Back to basics - Marketing learnings from the SuperBowl

So, the Super Bowl LVIII is over. The hype has come and gone. The ads are getting dissected and shared online, and well over 100 million people globally will have tuned in on linear or streaming platforms to watch. It is quite the spectacle. For most advertisers though, it will always be a holy grail of ad space, entirely out of reach of their budgets, but there is a key learning in it all.?

Every year we have the ‘new big thing’ in advertising. This year unquestionably is it all about AI. For a long time, every year was ‘the year of mobile’. These things are important to consider as they have the power to transform advertising, but we sometimes forget about the basics. It may not be very sexy, but it is vital as marketers we do not forget the foundations of large-scale reach.

Yes, the Super Bowl commands outrageous prices. But few televisual events can bestow that level of reach, cultural fame and shared social currency that amplify brand activity far beyond the spot itself. In fact on the subject of price it’s worth noting that in CPT terms a spot in the Superbowl is only marginally more expensive that one in The Late Late Toy Show here in Ireland.

To put that in some context, brands like the online marketplace Temu, and telco giant Verizon were both mentioned in online conversations more than 30,000 times each, and that was during the game. The celebrity effect was also palpable. Beyonce received more than double the mentions of the ad she appeared in for Verizon, at 75,680,? and Taylor Swift, who simply was there to watch the game received over 148,000 mentions. The knock on effect of this social attention is yet to be quantified but you can bet the returns will be there.

The key learning here is not that advertisers must buy into expensive television specials to succeed but something far simpler. In the contemporary media environment, characterized by fragmentation and the perpetual battle for consumer attention, achieving high reach in media campaigns has become more critical than ever. The learnings from Professor Byron Sharp’s book ‘How Brands Grow’ are very clear here: Consumers buy products if they are both physically and mentally available to them. So it is better to reach as many people as possible rather than limit your advertising to small segmented audiences. This is backed up by the IPA'S effectiveness databank which demonstrates that reach is the key ingredient to deliver large business effects. Reaching all category buyers, especially light consumers, is vitally important to help brands succeed.

But today's media landscape is a mosaic of platforms, channels, and content, making it increasingly difficult for advertisers to achieve widespread reach. The proliferation of digital media, and occasionally a focus on the ‘new’ things like AI, has led to the segmentation of audiences across countless niche outlets, from streaming services and social media to podcasts and mobile apps. This fragmentation poses a significant challenge for brands aiming to build awareness and drive action at scale.

In this context, the Super Bowl's ability to amass a large, diverse audience in a single event is a rare and invaluable opportunity. The game's broad appeal cuts across demographics, drawing viewers from various age groups, backgrounds, and interests. This cross-section of the population provides advertisers with a chance to achieve high reach within a condensed time frame, a feat that is becoming increasingly elusive in today's media environment. The good news in the Irish context is, that as a small nation with some very well established and respected media outlets (across multiple media channels), achieving that broad reach is not too difficult.

This is not for a second to suggest that strategies such as personalisation, or the clever use of data, are not important. On the contrary, they are extremely important to the media mix, particularly for performance clients that operate a little lower down the funnel. But these tactics should be complementary to upper funnel activations.?

The other side of the equation to what makes Super Bowl advertising so good is the quality of the advertising. And to be clear, we are referring to the quality of thinking in the ads, not just the extremely high-end production values. In the 2022 Super Bowl, Coinbase (an online cryptocurrency buying and selling platform) had an ad with only a QR code bouncing around on screen. No fancy settings, no celebrity cameos, or heartwarming stories. Just a QR code. A QR code that was scanned by over 20 million people… within 60 seconds of it being on screen.?

Furthermore many brands release these high quality pieces of work before the Superbow itself so that it starts to create talkability before the event. In fact System1 tested this and found that releasing them early had no negative impact vs trying to do the ‘big reveal’ on the night.?

While not every brand can afford a Super Bowl ad, the lessons from its advertising triumphs are universally applicable. Achieving high reach in today's fragmented media landscape requires a strategic blend of creativity, quality, and context-awareness. And with consumer attention as a scarce commodity in the digital age brands must craft compelling narratives and deliver them through the most appropriate channels to reach and engage their target audiences effectively.

In conclusion, the Super Bowl's advertising showcase is a testament to the indispensable value of achieving high reach in media campaigns. It teaches us that despite? a fragmented media landscape and distracted consumers, it is possible to create advertising that not only captures attention but also leaves a lasting impression. As brands navigate the complexities of modern media planning, they must strive for the same level of creativity, quality, and strategic insight that Super Bowl advertisers demonstrate year after year. By doing so, they can ensure their messages are heard loud and clear, even amidst the cacophony of today's digital world.

Manuel Yoacham, Business Director