by Dave Zornow
Miami Beach, FL, Feb 5 — South Beach is ground zero for the largest media event on the planet this weekend, Super Bowl XLIV. Fans are cranked to see the team from the 25th ranked TV market battle the underdog from the 51st largest DMA. Together, the faithful in these TV markets represent little less than 1.5 percent of all US TV households.
(Yawn).
But it is far from a “yawn” for marketers who have committed millions in ad spending and local promotions, not to mention the thousands of fans that flock to South Florida for Super Bowl festivities. The NFL — and their licensed sponsors — have literally taken over the beach in Miami. Pepsi and DirecTV have each erected temporary stadiums on the beach for musical events with space at each venue for 8500+ fans.
Marketers with beachfront exhibits hoping to cash in on pre-bowl traffic include typical sports advertisers like GMC trucks, Comcast, McDonalds and Bridgestone Tires. One less likely advertiser has placed ten 6-foot high orange aluminum boxes with 15 foot vertical poles running from 7th to 10th streets along Ocean Drive. They form an eye catching clothes line — with each box emblazoned with the Tide laundry detergent logo.
What’s a women oriented product like Tide doing in the middle of an NFL event?
“When I look around, I don’t see just men here for the Super Bowl. I see woman, children, families and seniors, too,” says Mandy Treeby, Proctor and Gamble’s brand manager for Tide. “Most people here aren’t even going to the game,” she says. “Instead, they are here for the event.”
Event organizers say up to 250,000 people will descend on the South Florida for the Super Bowl. Tide hopes to make the most of that foot traffic, introducing their new “Style is an Option. Clean is Not” ad campaign.
P&G says the campaign is a celebration of personal style. People need to have a sense of pride and dignity knowing what they wear is clean. “Tide does a lot more than keep clothes looking their best,” says Suzanne Watson, associate marketing director for Tide North America. “Tide celebrates people’s diverse sense of style and their self-expression.”
“We’re not targeting the Super Bowl as much as we are creating a presence in South Beach,” says Treeby. “People are coming to Miami from all over the country. There’s a buzz here. The Super Bowl is a celebration of style — it’s a great opportunity to introduce our new campaign.”
“Tide’s Mile of Clean Style,” produced by the Gigunda Group, includes a fashion runway where visitors can be photographed and “make their own style statement” by walking or dancing down the runway. The brand is also doing its part for Haiti relief efforts by giving the profits from the sale of Tide vintage t-shirts, sold from their mobile laundry Loads Of Hope truck, previously deployed to help displaced Hurricane Katrina families.
With all eyes on Miami for Super Bowl XLIV, Gigunda Group went the extra mile ’s8211; airing some clean laundry on a blocks-long clothesline to raise money and awareness for those in need.
Treeby says, “Tide has been overwhelmed with the traffic at their display; we are getting great engagement from everyone who visits.”