Superbowl proves it is still a hardy annual for the advertising community

Media&Marketing: The Superbowl, which takes place this Sunday evening, is regarded by most observers as the ultimate weather vane for the global advertising industry.

Some estimates put the audience for American football's equivalent of the all-Ireland final at 130 million, or almost one in two Americans. If advertisers flock to the event the industry regards it as a good omen for the year ahead.

This year the Pittsburgh Steelers take on Seattle Seahawks in Detroit and leading brands like Budweiser, Gillette, Ford, Pizza Hut and Sprint will use the event as a multi-million dollar shop window.

It hard to believe but 30-second commercial spots are selling for $2.5 million (€2.1 million) to $2.6 million. These figures represent record prices for Super Bowl ads.

In an era of media fragmentation, the Super Bowl is one of the few events in the US which is still capable of attracting a broad-based family audience. As one advertiser put it this week: "It's about the only place nowadays where millions of people are guaranteed to see your advert".

For US audiences it is one of the few times when all races and regions are united.

In a departure from the usual "blokey" themes of the event, this year advertisers are making a conscious effort to reach female viewers. Budweiser ads, branded by some feminist groups as sexist, will reportedly cater more to female beer drinkers this time around.

Advertisements will predictably be risk averse, pitched towards a safe family audience. This follows in the wake of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" of two years ago, when the singer exposed her right breast during a dance routine.This year's game is on ABC, which is owned by family friendly corporation Walt Disney. But in a sign of the game's demographic reach, Toyota is unveiling the first Hispanic advert for its new hybrid Camry car.

Viacom recovers

A few weeks ago Viacom Outdoor, part of the media giant that owns brands like MTV and Nickelodeon, lost out on the CIÉ outdoor advertising contract. Believed to be worth between €12 and €15 million the loss of the contract was a significant setback to Viacom Outdoor at the time.

But the company has managed to bounce back somewhat with a new contract win from Aircoach, the privately owned bus company. The company has awarded its first ever advertising contract to Viacom Outdoor.

Meanwhile AFA O'Meara, the Dublin advertising agency, reports this week that the cylindrical billboards in Paris, a distinctive feature of the city for over 150 years, are to be scrapped. The billboards have provided cheap advertising for plays, concerts and films during that time, but apparently officials want to reduce the number of columns in order to declutter the city streets.

Youth erosion

Advertising agencies have been pouring over the latest TV viewing figures for 2005 released late last week by AGB Nielsen. The figures covering all individuals throughout the day make for the most interesting reading.

On the surface the steepest falls appear to have hit TV3 (down from 13.5 per cent to 12.9 per cent), but a closer look also highlights problems for RTÉ 2.

While the station is no doubt a victim of the general fragmentation of the TV market, it did undergo an extensive re-branding and re-launch last year, but so far this has not protected its market share. Also down is Sky One, from 3.1 per cent to 2.4 per cent.

It is interesting that stations directly targeted at younger viewers are the ones suffering most market share erosion, while those with an older audience are weathering the storm (Sky News was up and RTÉ 1 was almost static for example).

If true, this is not an auspicious sign for Channel Six, which is coming on air sometime in March. Could it be that the most lucrative section of the market - 15 to 34 - is actually becoming saturated?

Red faces

Mistakes happen in newspapers - as we all know. Some are serious, others relatively trivial. But a mistake in recent days by a German newspaper must fall into the former category.

The paper has apologised for accidentally placing an advertisement for the "gas of tomorrow" inside a full-page story on the Nazi killings of gypsy people in Auschwitz.

The article about a local exhibition describing the fate of the people known as Sinti or gypsies in Hitler's Germany was published alongside an advert for utility company E.ON which covered about a third of the page.

It read: "E.ON is taking care of the gas of tomorrow, today."

The paper Landeszeitung Lueneburg, based in Luneberg, which has received numerous complaints about the position of the advertisement, said on its website on Tuesday it deeply regretted the incident which was unintentional and "simply overlooked" the location of the advertisement.

Guru to visit

The Institute of Designers in Ireland has managed to bring renowned branding expert Andy Milligan to Ireland.

Milligan, the director of the agency Interbrand, and author of books like Brand It Like Beckham and Uncommon Practice will be coming to Ireland on February 22 to speak to the Institute of Designers in Ireland.

Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie