Was it worth investing USD 7 million for a 30-second ad during the LVIII Super Bowl?
While advertisers’ marketing departments prepare to prove a good result from Sunday, let’s reflect on its value for brands.
The Super Bowl, as the World Cup or Formula 1 GP, needs to be understood as a platform. A tool to reach a specific business outcome, regardless of whether it has to do more with brand or performance.
Many brands seize this opportunity to draw viewers’ attention, such as Google, Microsoft, Bud Light, Frito-Lay, Uber Eats, M&M’s, Booking.com, Oreo, Lindt, Dove, Budweiser, Doritos and Michelob Ultra.
The big game attracts one of the largest audiences, both American football fans and people who don’t follow the sport. It’s not just about sport but culture.
Mass audience but, mass products?
Do advertisers reach not-interested people?
If any of the ads reached people who didn’t care about the product, advertisers paid extra for nothing. In other words, a significant amount of money was invested to reach both strategic and non-strategic customers.
For example, for a vegetarian food delivery service, it wouldn’t make sense to do mass advertising to more than 100 million TV viewers as only 4% of the US population is vegetarian.
Focus, focus, focus.
Marketing is a promise
Assuming the Super Bowl ad is addressed to a strategic market segment, what the campaign tells and how it does it becomes vital for the result.
As humans, we understand the world through the stories we choose to believe and tell ourselves. Some stories make us reflect and others laugh, ideas at the edges are the ones we share with others.
What kind of story does make people take action?
What differentiates noise from messages?
According to the World Advertising Research Centre (WARC), a clear and specific promise to customers that can be fulfilled is what makes campaigns succeed. Both new and existing customers need brands’ promises to be met.
Campaigns including an explicit and verifiable promise to customers tend to drive 34% more long-term brand and sales growth, 24% more sustained sales and 10% more short-term sales.
We can find different kinds of promises:
Emotional: “priceless” (Mastercard)
Functional: “you’re not you when you’re hungry” (Snickers)
Enjoyable to buy: “the smartest way to get around” (Uber)
Memorable: “don’t rent a car, rent the car” (Sixt)
Valuable: “taste the victory” (Frito-Lay)
Deliverable: “real food, made fresh, delivered” (Farmer’s Dog)
The big game
So, let’s take a look at some of the Super Bowl XVIII ads:
Dove (x): Let’s #KeepHerConfident.
Invitation to take action in favour of a cause rather than a clear promise to the customer.
Michelob Ultra (✓): Superior Light Beer.
The brand explicitly offers a premium quality product.
Doritos (x): Go ahead, try us.
Invitation to try the product, the ad reflects the product value but it’s not present in a promise.
Frito-Lay (✓): Taste the victory.
The brand directly relates the promise to the experience of consuming the product.
Budweiser (✓): This Bud’s for you.
The customer promise is based on an emotional insight.
Oreo (✓): Stay playful.
The customer promise is based on an enjoyable experience with the product.
Google(✓): Capture life, no matter how you experience it.
Based on functionality, Google promises the opportunity to create memorable content for everyone.
Booking (x): Booking.yeah.
The final message provides an emotion, but not necessarily a clear promise to the customer.
Uber Eats (✓): Remember, Uber Eats gets anything.
The customer can see a precise promise based on the brand’s capacity to deliver.
M&M’s (✓): Find your comfort.
Consuming the product is promised to relieve customers’ emotional moods.
Bud Light (✓): Easy to enjoy.
Experience is at the heart of the consumption of Bud Light.
Microsoft (✓): Your everyday AI companion.
Copilot AI assistant promises to help the customer achieve anything, anywhere.
Several ads included promises seeking attention in one of the most expensive periods. The percentage of people who don’t recall brands from Super Bowl ads increased from 15% in 2020 to 17% in 2023.
To solve this problem, 2024 ads included powerful narratives, humour (75% of consumers look for comedy in advertising) and celebrities (Lionel Messi, Tom Brady, Jennifer Aniston, David and Victoria Beckham, Anthony Hopkins, Scarlet Johansson, and more).
So, before launching a campaign, a CMO should check if:
1) The campaign is based on a clear customer promise
2) The customer promise was built on real customer insights
3) The customer promise is communicated in a memorable way
4) The company can effectively fulfil the promise
Passing the test
So, was it worth investing USD 7 million for a 30-second ad during the LVIII Super Bowl?
To answer this question, we need to know:
Does the reached audience care about the product category?
Was the ad part of a campaign with a minimum frequency or a one-shot?
Was the creative pre-tested before launch with the strategic audience?
Did the ad include a clear promise that can be fulfilled?
Was the promise made through a memorable ad?
Did competitors also advertise during the game?
Veylinx’s research shows how the 2023 Super Bowl ads led to increases in demand for Michelob Ultra (19%), Pepsi Zero Sugar (18%), Frito-Lay PopCorners (12%) and Heineken 0,0 (11%). We’re talking about mass products beer, soda and chips.
Is the Super Bowl profitable for other business sectors? It’s more challenging.
What we know is that the cost to reach TV viewers keeps increasing as audience reach per dollar invested dropped to 15 people. While the price of a 30-second ad was USD 4M in 2014, ten years later is USD 7M.
Conclusion
We can’t assess a 30-second ad without looking at the full picture.
Besides the purpose, creativity and consistency, all costs need to be considered. Ad fee, production, distribution in other channels, testing and cost of opportunity.
Incremental results are what is pursued. Not on everyone, but on customers relevant to the brand.
Let’s make promises and meet them. Then, let’s make better promises.