Gambling on the Super Bowl with a Mobil Billboard Campaign

       

            Gambling on 800-GAMBLER.com was no gamble at all. As it turned out the NJ state sponsored gambling addiction hot line and help center took a shot on the Super Bowl and won big time. The Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey hired Billboards2Go.com to run their first-ever mobile billboard awareness campaign. According to the CCGNJ organization’s “Information Specialist” Alice Ostapiuk, the mobile billboard they hired for a seven consecutive day campaign during the Super Bowl week was a true success. When the Gambler mobile billboard campaign ended, Alice said to Andrew Miller, VP of Billboards2Go, “Thank you for a job very well done, it looked great and many people saw our mobile billboard.”

The billboard was part of the Council’s campaign to call attention to the help available through the 1-800-GAMBLER helpline for sports bettors with gambling problems. Between January 28 and February 3, 2014, the billboard traveled a route around Bergen, Hudson, Essex, and adjoining areas, highlighting exposure to the local hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, business districts, commuter hubs as well as bumper-to-bumper traffic on major roadways. On Super Bowl Sunday, the mobile billboard traveled around the Met Life Stadium area as well as the above mentioned venues.

The Council was seeking to reach some of the estimated 35,000 NJ residents who are believed to be compulsive or problem gamblers who bet on sports. “Our message is that there is hope and help for this treatable addiction. With the Super Bowl being in NJ and the increasing availability of gambling opportunities in our State, there is a need to get out information to gamblers and families who may be struggling on their own.”

Typically, only deep-pocketed brands can afford Super Bowl placed advertising — as most media professionals know, a 30-second TV spot costs about $4 million, not including the cost that goes into developing an ad, securing a star if necessary, and producing it. However, considering the added amount of people coming into the area during the several days surrounding Super Bowl week, it was an outstanding economical opportunity for a select few brands to advertise with a mobile billboard campaign. According to the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl XLVIII host committee, visitors to the area have spent an average of $600 per person per day during the 10-day period surrounding the game and brought in over 600 million dollars to the local NJ/NYC economy.

CCGN was not the only non-profit organization with Super Bowl ad aspirations. Billboards2Go.com also ran several different mobile billboards for “ChooseNJ.com.” Founded in 2010, Choose New Jersey is a part of the state’s award-winning economic development organization; The Partnership for Action which consists of Choose New Jersey, the New Jersey Business Action Center, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Commission on Higher Education. Together, they nurture economic growth throughout the state by attracting jobs and investment.

The “for-profit” organization, “Stevin Singer Jewelers” also took advantage of the influx of spectators to the area with two mobile billboard units. One promoting a Valentine’s message “They’re Real and They’re Spectacular” referencing the gold dipped roses available at their Philadelphia store as well as on-line. The second mobile billboard displayed a more general message promoting their web site, ihatestevensinger.com. The ad design was similar to the ubiquitous black and white billboards known to many in the Philadelphia area as the widely controversial as well as a successful media campaign started by owner Steven Singer over ten years ago.

              To sum up this article about the Super Bowl week exposure with a mobile billboard, one thing comes to mind…value! The quality exposure generated during the seven days surrounding the Nation’s biggest sports event was priceless. With approximately 500 square feet of advertising space traveling to the most populated areas such as Newark, Hoboken, Jersey City and Manhattan, the advertisers received a great deal of bang for their media buck. For a fraction of the cost of tradition media, Billboards2Go.com delivered a genuine Super Bowl audience for their clients.