Super Bowl XXXVIII - Panthers vs. Patriots

Super Bowl part of Wachovia game plan

Involvement of Panthers is 'Icing on the cake' for N.C. bank's ad strategy

By Richard Craver | JOURNAL REPORTER

Wachovia Corp. is counting on a blitz of Super Bowl XXXVIII pre-game advertisements to expand awareness of the bank in its East Coast territory and nationally.

The bank, based in Charlotte, plans to run seven ads during the Feb. 1 pre-game show, as well as sponsor the first hour of programming at 2 p.m. The ads are a continuation of the bank's "Uncommon Performance" campaign that focuses on its securities and wealth-management products.

"It's a culmination of a strategy we launched as the start of the NFL season," Lisa Kowitt, the media director for Wachovia, said yesterday. "We were in every single regular-season game on CBS and Fox, in the playoffs, and now these seven spots.

"The campaign has allowed us to hit our target audience, a more affluent male and female demographic base, hard and fast with the ads and an online component. The Super Bowl package, and having the Carolina Panthers involved, is the icing on the cake."

Kowitt declined yesterday to say how much the Super Bowl ads would cost, although she said that it was less than the $2.3 million that CBS is charging for a 30-second spot during the football game.

The Super Bowl is typically the most-watched television broadcast each year, estimated to draw 87 million viewers. Many people tune in just for the ads, which tend to be more creative and associated with product or summer-movie introductions.

The Panthers' surprising run into the Super Bowl did not prompt Bank of America Corp. and Sara Lee Corp. to buy last-minute ad spots. Bank of America is based in Charlotte and Sara Lee's branded-apparel division is based in Winston-Salem.

Bank of America said it prefers a marketing strategy of sponsoring professional and collegiate teams, including the Panthers.

On Jan. 16, the bank acquired the naming rights to the Panthers' stadium for a reported $140 million over 20 years.

The bank did run ad spots during the AFC championship game Sunday to connect the audience watching the New England Patriots with its pending $47 billion acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp.

"There's a lot of theater and spectacle about the Super Bowl ads, and that's not what we're about with our advertisements," said Mary Waller, a spokeswoman for the bank.

Sara Lee Branded Apparel, a division of Sara Lee, chose not to advertise on this season's Super Bowl programming after running spots for its Hanes tagless T-shirts during the 2003 game.

"The Super Bowl is not an annual buy for us, although the viewing audience is a perfect match for our products," said Peggy Carter, a spokeswoman.

"Although we have new products in the pipeline, we didn't have a product rollout ready for advertising this time around," Carter said.

Wachovia's Super Bowl ad package represents a strategic gamble, said John Sweeney, the director of the Sports Communication program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

But he said that the plan appears to be sound, considering that message ads have to be repetitious to work.

"What is curious about Wachovia's buy is that it's advertising nationally for a regional audience," Sweeney said. "I doubt it will get a flood of new deposits the day after the Super Bowl.

"What makes the most sense is if Wachovia is looking to acquire a bank in a completely new market, and it wants to use the Super Bowl ads to raise brand awareness prior to making the purchase."

Banking analysts have speculated that Wachovia, the nation's fifth-largest bank, could buy PNC Fi-nancial Services Group Inc. of Pittsburgh or KeyCorp of Cleveland.

• Richard Craver can be reached at 727-7376 or at rcraver@wsjournal.com