Media

Ad agencies sell NYC, NJ metro areas for Super Bowl XLVIII

Think the Big Apple is covered with advertising now? Wait until the Super Bowl hits town.

In what is likely to be the largest and priciest advertising blitz in New York City history, Madison Avenue shops have cobbled together unique marketing proposals set to blanket metro area planes, trains and automobiles.

For example:

–  Clear Channel Outdoor is offering advertisers the chance to buy up every billboard up and down New Jersey’s I-95 corridor, which runs close to MetLife Stadium — where the Feb. 2 game will be played.

– CBS Outdoor, selling the game as the first “mass transit” Super Bowl, is offering advertisers the chance to “buy” an entire NYC subway station and cover it entirely in just their ads.

– Transportation hubs, including Newark Liberty International Airport, are also being pitched.

–  The NFL is set to drape a huge poster of the Vince Lombardi trophy from the George Washington Bridge.

“We’re seeing pricing premiums here for all media,” Suzanne Grimes, president of Clear Channel Outdoor, North America, told The Post. “Outdoor is un-skippable. There’s no ability to fast forward.”

Rendering of Times SquareNFL

Much of the ad blitz is aimed at non-NFL sponsors and could be seen by some as guerrilla marketing.

Matthew Glass of Grand Central Marketing, which is planning an event for Celebrity Cruises during the game, admits there will be plenty of “guerrilla marketing” surrounding the game.

“There are ways to reference [the Super Bowl] without crossing any lines, but you have to be careful,” he said.

Brands that aren’t official sponsors are like tailgaters, Glass said, adding that the advertisers “might not have ‘seats’ in the stadium,” but they are eager to be a part the excitement.

The NFL estimates that the metropolitan area economy will see a boost of as much as $600 million.

A nice slice of that economic punch will come from marketers looking to ram the message home, whether or not they’ve signed up to be official big- game sponsors.

Outdoor sales executives are pitching their wares as part of the NFL’s first-ever “outdoor” Super Bowl.

It is also the first time the big game is being played in the country’s No. 1 media market.

The New York designated market area has a population of 21 million and the highest concentrations of affluent homes with 5.4 million households with incomes in excess of $100,000.

As part of a 24-slide presentation the NFL and the Super Bowl Welcoming Committee has put together, the league will also blanket taxi cabs with messaging across the city and is even planning an outdoor toboggan run on one small stretch of Broadway, which will be re-named Super Bowl Boulevard in the run-up to the Feb. 2 event.