Nicollet Mall: Eight blocks of event activations
St. Paul: Spent $1M to build an Ice Palace
Radio: Ads for expensive rock/pop concerts
Roads: Full of lost Uber drivers
Yes, its Super Bowl LII weekend in Minneapolis
There are almost an infinite number of Super Bowl marketing activations happening in Minneapolis that could be discussed, but an extensive article on event radio marketing feels a bit dry.
Super Bowl Live
I walked through Super Bowl Live on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis on Thursday before the Super Bowl. There wasn’t a single inch of space that wasn’t branded, even the light poles had sponsor logos.
Know your audience
In an event of this scale, marketers had to choose who they wanted their activations to appeal to, such as the local audience or a national audience. Local Minnesotans, with a heavy focus on people who live downtown, saw this project be set up, and interacted with it every day of the event. Out-of-town visitors who came from all over the country to view the game, made up the National audience. Estimates were as high as 100k people who visited town for the game. Both groups also come with a large number of social media friends that could be reached with the right activation.
Local Focus
The American Birkebeiner American Bridge was a massive two-block long structure that took two city blocks of Nicollet Mall and included a snow tubing run. It even went over a cross street to create a hill for the tubers to slide down. This was a great activation that reached local audiences who were familiar with the Birkie (cross country ski race) and were likely to attend, or possibly compete in the event. The event was three weeks after the Super Bowl, so it was a great time to remind people to mark their calendars.
The massive bridge was less impactful for the national audience. The event is unlikely to be familiar to people who don’t live in the metro, and the activation is unlikely to have informed them. The bridge and tube course were too large to include in selfies, and the branding was too far up the bridge to take pictures of from either end, where most of the spectators lined up. Finally, the tubing course was something cool to watch, but didn’t create interaction, so it didn’t give out-of-town guests a reason to learn about the Birkebeiner.
The tube course was consistent with the Birkie snow sports brand, and impactful to local audiences, but didn’t create awareness with national audiences.
National Focus
Hallmark’s snow globe activation was simple, but very effective at reaching a national out-of-town audience. Their plastic eggs that were painted with snowflakes, and the Hallmark brand name, were perfect for social posting. This was an easy way for fans to show their social media friends they were attending the Super Bowl, and that they were really cold. The photos taken were perfect for Snapchat, Instagram and other social media because they showed where the fans were and how they felt in a single picture.
The local audience seemed a little less impressed. Fewer local Minnesotans were interested in showing friends how cold they were because its cold here all the time. This activation created photos that were consistent with the Hallmark brand (a large retailer of snow globes) and were impactful to national audiences, but less relevant to local residents.
Utilize Location
I was impressed by less traditional ways that marketers had used to be involved in Super Bowl Live, without requiring sponsorship. Target and US Bank, located directly on Nicollet Mall, added activations to their building facades to increase their impact and take advantage of their location. The vacant Walgreens, Macy’s, and Barns & Nobles spaces were all rented and either papered over with advertisements or were being used for indoor activations.
Below you will find a gallery of additional photos.
Theodore Schweitz 