Hyundai doubles down on ad slot right before Super Bowl kickoff
NEW YORK -- Hyundai plans to advertise during Super Bowl XLVI, but
the automaker is also doubling down on the power of a commercial played
just before the game begins.
Hyundai will run a 60-second ad just before kickoff on Feb. 5 on NBC, Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing at Hyundai Motor America, said in an interview. Hyundai Motor Co. has run ads in that slot in the past few years, but none as long as 60 seconds, he said.
The extra time ensures that Hyundai has "these clear seconds just before the game starts," Shannon said. He promised that the ad would be "anthemic."
Hyundai will also run two 30-second spots during the game, one in the first and one in the fourth quarter, but capturing the "pre-kick" spot means the advertiser will get the eyes of Super Bowl viewers who have seen all the pregame coverage and are primed for the start of the annual classic. Ads during the game can get lost in the action of the event, Shannon suggested, but the pre-kick moment offers clarity and is thus worth a 60-second berth.
Shannon said he hoped the pre-kick spot would plant a seed about Hyundai in viewers' minds, the better to help its two in-game ads have a more significant impact.
Before Hyundai, Pizza Hut bought the last ad before the start of the Super Bowl in an effort to get people thinking about its pizza while they were watching the game.
Hyundai has advertised in the Super Bowl since 2008 but did not start buying pre-game inventory until 2009. In 2009 and 2010, the company purchased "isopods" -- a slot devoted to their commercial -- in the moments just before kickoff.
The price for a 30-second ad berth during pregame coverage on Fox's telecast last year was between $100,000 and $2 million, depending on the proximity to kickoff, according to a person familiar with the situation.
BMW's Mini starts U.S. ad agency search
NEW YORK -- BMW Mini is talking to ad agencies, making it the first car account up for grabs in 2012, Advertising Age, an affiliate of Automotive News, reported on Tuesday.
Independent agency Butler Shine Stern & Partners has been the agency of record since 2005.
The carmaker has started a review process by circulating a request-for-information document to a variety of shops. Hasan & Co. in Raleigh, N.C., is the consultant; the firm handled the review the last time as well.
Mini is considering new agencies for the full scope of work handled by BSSP, which includes national brand creative, regional and dealer creative, media planning and buying for both national and co-op advertising. Not included is digital work, which is handled by Boston-based Beam Interactive and multicultural marketing, handled by Austin, Texas-based Sanders Wingo.
BSSP, of Sausalito, Calif., succeeded MDC Partners' CP&B when, after four years of working on the business, it resigned the account to handle the much larger Volkswagen of America account. (VW is now working with Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch, Los Angeles.)
Mandatory RFP
According to Mini, the review isn't related to performance, but is being mandated by the company's procurement department.
"Mini USA has been very satisfied with BSSP's services," Tom Salkowsky, manager of Mini USA marketing, said in a statement. "They have helped support Mini's growth over the years with groundbreaking, never-been-done-before creative. We are simply adhering to BMW Group corporate purchasing procedures by going to RFP," He noted that BSSP will participate in the review.
Said John Butler, executive creative director at BSSP, in the statement: "Generally, we believe incumbents shouldn't participate in an agency review. However, with our strong dealer and client relationships, an Effie for Mini each year that we've had the business, and the strength of the work, we are confident that we will prevail."
Despite the fact that spending isn't huge, agencies will likely jump at the chance to participate given the brand is high-profile and auto accounts are still a status symbol on Madison Avenue.
According to Kantar, in 2010, the most recent full year for data, BMW spent more than $165 million in domestic measured media. Of that amount, it devoted about $26 million to marketing Mini. That number is on track to be about the same or slightly lower for 2011, according to Kantar.
Its latest advertising, themed "The Best Test Drive Ever. Period," featured the winner of a contest who submitted a six-word description of his idea of the best-ever test drive. The winner is featured in a two-minute film and 90-second cinema commercial dramatizing his idea.
Perplexing decision
Although it's a mandated review, the decision to call a pitch now is still perplexing, considering how well the brand is performing.
BMW's Mini brand remains a niche player in the U.S. auto market, even though it fields a range of five different models, with a sixth, a two-seat roadster, coming later this year. Mini added the two-seat coupe and the crossover Countryman last year, and for all of 2011, the brand, helped by the new models, sold 57,511 units, up 26 percent from the previous year in the United States, according to the Automotive News data center.
Mini's marketing has emphasized the brand's fuel efficiency and its sporting character, as well as its option choices across the range.
The review follows agency changes made by BMW for its BMW North America and Rolls Royce brands, which were both moved to MDC Partners' KBS&P last year. It also comes as the brand is facing recall challenges; almost 90,000 Mini Coopers and other Mini brand vehicles are being recalled in the U.S. due to potentially problematic water pumps that could spark engine fires.
