Oscars 2021: Here's what advertisers have in store for Sunday’s award show

It’s been an award season unlike any other ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night, the 93rd Academy Awards, which on Sunday will cap a string of pandemic-era tentpole events defined by depressed ratings and skewed schedules. But, for advertisers, the show must go on. Despite a sustained slide in ratings, Madison Avenue isn’t giving up on Hollywood broadcasts for a reason that’s simple, if not a bit demoralizing for the TV industry: Even with viewership levels that are mediocre at best, tentpole events like the Oscars still rank among the most-watched of any programming on linear TV, excluding sports. If an advertiser wants to reach a lot of people at once, award shows are one of their best bets. Many things have suffered since last year’s outbreak of COVID-19, and TV viewership is no exception. It’s not difficult to pinpoint a negative trend by looking at 2021’s major broadcasts: Super Bowl LV recorded the game’s lowest viewership since 2007; the Golden Globes saw a 60% drop in its audience year-over-year; and the Grammys drew the smallest crowd in its 63-year history. Even the Oscars, which were held pre-pandemic in 2020, are coming off an all-time low of 23.6 million viewers last year. It may be that award shows don’t have the reach or staying power they once did, but brands aren’t swayed. Advertising heavyweights including Verizon, AARP, General Motors’ Cadillac, and Procter & Gamble—as well as newcomers such as Apartments.com and Grey Goose—have all spent a pretty penny to join the broadcast; ABC is asking for as much as $2 million per 30 seconds of air time, according to media buyers. Those figures are buoyed by first-timers, not unlike this year’s Super Bowl, which saw at least 21 brands run commercials that never had appeared in the game before. Such companies tend to be “COVID-thriving brands,” Jerry Daniello, senior VP of entertainment brand solutions Disney Advertising Sales recently told Ad Age. These brands, he says, are showing up to Sunday’s telecast in an “interesting, timely and relevant way,” with many of them using the 93rd annual Academy Awards as a springboard to launch new creative. Here’s a look at what some key advertisers, Oscars stalwarts and newcomers alike, have in store for Sunday night’s event (which is proceeding without a host for the third year in a row): Verizon Returning for its fourth consecutive Oscars, Verizon is showing up on Sunday with one of the 2021 award season’s biggest ad buys: a series of seven ads that are set to air throughout the night (one pre-show spot, five shown during the telecast, and one making the rounds all weekend long). The 30- and 45-second ads feature real Verizon customers talking about how the telecom network has helped them out during the pandemic, with a special emphasis on 5G technology. The central question behind the creative: “How do we educate and bring customers into our 5G story in ways that are compelling and immersive for them,” says Andrew McKechnie, Verizon’s chief creative officer. Check out one of the seven commercials, “Ethan,” below: AARP Sunday’s Oscars will serve as a venue to launch AARP’s first new brand campaign in three years, which also happens to be its first from BBDO New York since the Omnicom-owned shop was named the nonprofit’s agency of record last year. The spot, titled “Anthem,” is directed at the youngest echelons of the group’s 50-and-over membership base—Generation X and young Boomers—with the creative based on the tagline, “The younger you are, the more you need AARP.” The broadcast will kick off a larger campaign, “Wise Friend and Fierce Defender,” that will run through the end of the year. Expedia With COVID-19 vaccinations well underway in the U.S. and consumers itching to explore again, travel brands are gearing back up for a return to normalcy in their sector. Starring actress and director Rashida Jones, Expedia’s Oscars ad takes advantage of that attitude, using a slightly tweaked rendition of Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself” to playfully show that the online travel agency is one of your best companions while on the road. The spot supports an ongoing rebrand for the platform and signals its biggest marketing push in five years, confirms Shiv Singh, senior VP and general manager of brand at Expedia. Grey Goose French vodka brand Grey Goose will use Sunday’s Oscars as a platform to drum up awareness of its biggest product launch in years: Grey Goose Essences, a new line of flavored vodkas “infused with real fruit and botanical essences” that first hit shelves in February. Courtesy of MullenLowe LA and visual effects studio Time Based Arts, the 60-second spot—the brand’s first Oscars buy—follows a woman on her journey that nods to the ingredients found in Grey Goose’s new spirits. The Essences campaign will also run across traditional and digital channels in tandem with its award show debut. Google Google will run two heartfelt ads during the Oscars: One focused on how Google Search can help parents and children learn together; the other tells the story of Google employee Tony Lee, a child of deaf parents, also called a CODA. Produced in-house by Google Brand Studio, both 90-second spots highlight various advanced features from augmented reality octopi to Live Caption technology that can assist hearing-impaired people. In an effort to broaden accessibility, Google has also partnered with this Academy to sponsor this year’s closed captions and audio descriptions. Watch Google’s “A CODA Story” ad below: Corona Unlike many of the major advertisers debuting new creative, Corona is opting to use its Oscars presence to rerun “And Zoe Makes Three,” a 30-second ad starring Snoop Dogg, rapper Bad Bunny and actress Zoe Saldana that first aired during February’s Golden Globes. The strategy is part of the Mexican beer brand’s plan to invest in high-profile media and tentpole events as part of its new “La Via Mas Fina” campaign (otherwise known as “The Fine Life” in English). Resorts World Las Vegas The first new hotel to rise over the Vegas Strip in more than a decade has also bought into this year’s Oscars, casting a who’s-who of music stars in an ethereal ad that highlights the property’s forthcoming entertainment offerings. Resorts World Las Vegas, opening to the public in late June on the site of the former Stardust, tapped celebs from Katy Perry to Celine Dion to Carrie Underwood to help sell the 3,500-room hotel to the public using the slogan “Stay fabulous.” The 30-second Oscars spot, created by California agency Hooray, was cut down from a nearly two-minute short film. Cadillac Long-time Oscars advertiser Cadillac will use Hollywood’s biggest night to help introduce the Lyriq, its first electric crossover vehicle, although details of the ad have not yet been released. “We’re excited as we know this year’s event will truly be unlike any previous Oscars. The Academy’s ‘Awards-show-as-a-movie’ approach will feature an ensemble cast, be broadcast from multiple locations and tell stories from some of the greatest storytellers in the world,” says Melissa Grady, chief marketing officer for the General Motors-owned luxury brand. Cadillac has been a partner of the Academy Awards for the past eight years

Oscars 2021: Here's what advertisers have in store for Sunday’s award show

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