Super Bowl goes mobile

Marketers tempt gadget users with sweepstakes, ads

Even the year’s grandest TV event isn’t enough to get smartphone addicts to look up.

In what is being marketed as the first “second screen” Super Bowl, the game’s promoters and advertisers are offering interactive experiences aimed at getting people to spend more money and time on mobile phones and devices.

Roughly 60% of Super Bowl viewers will use their phones during the game, says a survey by Velti, a mobile marketing firm. An E- Trade survey says 31% of viewers expect to use Facebook, and 6% will be on Twitter. “This is the first year where you’ll see fans using the cellphone more often than the remote,” says Krishna Subramanian of Velti. “Advertisers are trying to figure out how to leverage the second or third screen.” Some examples: ugame streaming. Verizon Wireless and the National Football League are partnering to live stream the game. It’s the first Super Bowl to be broadcast live on mobile phones, Verizon Wireless says.

Public Knowledge, a communications advocacy group, warns that live video streaming can be costly, as much as $ 20 for a three- hour game if you’re over your data limit.

uinteractive ads. Shazam, known for its app that can identify a song being played, is expanding into TV ads. It has signed with about half of all Super Bowl advertisers, and some of their commercials will run a Shazam logo. When you “tag” the ad with the app, it’ll take you to other pages or websites that further market the product. Tagging Toyota’s ad will enter you in a sweepstakes to win two Camrys. Best Buy is giving away a $ 50 gift card for a mobile phone. Cars. com will donate $ 1 to charity each time its ad is tagged, up to $ 100,000. Teleflora will issue coupons.

At halftime, Shazam will also display a blog about the entertainment and links to buy the halftime performers’ music.

Intonow, whose app provides detailed information about TV shows as they’re playing, is partnering with Pepsi Max. Viewers who use Intonow’s app to tag the ad will be entered in a sweepstakes to win the drink for life. Users also can rate all Super Bowl ads, and replay 16 of them. The app will also highlight plays, stats, relevant news articles and tweets from NFL players.

Go Daddy will use a QR code on its commercial. Those who scan it will be led to its website, where a racier version of the commercial will be played.

At a Coca- Cola website, Coke Polarbowl. com, computer- generated polar bears will react to game plays, the halftime show and ads. These “bears” will also tweet on the Twitter @ Cocacola account on game day.

So, will people actually stop watching TV to click for more ads on their phones? “You wouldn’t believe how often that happens,” Subramanian says.