It’s an American sport. The only teams that compete are American. The sport is only played in America. And the importance of this sporting event is only really felt in America. So why is the Super Bowl the most important event on the global marketing calendar and how is it breaking boundaries for the advertising industry?

Each year, advertisers line up to show their wares in what is considered the most important sporting event in the US of A. Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 was the most-watched television event in American history with 111.3 million people tuning in. This year, that record was smashed on NBC reaching 114.4 million, over a third of the entire population. The opportunity for advertisers is therefore compelling. Reach a mass audience with your messaging and leave a long lasting impression that helps you fulfil your marketing objectives.

As many of you will know, I believe the weight of investment in television advertising increasingly has major flaws. The proliferation of TV channels means its harder to get noticed. Its more expensive than other forms of communication and less targeted. Not to mention there is serious wastage reaching out to less attentive audiences with a one way conversation, casting a wide net over a mass audience and not always reeling in your consumer. As an awareness driver yes. As an influencer of propensity to view or purchase, less so than other channels and platforms. Frustratingly some marketers tend to focus less on evaluating the success of their TV investment and more on scrutinising less costly more effective digital investment.

But this all changes at Super Bowl time. There is an active engaged audience who make an appointment to view advertising therefore branding the ad reels every bit as important as the sporting event itself. This has driven a splurge of competition and creativity as advertisers work hard to make their message the one that everyone talks about at the water cooler the next day. It's not cheap mind, with advertisers paying up to $4m for a 30 second spot. In order to justify that investment, you need to go beyond just filling air time with content.

The art of an effective TV spot is no longer just the creative itself. It's the immersive world it builds around the spot driving interaction and engagement on additional platforms. In the film space specifically, the real key is original content or at least timely and relevant content. This year marked a real step change, as spots targeted at a more female audience caught the eye and drove the most buzz with Fifty Shades Of Grey leading the way both in terms of buzz and intent to view conversations. It is the most buzzed about film related TV spot in Super Bowl history, a real coup for Universal. In Fact Universal had the 5 most buzzed about spots and drove 4 out of the top 5’s biggest increases in Facebook fan acquisition and YouTube video views.

In the brand space, McDonalds were the most buzzed about brand in their sector and overall driving a shade under half a million mentions. Budweiser focused on YouTube and delivered some incredible results whilst Clash of Clans delivered the best increase in Facebook fans. For brands, its always important to understand each individual objective which can sometimes be around driving purchase intent, but also around uplifting brand affinity. Sometimes, its just about driving conversation which can be positive or even around provoking a reaction.

The Super Bowl is unquestionably significant as a marketing event as it drives integrated messaging acknowledging that good content disperses wider than the box. This can happen organically, but its more likely to deliver results if it's part of your overarching marketing strategy. Technically it is no longer a one channel TV spot. Its an omni channel content strategy leveraging social media, search, video and email platforms. Brands that deliver across multiple platforms will simply disperse their message wider and influence purchase decisions. If you’re going to spend $4m on buying TV space, you may as well invest $1m more in making that spend more effective for your message.

As we move forward, I expect to see more integrated messaging, more unique ways of bringing these messages to market and potentially other platform integration such as mobile. Ultimately, an event spot is no longer about buying space. Its about reaching the right audience, in the right place with the right message and if you’re not doing that, you’re missing a trick.