Brands attempting to make a lasting impression with a Super Bowl ad are turning to some of the tried and true elements of year’s past — employing big stars, lots of action, some tugging of the heart strings, a bit of comedy, and more. Whether any of it is working in the days leading up to Sunday’s game is the question for the folks at iSpot.tv, the Bellevue, Wash.-based company that watches how you watch television by tracking ads in real time and measuring digital responses. Here are some of the latest numbers from iSpot.tv: Total online views are approaching 200 million; down… Read More
T-Mobile has a thing for musical superstars in its commercials. The Bellevue, Wash.-based wireless carrier scored with one of the top ads of the Super Bowl last year, featuring hip-hop star Drake and a play on his hit “Hotline Bling.” This year, the “Un-carrier” is back with ads for the NFL’s big game that star Justin Bieber and Snoop Dogg, among others. Bieber introduces himself as a “celebration expert” in an “Unlimited Moves” ad that dropped on Thursday. Clean cut and sporting a crisp tux and big glasses, Bieber runs through the evolution of the touchdown celebration with NFL stars Rob… Read More
Embed from Getty Images The New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons — the two best teams in the National Football League — will square off on Sunday in Super Bowl LI, and Microsoft’s Bing search engine is predicting which one will be crowned champions. According to Bing’s number crunching, the Patriots have a 52.3 percent chance of winning, as of Thursday. Bing applies machine-learning web data to inform its predictions on everything from sporting events to political contests. Its “traditional statistical models” are coupled with “social listening and search analysis.” Last year, Bing predicted New England would repeat as Super Bowl champs… Read More
Most football fans will be watching the Super Bowl on TV with a traditional cable feed when the Patriots take on the Falcons at 3:30 p.m. PT Sunday. But for those of you on-the-go or looking for a different option, FOX is streaming the big game for free. That’s right — you won’t need log-in credentials from a cable provider to watch FOX’s Super Bowl stream on Sunday via FOXSportsGo.com or the Fox Sports Go app. CBS did the same for last year’s Super Bowl. However, there are caveats. Given the NFL’s exclusive mobile streaming deal with Verizon, only Verizon customers… Read More
Apple didn’t reveal any sales data for the Apple Watch as part of its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, but the tech giant is clearly happy with the reception for its wearable device. The Apple Watch set “all-time” revenue records during Apple’s holiday quarter, during which the company earned $78 billion in revenue. Without providing specific numbers like it does for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, Apple said it broke records for both Apple Watch revenue and unit sales. “The holiday demand was so strong that we couldn’t make enough,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a post-earnings conference call, adding that “we couldn’t be more… Read More
