If you haven’t heard the 2012 Super Bowl is being playing in Indianapolis. February 5th is the big day. With only a few weeks to go, our city is all a buzz with excitement and final preparation.

As a football fan, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. It’s a chance to experience some of the activities during the week leading up to the big game. Who plays in it is of little consequence since the Colts are focused on the number one pick in the NFL draft. However, having our streets and bars filled with Patriots’ fans might be a little hard to stomach.

As a brand strategist and from a pure marketing perspective, the planning and ongoing promotions have been solid. An exceptional fan experience (i.e. visitor experience) appears to be everyone’s number one objective. Volunteers are being trained to be brand ambassadors for the big event and for our city. Hopefully, the stories posted on indianapolissuperbowl.com will bear witness to these efforts.

A heavy broadcast media event, it would be interesting to get a look behind the scenes at their Web marketing strategy and social media marketing campaigns. The negative press about traffic and parking downtown is causing many of us locals to think twice about going downtown. And asking downtown businesses to have their employees work at home that week is nuts. Are we going to shut down the state and city government offices too? This PR miscue needs to be addressed, unless it’s part of the overall plan.

No matter, I will not be deterred. I plan on being there. Very soon, a shirt with the 2012 Super Bowl’s brand identity design will be added to my wardrobe.