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The account team Conversocial captured “N6A Team of the Month” honors in January. The “N6A Team of the Month” program rewards the account team that demonstrates the most impressive results, service, and collaboration for an N6A client throughout the month.

The N6A Cannabis Group took home the “N6A Golden Group” trophy as the highest-performing group for the month. The “N6A Golden Group” competition is awarded monthly and a $50,000 cash bonus or a prize of equal amount will be awarded to the final winning group lead, as well as an extra week of vacation for the entire group.

Additionally, the following N6A staff members were named “N6A Producer of the Week” in January. The “N6A Producer of the Week” program was created to reward individual N6A staff members who achieve the highest level of production and contribute the most to N6A on a weekly basis.

• Week of January 12^th: Shateera Israel, Account Executive
• Week of January 29^th: Sanasjia Clervoix

For more information on N6A please visit www.n6a.com, follow N6A on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and click on this video to learn more about N6A’s roots and culture.

ABOUT NORTH 6^TH AGENCY, INC. (N6A):

North 6th Agency, Inc. (N6A) is an award-winning brand communications and social media agency based in the heart of SoHo in New York City and Toronto’s financial district. Our client roster includes emerging, mid-sized and enterprise brands from more than 30 industries. N6A has received several industry accolades, including consecutive spots on O’Dwyer’s “Top PR Firms” ranking and the New York Observer “PR Power 50” list. N6A was also included in PRWeek’s 2017 Best Places to Work.

Our “Compete and Care” culture and “Embrace the Pace” atmosphere have been lauded as one of the most rewarding, collaborative and unique to the agency world by Forbes, Monster.com, New York Post, Chief Learning Office Magazine, Entrepreneur, and others. For more information on N6A, visit www.n6a.com, and for more information on N6A’s “Compete and Care” culture and perks, visit www.competeandcare.com.

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