Some advertisers just can’t help themselves.  It’s like being back in high school, obsessed with dating the hot guy or the hot girl just for the thrill of being seen in his car or having her on your arm.  You know it’s not going to end well, but you sign on for the pain in return for that brief moment when everyone looks your way with envy.

You sound like a Super Bowl advertiser.

A study by Communicus cited in Advertising Age suggests that 80% of the ads shown during the Super Bowl don’t sell stuff.  That’s $4 million for 30 seconds of advertising – over $133,333 per second – just to show off to the other kids.  Caught up in the hype, advertisers amp up the entertainment value to win editorial favor and viewer popularity polls.  The rest of the year, they’ll cite austere times and trim marketing budgets to make ends meet.
Here’s what they could have bought ON RADIO for that same $4,000,000 flushed for 30 seconds of flash.

• ESPN Radio Super Bowl Package, including four weeks of voiced commercial reads by “Mike & Mike,” plus streaming audio and in-studio signage featured on ESPN Television…AND
• A 52-week-a-year advertising package on six, hand-picked channels that match your target demo on SiriusXM Radio…AND
• Four, national, six-week campaigns voiced by Dennis Miller on The Dennis Miller Show…AND
• A four-month, 20-city advertising blitz on Pandora and Slacker, micro-targeting audience by specific age, gender and geography…AND
• Studio Naming Rights at strategically-selected stations in four markets, giving you EVERY HOUR around the clock exposure as the station announces that it’s broadcasting “Live from the (Your Name Here) Studios!”…AND
• Radio Promotions in 10 cities featuring inclusion in station concert events, on-air contests & DJ appearances…AND
• National iHeartRadio campaign with streaming audio ads, banner ads, home page takeovers, video pre-rolls, concert events and Sponge Cell ads…AND
• A national radio campaign on “The Howard Stern Show” every week Howard broadcasts live on SiriusXM, all year long…AND
• You still have money left over for a remnant advertising budget to buy five-star radio inventory at “dimes on the dollar” as it becomes available. 

Sure, not every one of those options is a perfect fit for every brand.  Substitutions are permissible.  But the point remains still the same.  Super Bowl TV dollars spent shouting “Hey, look at me for 30 seconds on February 2^nd” won’t be selling your products come spring, summer or fall.

Radio will.  So suit up for success.  Call The Radio Agency for a season pass to Sound Advertising.

Mark Lipsky is the President and CEO of The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above.Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com