Is Doritos Super Bowl XLII Contest Another Winner?

We now have just about two weeks left before the big game, Super Bowl XLII, taking place this year on Feb. 3rd in Phoenix. So if you're a football fan or not, just being an American means that you get a chance to partake in this national event in one way or another. Whether it's being at the game, at a party, watching it on TV or just participating in one on the many promotions that exist, no one can escape the opportunity to get involved if they wish. This then begs the question from any marketer and advertiser, what other venue enables us to engage with such a huge, diverse audience?

So I asked myself, what better topic is there in the marketing industry to talk about right now then the Super Bowl? I decided I might as well join the hype that has already begun building (and will most likely continue on till at least the day after the game) and chime in.

With that decision made, Doritos of course is my obvious choice as a brand's promotional campaign to start discussing. Dorito's has now already gone down in history with their Super Bowl promotional marketing campaign from last year as the one that really got the user-generated content craze going on a mass scale. Most of us marketers have been following this trend throughout 2007 and have seen this particular promotion featured in just about every presentation and/or article done on this subject.

To back track one more time, at the end of 2006 more than 1,000 videos were submitted to the Dortio's "Crash the Super Bowl" online contest. From these entries two :30 spots actually ran during commercial breaks of the Super Bowl and the "Live the Flavor" spot was awarded the grand prize.  Recent news announced that the guys that created this winning ad actually entered the competition to help get their company, Five Point Productions, off the ground. As of today the company is reported doing extremely well and they apparently no longer have to solicit work. So, if you'd like more background on who they are and the events that transpired a year ago you can visit their contest blog as well as their website to learn more.

Now Dorito's has come back this year with a new "Crash the Super Bowl" user-generated contest which I originally wrote about in one of my Top Ten Consumer-Generated Contest Promotion posts back in mid-October. This year they've focused on music and asked people to submit video and audio clips of themselves performing an original song for a chance to have it aired during the Super Bowl XLII broadcast. Beginning back on Oct. 25th entries could be submitted through the Snack Strong promotional site or through MySpace. Then on Dec. 10th the judges selected the top 10 entries and visitors were invited to vote on these semi-finalists to determine the three final performers.

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Many entered this year and now only three remain which are: Kina Grannis, 22, of Austin, TX, “Message  From Your Heart,”; Landon Austin, 19, of Dallas, “Waitin"; and Nivla, 27, featuring P. Oberoi of New York, “Be Easy”. Each will receive $10,000 and a trip to Phoenix to attend the Dorito's Super Bowl party. Voting is going on now till Jan. 27th on the Snack Strong promotional site which is supported by MySpaceTV.com. The final winner who has the most votes will be revealed when Frito-Lay plays their 60: music video during a commercial break on Super Bowl XLII. Besides the airtime the grand prize winner will also receive a recording contract.

I'm still not sure if the user-generated content promotional trend has reached its peak or not, but it sure has continued to grow all throughout 2007. I keep hearing about one new interactive promotional contest after another that involves inviting someone to create something and submit it for a chance to win. The majority of these contests choose a winner based on a degree of individual skill or uniqueness whether it's writing a song, creating a video, uploading a photograph, composing a themed essay, whipping up a creative, new recipe, or showcasing some degree of talent.

So we'll just have to watch Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3rd and see who will receive this year's fame ...and I'm not talking about Tom Brady and company either.