Module 12 Critical Thinking Case Group Assignment

Assignment Instructions

To complete this assignment, you will work in a group assigned by the instructor.  Designate one group member as the group recorder that will respond with the group's response. Please address all the questions in full and cite your sources.

This group discussion activity is worth 15 points.

Critical Thinking Case Group Assignment

Advertisers Score with the Super Bowl

What sporting event is televised in 170 countries and has created a quasi–national holiday in the United States? The Super Bowl is considered by football fans as the ultimate game and known as the largest advertising opportunity for media companies that broadcast the game and companies that want to reach a large audience. The history of impactful advertising shown as part of Super Bowl viewing includes the famous 1984 Apple advertisement that “breaks” the PC wall. The ad was only shown once, but it is recognized as one of the most iconic moments in the history of advertising.

In recent years companies have used football’s popularity and the Super Bowl as a global program to get their message out to a worldwide audience. While the high cost of advertising during the Super Bowl may deter some advertisers, the impact of an ad like Clint Eastwood’s 2012 “Halftime in America” for Chrysler or the 2017 Heinz “Dachhund” ad has been hailed as dramatic and created buzz that ads running in traditional spots do not generate.

One additional thing that advertisers have to consider is the infusion of politics into more aspects of life and how players or outside groups might create a diversion that could impact advertisers, and the amount that the networks pay the NFL for the right to air the Super Bowl. NFL games, and the Super Bowl in particular, provide a large audience for players to voice their concerns with issues such as race, or a newsworthy protest of kneeling for the National Anthem prior to the game. Likewise, controversy can occur during a halftime show or by protesters unfurling a banner, as occurred at a Minnesota Vikings game in 2017. Just as advertisers would rather not show their ads during natural disasters or live coverage of a plane crash or terrorist attack, a large-scale live event always provides the possibility of something happening that could not be anticipated. Companies with creative and adept social media departments can, however, make a positive impact by reacting to events as they occur. For example, during the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans, a faulty transformer caused a power outage just before halftime, which caused a 30-minute delay. A clever worker in the Oreo’s social media department sent out a Tweet saying, “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark,” with a picture of an Oreo cookie on a dark background.

Related Chapter Outcomes and Course Goals:

This group assignment addresses the following course goals:

• Identify the basic components of the marketing mix: Product, Place, Price, and Promotion.
  

Additionally, it addresses the following chapter outcomes and provides an example to:

• Describe the nature and function of distribution (place).
• Compare and contrast the different kinds of retail operations.
• Discuss what is promotion, and describe the key elements of a promotional mix.
• Explain how advertising media are selected.
• Explain what is personal selling.
• Demonstrate how public relations fits into the promotional mix.
• Explain social media and how it has changed promotion.

Grade Value and Rubric

• This group assignment activity is worth 15 points.
• The course discussion rubric is applied to this discussion

Note

This group assignment activity is additionally is located in the corresponding chapter of the course textbook. Accompanying the activity are sources related to this topic that students may wish to review.