CBS is expected to announce today that its Super Bowl ad slots are more than 90% sold out. The announcement comes five months before the game’s broadcast on Feb. 3, 2013. The 30-second slots are going for a record $3.7 million to $3.8 million vs. an average $3.5 million during the 2012 broadcast on NBC. If CBS sells 60 slots, revenue could exceed $225 million. Among the biggest repeat advertisers: Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay and Hyundai.
The ability to directly attribute a TV ad’s conversion path has long eluded marketers, despite TV advertising taking the lion’s share of many brand’s marketing budgets. However, companies such as HTC Corp. and PepsiCo are lighting that path by using apps for consumers’ 
mobile devices.
After dialing back its presence in the Super Bowl last year, when it bought just four spots and used them all on Doritos, PepsiCo is coming back to the big game in a big way this year. In addition to the six spots already promised to Pepsi Max and Doritos for this year’s “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, the company has a seventh spot in the mix.
