Best of The Best: “Most Valuable Proposal”

A Promo Scores Super Bowl Halftime Touchdown

BY EILEEN MCCLELLAND

Published in the January 2013 issue

BREMER JEWELRY, PEORIA, IL

When Super Bowl XLVII kicks off in New Orleans on Feb. 3, all eyes will be on the game — and the commercials. Bremer Jewelry of Peoria, IL, scores big publicity points each year with a contest that helps a lucky local couple get engaged live on the air during halftime. STOR Y BY Julie Fanselow

THE IDEA

For three years, Bremer Jewelry has partnered with the local TV affiliate that is airing the Super Bowl to run a “Most Valuable Proposal” contest. The winner gets to propose to his surprised beloved with a ring in a commercial during the game’s halftime show. Meanwhile, the jewelry store generates plenty of excitement and community goodwill, says Ronda Daily, who owns Bremer Jewelry with her husband Craig.

THE EXECUTION

The Most Valuable Proposal launches after Christmas. People are invited to visit the participating TV station’s website and vote for their favorite ring. Last year, the store awarded an 18K white gold, halo-style diamond engagement ring from A. Jaffe. 

At the same time, men are invited to submit entries explaining why they’d like to win the ring and make the Most Valuable Proposal. A three-person panel from the TV station joins Bremer Jewelry’s marketing director to choose the winner, who is notified the Monday before the big game. He goes to the station to tape his proposal, swearing to keep it a secret until it airs during Super Bowl halftime.

On Super Bowl Sunday, a TV crew shows up wherever the winner is watching the game. Last year, the winner and his girlfriend were at a sports bar where they’d met five years earlier. Another When Super Bowl XLVII kicks off in New Orleans on Feb. 3, all eyes will be on the game — and the commercials. Bremer Jewelry of Peoria, IL, scores big publicity points each year with a contest that helps a lucky local couple get engaged live on the air during halftime. STOR Y BY Julie Fanselow year, the winner and his paramour were watching the game at home when his mother let the TV crew in the back door. The camera crew captures the woman’s reaction as the televised proposal airs, then — to build suspense and ratings — the TV station tells its audience to tune in “tonight at 10” to hear her reply.

THE RESULTS

“The buzz is fantastic,” Daily says. “Even if people don’t watch the Super Bowl, they watch the halftime show.” The footballthemed promotion offers Bremer Jewelry a chance to gain fans among men and women alike. “The day of the Super Bowl is awesome, but the ramp-up promos are the biggest benefit,” Daily says. By launching its Most Valuable Proposal campaign right after Christmas, Bremer Jewelry fills the post-holiday period with a promotion that keeps the store in the public eye until and beyond game day. (How many couples thinking about getting engaged on Valentine’s Day see the Most Valuable Proposal and wind up checking out Bremer Jewelry?)

DO IT YOURSELF

Build good relationships with your local network affiliates; the Super Bowl rotates among CBS (2013), Fox (2014) and NBC (2015). Daily says she buys a package of ads for the game. “You need to spend some money to make it mutually beneficial,” she adds — but don’t worry: Those super-premium prices for Super Bowl commercials don’t apply to local ads.

Keep the love going after the big game. Bremer Jewelry does a lot of digital billboards, and the store puts the winning couple’s photo on the billboards. Friends and family take photos of the billboard and post it online, meaning yet more return for the campaign.

Bremer Jewelry has a football-themed, flip-book style “Proposal Planning Kit” on its website, full of engagement ideas any time of year. See www.bremerjewelry.com/proposal.