With the 2019 AFC and NFC champions in the books, the focus now turns to which companies will advertise during Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, and the tech spend so far is light. On Tuesday, AdAge showed Audi and its electric vehicles as the only technology on tap for the high-profile media event that has become as notable for its marketing reach as for the play on the field. Audi is to run a 60-second spot from Venables Bell in the second quarter, highlighting the carmaker’s e-tron vehicles and its plan to launch three EVs in the next three years. Variety pegged CBS' bill to run a 30-second ad at $5.1 million-$5.3 million.
Sonos, which promoted actively through the holiday season, is up to more fanfare, announcing in a Thursday email to customers “early access” savings at its retail store in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood before a “limited-time savings” event on home theater speakers good through Feb. 3. Early access is available to customers at the store through Friday and includes savings of $100 on a Playbase, $50 on a Beam sound bar and $100 on the Sub.
LG OLED TVs are selling for the lowest price ever in a sports-themed promotion running through Feb. 2, said the company Tuesday. The 55-inch B8 drops to $1,499 from $2,299, and the 65-inch B8 is deal-priced at $2,299 from $3,299 “just in time for the many major televised sporting events coming over the next few weeks,” it said. LG didn’t respond to questions.
Target is pushing holiday season pricing on first-generation smart home devices into the new year. Friday's email blast promoted the Echo Dot for $24 (down from $39) and its rival Google Home mini for $29, from the regular $49. A Google Home mini bundle is two for $50. The original Google Home speaker is selling for $89, down from $129, and the Google Home Hub is $50 off, to $99, Target said.
AT&T unveiled new advertising offerings it said were the result of collaboration between its ad business Xandr and Time Warner's Turner. Those include Turner's data-centric AudienceNow using Xandr's viewership insights, for quicker understanding of ad campaign results, it said Tuesday. AT&T bought TW in 2018.
Sale-priced PCs started at $129 Friday at Best Buy, said a promotional email to customers, but they started even lower at $109, we found in a scan of the e-commerce site. Asus 11-inch laptops with Intel Celeron processors were priced at $70 off to $109 for a 2GB version and $129 for the 4 GB model. HP laptops, not showing sale prices, were priced at $229 and $249 for 11-inch and 14-inch Celeron models with 4 GB memory. Lenovo’s starting price was $279 for a 15-inch, 4GB laptop with an AMD A-6 processor.
Headphones, which were expected to be among CE's holiday top sellers, remained on sale Wednesday at Best Buy, the retailer emailed customers. A large number of Beats by Dr. Dre and Jabra headphones were marked up to half off, and Sony’s 4.6-star XB950N1 active noise-canceling headphones showed a $119 sale price, down from $249. Bose’s QuietComfort 35 headphones were shaved $50 to $299. Global headphones sales in Q2 jumped 26 percent to $5.5 billion, said a Futuresource report (see 1812120003)
Sonos, running promotions throughout the holiday season, doubled down Friday, emailing customers it's offering free, same-day delivery through Christmas Eve. It offered to set up a speaker to customers who choose “up&running” at checkout. The free delivery option is handled through Enjoy, which works with Sonos for delivery and setup to select ZIP codes via appointment. Appointment cutoff on Monday is 5 p.m., it said. The company continued to push its deal for $20 off a single Sonos One speaker and $50 off two.
Retailers are stepping up their delivery perks in the week before Christmas, with Target announcing Monday guaranteed delivery by Dec. 24 for eligible orders placed by 11:55 CST p.m. Thursday. Express one-day shipping will be available Friday with varied shipping deadlines; it didn’t give a cost for expedited shipping. Target also pushed its Drive Up service, where a store employee delivers a product purchased online to a designated spot in a parking lot. And it promoted Shipt for two-hour delivery of groceries, decorations and gifts ordered at least two hours before closing for delivery in an hour or more. The time-saving services are intended to take the stress out of last-minute shopping, said Mark Tritton, chief merchandising officer. Tech deals at Target this week include a sixth-generation iPad starting at $249 ($80 off), third-series Apple Watch starting at $229 ($50 off) and $29 Google Home Mini ($20 off). The retailer also extended hours: Through Sunday, most Target stores will open at 7 a.m. and close at midnight, 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Amazon, meanwhile, said Thursday that Prime members can shop until Christmas Eve with free same-day delivery and Prime Now. The e-tailer extended its free shipping cutoff to Tuesday to all customers, with no purchase minimum, for orders placed for delivery in time for Christmas.
With under two weeks left to shop before Christmas, Best Buy cranked up the promotional volume with a Friday-Sunday “Nick of Time” sale. Deals include iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus ($150 off) with qualified activation; MacBook Pro Touchbar ($200 off), Beats urBeats earphones for $39 ($60 off), Samsung 65-inch smart TV for $599 ($200 off); Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1 laptop for $899 ($400 off); $300-$500 savings on Samsung Galaxy Note8, S8 or S8+ with activation; LG 300-watt soundbar for $119 ($160 off); and an HP Pavilion gaming desktop for $729 ($100 off), it said. The retailer is continuing its 20 Days of Doorbusters promo, including an upcoming deal on a Microsoft Surface. Shipping is free through Dec. 25, no minimum purchase required.