North Jersey small businesses need to become well educated about social media
if they are to maximize their chances of profiting from the Feb. 2, 2014,
Meadowlands Super Bowl, leaders from the 2012 and 2013 Super Bowls said
Monday.
Susie Townsend, a liaison to the Super Bowl Host Committee for the game
that was played in Indianapolis in February, and Jeff Anding, an executive for
the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, also said that it's not too
early to begin planning for the big event.
Anding, whose city will host the next Super Bowl in less than three
months, told a crowd of about 150 at an event sponsored by the Meadowlands
Liberty Convention and Visitors Bureau -- that learning about "search engine
optimization" on the Internet can pay dividends.
For instance, he said that if a potential client uses google.com to
search for transportation from New York/New Jersey airports to the Meadowlands
Super Bowl, a business that finds a way to be on the first page of that search
is far more likely to be contacted.
"You want your company to show up high on those lists," Anding said.
But Townsend and Anding both stressed that local businesses that use
National Football League trademarks on their websites -- or even the phrase
"Super Bowl" without authorization -- can expect to receive a stern "cease and
desist" letter because the league so zealously protects its official corporate
sponsorships. (The word "super" is permitted, however, Townsend added.)
Townsend said that Indianapolis-area hotels, restaurants, and
transportation companies tended to do at least as well as they had hoped
during Super Bowl week. But she said that some ticket brokers "had
expectations that were too high," and that some downtown clubs sought such
expensive cover charges that they did less business than they expected.
Anding said that more than 1,000 hotel rooms already are booked for the
entire month before the upcoming Super Bowl in New Orleans for those working
on setting up for the big game and for numerous gala events.
Both executives said that because the identity of the Super Bowl teams is
determined two weeks before the game, there is an opportunity to do extra
business the weekend before Super Bowl week as well. Downtown Indianapolis
hotels affiliated with the NFL had four-day minimum stays, Townsend said.
During that week, Indianapolis Super Bowl visitors were able to go online
to official social media sites that could offer real-time information such as
which restaurants reported waits for tables of 30 minutes or less, Townsend
said.
Anding said that businesses already should be in contact with local
visitors bureaus to improve the chances of being recommended to the league's
Super Bowl host committee.
The executives also explained that many restaurants and banquet halls
could expect to receive offers to host "Super Bowl week" events by next summer
-- and that owners of those sites would then have to figure out whether to
lock in guaranteed business, or to hold out for potentially more lucrative
offers down the road.
Anding added that it was important, however, for travel bureau experts to
"manage the expectations of each business owner" about how much business can
be done on Super Bowl weekend.
"They can't expect to retire off this one four-day period," Anding said.
