When looking at sports, marketers always look to key events to pound their brand names into the minds of the millions of viewers watching around the world. These special events throughout the year, such as the Super Bowl, NCAA Bowl Games, and now March Madness, allow marketers to reach a wide range of audiences. These audiences do not have to be the normal, everyday sports fans either. Events, such as this month’s March Madness, attract people getting involved for the bracketology and pools that occur in many social settings, such as work places and families.
According to Brandweek, more than 130 million people viewed all or part of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament last year. The 2007 championship game was said to have drawn 40.3 million viewers alone. Names such as Coca-Cola, AT&T, General Motors, and Pontiac saw this as an excellent opportunity to reach millions of viewers and became ”official corporate champions” of the NCAA. Advertising campaigns being spent on games is expected to surpass half a billion dollars, says TNS Media Intelligence.
Stated by MSNBC with referring to March Madness, “It’s one of the biggest sport events of the year — with more eligible teams than there are countries in the Olympics, more minutes played than the World Series, and more beer and buffalo wings consumed than the Super Bowl.” For each day game during the tournament, CBS receives $85,000 per thirty second t.v. spot, $350,000 for early round, prime time games, and $1.4 million for the Final Four and Championship games. These efforts, however, are not only done by airing t.v. commercials, but also having events, such as the Virtual NCAA Tournament presented by Pontiac, where people “duke” it out over 2k Sports’ College Hoops 2k8.
With all of this information on the minds of marketers, it is fair to say that pushing a company’s marketing efforts during March Madness is a safe bet to get one’s name out there. With 65 college teams reaching the tournament, it hits close to home with many people tuning in to their favorite teams and alma-maters. Student’s begging their high school teachers to turn the televisions on during the day to get an update on scores when they are only supposed to be used for educational purposes or employees at a company taking a couple minutes longer on lunch break to catch the last few minutes of a game are all common occurences during this great event. This is a prime time opportunity for companies to really showcase their products and have fun while doing it.
