Play the “Bigger Game” During The Big Game
There’s a bigger game at stake during the Big Game on Sunday. The advertising game. With sponsors spending billions of dollars pre, post and during the game and consumers wondering what outlandish entertainment the branding game has in store. And now, statistics are proving what we’ve always known to be true.
39% of people prefer the advertising to the Super Bowl game. Of those, 64% said they talk about the ads the next day.
At Halo, we play ad games every day but this one’s for you to play.
How To Play BIG GAME ADVERTISING BINGO.
1. Print out the Bingo-style game boards where numbers are replaced by the advertisers (and in some cases, potential advertisements). The center square, the Halo logo, is played as a free space. Share them with your friends, and you’re ready to play.
2. When one of the ads on your board is televised before, during or after the game, cross it off.
3. The first person to get five in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) wins.
Of course, you’re welcome to create your own unique ways to play.
WARNING: This may prevent more conventional use of commercial breaks for eating, calling home or relieving oneself.
Be sure to post your comments and board pictures using #biggamebingo on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook. Download and print your game cards below.
The Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed This Week - Friday, June 15
The ASPCA ‘Hovercat’ Ad Makes the Most of Cat Memes - via Trend Hunter
The Little Guy Inside the ATM - via Adverblog
IKEA POSTERS FOLD OUT INTO MOVING BOXES - via PSFK
Chuck Wagon: Charles Schwab Rolls Out Mobile Truck Campaign - via Brand Channel
‘Uncle Drew’ Jumps from YouTube to TV - via Ad Age
The Five Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed This Week: Friday, May 18
Paris Subway Stop, Long Deserted, Hosts Eerie ‘Prometheus’ Ad Installation - via AdWeek (See Video)
Sketchy ads? Skechers agrees to pay $50M to settle false-advertising allegations - via Star Ledger/AP
Nine-year-old’s lunch blog shames school into making changes - via Grist
Fiat Photo Bombs Volkswagen With Elaborate Street View Prank - via Jalopnik
Hunger Delivery - Fundraising Campaign for the Food Bank Foundation -via Adverblog
Bonus for Facebook IPO day:
How Facebook engineers hacked NASDAQ button to auto-post to Zuck’s wall when he rang the bell- via TechCrunch
The Pros & Cons of the Facebook Ad Experience
Since filing for their IPO in early February, all eyes have been on Facebook. Now, after a few short months of pitching to Wall Street investors, they are set to begin trading on the NASDAQ this Friday (5/18/12). This filing could value the social network at $100 billion.
So, how will this change the existing Facebook experience for users? The company derives 85% of its revenue from advertising, with the rest from social gaming and other fees. Our thoughts? The “Ad experience” will become “the Facebook experience.”
When you look back at the evolution of Facebook ads, it has been a slow integration that has become more prominent each year. Ads were launched in 2007—in 2009 three ads appeared in the newsfeed — by 2010 that number went up to four. And, in 2011, users started to notice a minimum of seven ads in their news feed.
So, is this good or bad? Here are our pros and cons of the growing Facebook Ad experience:
PROS
- The obvious and most important pro: Facebook Ads connect brands with their target consumers, and consumers with brands they are interested in. It’s a win/win.
- Facebook Ads are socially engaged. You can see what your friends are “liking” or talking about, as it pertains to brands (e.g., “Sponsored Stories”).
- For brands it’s a solution that can have a variety of outcomes (e.g., build a Facebook presence; build traffic around websites; or promote certain content/products)
- To the benefit of brands and users, Facebook Ads can be hyper-local (i.e., brands can target people located in certain areas).
- For users, the “Ad experience” is customizable. Any given ad can be hidden from view or a user can stop ads from certain advertisers all together.
- Facebook Ads are interactive; they usually include a call to action of some kind.
- It’s cost-effective and is based solely on results (i.e., Pay Per Click)
CONS
- Ads are becoming invasive. They used to appear only in the News Feed, now they appear on user’s timelines, photo views, in groups and more.
- To the disadvantage of brands, it is getting harder and harder to catch user’s attention.
- Anyone can create a Facebook Ad campaign and target it however they please. Because of this, a lot of ads are the equivalent of spamming. Facebook has been cracking down on this, but it is still out of control.
Conclusion: It’s no surprise—the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to Facebook Ads. There’s no question, it’s a great tool that benefits a lot of people. However, seeing that it is Facebook’s greatest revenue generator, will it ever become too much?
Lastly, in their IPO filing, Facebook said they would be adding ads to their mobile experience. Mobile is the last place to experience ad-free Facebook. We are all very eager to see what affect this has on social media’s reigning king.
Share your thoughts about the Facebook “Ad experience” in the comments!
The 5 Things You Shouldn’t Have Missed This Week - Friday, April 26, 2012
Volkswagen Amarok: The Facebook Flipbook via Digital Buzz Blog (see video)
Ikea Pays Rent on Portion of Your Home Its Catalog Occupies via AdWeek
Dove ‘The Ad Makeover’ Campaign Targets Negative Advertising via Huffington Post
New York Times Launches Social Media Ad Program via The Wall Street Journal
Honest Tea Sets Up 30 Ft Tall Recycling Bin in NYC via Branding Magazine