Stephen Williams contributed to this report.
Hyundai will run a 60-second ad just before kickoff on Feb. 5 on NBC, Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing at Hyundai Motor America, said in an interview. Hyundai Motor Co. has run ads in that slot in the past few years, but none as long as 60 seconds, he said.
The extra time ensures that Hyundai has "these clear seconds just before the game starts," Shannon said. He promised that the ad would be "anthemic."
Hyundai will also run two 30-second spots during the game, one in the first and one in the fourth quarter, but capturing the "pre-kick" spot means the advertiser will get the eyes of Super Bowl viewers who have seen all the pregame coverage and are primed for the start of the annual classic. Ads during the game can get lost in the action of the event, Shannon suggested, but the pre-kick moment offers clarity and is thus worth a 60-second berth.
Shannon said he hoped the pre-kick spot would plant a seed about Hyundai in viewers' minds, the better to help its two in-game ads have a more significant impact.
Before Hyundai, Pizza Hut bought the last ad before the start of the Super Bowl in an effort to get people thinking about its pizza while they were watching the game.
Hyundai has advertised in the Super Bowl since 2008 but did not start buying pre-game inventory until 2009. In 2009 and 2010, the company purchased "isopods" -- a slot devoted to their commercial -- in the moments just before kickoff.
The price for a 30-second ad berth during pregame coverage on Fox's telecast last year was between $100,000 and $2 million, depending on the proximity to kickoff, according to a person familiar with the situation.
BMW's Mini starts U.S. ad agency search
 |
Independent agency Butler Shine Stern & Partners has been the agency of record since 2005.
The carmaker has started a review process by circulating a request-for-information document to a variety of shops. Hasan & Co. in Raleigh, N.C., is the consultant; the firm handled the review the last time as well.
Mini is considering new agencies for the full scope of work handled by BSSP, which includes national brand creative, regional and dealer creative, media planning and buying for both national and co-op advertising. Not included is digital work, which is handled by Boston-based Beam Interactive and multicultural marketing, handled by Austin, Texas-based Sanders Wingo.
BSSP, of Sausalito, Calif., succeeded MDC Partners' CP&B when, after four years of working on the business, it resigned the account to handle the much larger Volkswagen of America account. (VW is now working with Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch, Los Angeles.)
Mandatory RFP
According to Mini, the review isn't related to performance, but is being mandated by the company's procurement department.
"Mini USA has been very satisfied with BSSP's services," Tom Salkowsky, manager of Mini USA marketing, said in a statement. "They have helped support Mini's growth over the years with groundbreaking, never-been-done-before creative. We are simply adhering to BMW Group corporate purchasing procedures by going to RFP," He noted that BSSP will participate in the review.
Said John Butler, executive creative director at BSSP, in the statement: "Generally, we believe incumbents shouldn't participate in an agency review. However, with our strong dealer and client relationships, an Effie for Mini each year that we've had the business, and the strength of the work, we are confident that we will prevail."
Despite the fact that spending isn't huge, agencies will likely jump at the chance to participate given the brand is high-profile and auto accounts are still a status symbol on Madison Avenue.
According to Kantar, in 2010, the most recent full year for data, BMW spent more than $165 million in domestic measured media. Of that amount, it devoted about $26 million to marketing Mini. That number is on track to be about the same or slightly lower for 2011, according to Kantar.
Its latest advertising, themed "The Best Test Drive Ever. Period," featured the winner of a contest who submitted a six-word description of his idea of the best-ever test drive. The winner is featured in a two-minute film and 90-second cinema commercial dramatizing his idea.
Perplexing decision
Although it's a mandated review, the decision to call a pitch now is still perplexing, considering how well the brand is performing.
BMW's Mini brand remains a niche player in the U.S. auto market, even though it fields a range of five different models, with a sixth, a two-seat roadster, coming later this year. Mini added the two-seat coupe and the crossover Countryman last year, and for all of 2011, the brand, helped by the new models, sold 57,511 units, up 26 percent from the previous year in the United States, according to the Automotive News data center.
Mini's marketing has emphasized the brand's fuel efficiency and its sporting character, as well as its option choices across the range.
The review follows agency changes made by BMW for its BMW North America and Rolls Royce brands, which were both moved to MDC Partners' KBS&P last year. It also comes as the brand is facing recall challenges; almost 90,000 Mini Coopers and other Mini brand vehicles are being recalled in the U.S. due to potentially problematic water pumps that could spark engine fires.
Stephen Williams contributed to this report.
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