Part I: Super Bowl Ads.
A. Write an overview (about 1/2 page) describing your observations about THIS YEAR'S Super Bowl commercials - Your likes, dislikes, and trends noticed.
B. Compare your reactions to what the experts say: USA Today has a thorough analysis that measures viewer responses in real time; AOL.Com has links to the commercials. Advertising Age usually critiques the ads on Monday after the Super Bowl (about 1/2 page).
Part 2: LAST YEAR'S Super Bowl Ads. Select an advertiser who advertised during last year's Super Bowl. Research their previous behavior with Super Bowl ads, identify their strategy, and evaluate the results, answering these specific questions.
1. Describe the ad (or one of the ads) the company used this year (if they advertised this year). Do you think it will be effective in accomplishing their marketing communications objectives? Did they use rational or hedonic appeals? Give details on which message strategies were used. (1 to 2 paragraphs).
2. Did they advertise on the Super Bowl during the previous 2 years? What was the content of the ad(s)? How much did they spend on this ad buy? Did they advertise on television throughout the year, or did they spend the bulk of their money on one day? (1 to 2 paragraphs).
3. What type of positioning did they use for this campaign? Do you see evidence of a value proposition? See CH 5 for explanations. (Short answer).
4. What was the objective of the advertisement (that is, what do you think they were trying to accomplish with this advertising message and expensive media buy)? Who was the target audience? See CH 6 and CH 4. (Short answer).
5. How did business analysts and advertising industry rate the ads? (Short answer).
6. What business results did they see after last years ads? Increased sales? Increased market share? Good publicity? (Short answer).
7. What do you think of the company's decisions? If they advertised in previous years, were they wise to come back to advertise in this year's Super Bowl? Did they make any changes in content or media following last year's Super Bowl exposure? (Short answer).
Recommended sources of information: Company website, business media (Advertising Age, USA Today, Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Wall Street Journal). Note: Wikipedia is not a quotable source. You may also cite 2012 and previous years' Super Bowl ads that are available online. (Youtube.com, Fanhouse.com and other websites). INCLUDE YOUR REFERENCES at the end of the paper.