Patriots-Rams Matchup Bodes Well for Viewership
Image by Ed Brennen
02/01/2019
Contact: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
Super Bowl advertisers may hit pay dirt this Sunday when the New England Patriots face the Los Angeles Rams, but don’t expect the broadcast’s commercials to stir any controversy, says Spencer Ross, a marketing and branding expert available for interviews on the subject.
Super Bowl advertising costs more than $5.25 million per 30 seconds of airtime this year, Ross says, and most brands began creating Sunday night’s commercials early in 2018. That means viewers will be treated to what advertisers know works best – spots featuring beloved celebrities, pets and animals. Think puppies and the Budweiser Clydesdales, not Colin Kaepernick’s Nike campaign or Gillette’s “toxic masculinity” spot.
“Viewers won’t be treated to much in the way of up-to-the minute controversy, as long as themes such as social cohesion, belonging and celebrating diversity aren’t viewed by the public as divisive or political,” says Ross about the commercials fans will see on Sunday.
Ross is an expert on digital marketing, branding and consumer engagement with new technologies. He is a marketing professor at UMass Lowell, where he co-directs the Manning School of Business Behavioral Lab, which examines human behavior in relation to management, leadership, organizational strategy, economics, entrepreneurship and more.
Along with feel-good ads, he predicts the Patriots-Rams matchup will draw a sizable audience – good news for advertisers and the NFL, which has seen viewership decline over the past few years, a development pundits claim is linked to everything from confusion over changes to the game’s rules to controversy over the behavior of athletes off the field.
“With the home crowd in New England eyeing another Brady-Belichick win and the rest of the country waiting for the young Rams to take down the Leviathan known as the Patriots, there’s reason to believe brands will get a better return on their Super Bowl ad investment. Advertisers will get the matchup they hope will hold viewers’ attention to watch the commercials, not just at the beginning of the game but all the way through,” Ross says.
UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 18,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be leaders in their communities and around the globe. www.uml.edu