Rich Fiscus
16 Feb 2008 22:29
The Super Bowl is perhaps the best known advertising spectacle in the world, but it's not just advertisers who can benefit from increased sales after the big game. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers saw a huge increase in sales of their back catalog after being featured in the halftime show.
While viewers were waiting for a chance to see the latest Madison Avenue efforts on Super Bowl Sunday they were bombarded with reminders that The Heartbreakers would be playing at halftime, which was already fueling sales.
Although the spike in sales isn't particularly notable, what makes it interesting is the job Universal Music Group (UMG) did turning the free publicity into online sales. "A huge part of our marketing was online-based," executive vice president/general manager of Universal Music Enterprises Mike Davis said. "With big television events, the online aspect is so important because people can see (the performance) happen onscreen and then immediately react and buy it online. With so much music being bought online now anyway, it's an easy bull's-eye to market to."
According to Davis, more than a third of the sales for the band's 'Greatest Hits' compilation were downloads. That album landed at number 1 on the Billboard album charts, and another compilation, titled 'Anthology: Through The Years' came in at number six. Additionally, all the songs the band played at halftime have seen greatly increased downloads.