SUPER Bowl Breakdown ??

?This week I'm breaking down the biggest brand?plays?from the Super Bowl????

Which brands ran a traditional TV spot this year, and which tackled their campaigns with a modern approach?

And more importantly, what were the most eye-opening stats of the game?

Let's take a look!

In last week’s newsletter I talked about brands that ditched the traditional Valentine’s Day promotions and instead created experiences for their customers. Companies like Hinge and Hotels.com elevated key interactions with their customers into moments worth sharing or coming back for.?

If Valentine’s Day is the appetizer of tentpole brand campaigns, think of the Super Bowl as the Thanksgiving dinner. We all know how important Super Bowl ads are – and if you’re an ad junkie like me, you know they can be as fun as the game itself. For this year’s big game, advertisers paid $6.5 million for a 30-second spot, an increase of $1 million from 2021… which is higher than some of the players’ annual salaries ??

While commercials are fun, this week I want to spotlight brands that punted on the traditional Super Bowl spot?and found other (non-seven-figure!) ways to connect directly with fans instead.

Here’s my post-show breakdown of some of my favorite brand plays over the weekend:

SMIRNOFF

Smirnoff Vodka, unable to air a commercial during the SB due to Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive alcohol rights, identified a fun way to speak to its audience during the game off the screen.?

A recent survey conducted by Diageo found that 2% of football fans will have to miss the Super Bowl. Smirnoff came to the rescue by partnering with former NFL star, Vernon Davis, to surprise a group of gold miners in northern Alaska who otherwise wouldn’t have had access to the game. The vodka brand equipped their break room with a new TV, food, cocktails, a sound system, and premium access to the broadcast.?

Additionally, Smirnoff ran a promotion earlier this month to give away personalized gameday party boxes to essential workers.

Instead of spending $6.5 million on a Super Bowl ad that broadly speaks to ~100 million viewers, Smirnoff superserved a smaller segment of their audience by understanding their unique story and their challenges and providing a custom game-day experience for them. In addition to the likely-unshakable bond Smirnoff now has with those superfans, they also benefit from the PR and passalong advocacy.

STATE FARM

While the big screen will undoubtedly get the most amount of eyeballs on Sunday evening, to truly create superfans, you have to meet your ideal audience where they are. Which platforms are your customers most active on, and where do they want to communicate with you??

Last year, State Farm aired a TV commercial with a star-studded line-up, including Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, and Drake. This year, however, they decided to engage on TikTok to better connect with their younger following. Since nearly half of all Super Bowl viewers will browse social media during the game, there’s still a large and active customer base to tap into.?

The insurance company kicked off their #TeamStateFarm challenge a few weeks ago, encouraging users to submit a duet with their mascot, Jake from State Farm. During the Super Bowl, Jake pinned the top three most popular video submissions on his page and asked the audience to vote for their favorite. At the end of February, State Farm hopes to identify one talented winner for an upcoming commercial.

Not only is this campaign more interactive than a traditional 30-second spot, it’s also significantly cheaper and will garner more engagement over the month-long span than a traditional TV spot could. Viewers will likely talk about their favorite commercials for the coming days, but the trending TikTok challenge has infiltrated users’ feeds for weeks.?

With a more targeted and interactive game plan focused on its ideal customer base, State Farm can better connect to its audience and create superfans.?

GROUPON

As the “experiences marketplace,” it should come as no surprise that Groupon opted for an interactive brand campaign in place of traditional Super Bowl advertising.?

Groupon’s “Party Like A Player” initiative drummed up excitement for the big game by offering one winner and 15 friends the opportunity to party at Tampa Bay Buccaneer Rob Gronkowski’s Foxborough mansion. The party also included other local Groupon offerings, such as beer and wine tastings, mini golf, an indoor bounce house, axe throwing, and a hot stone massage station.?

Fans were able to enter the contest daily via the Groupon app or website until February 2nd. Similar to the State Farm contest, Groupon cleverly inserted themselves in the Super Bowl arena weeks before the game.

Plus, since consumers were curious to check in on the lucky winner’s experience (and to see the inside of Gronk’s house!) Groupon garnered even more attention during the big game.

Groupon’s clever campaign allowed them to remain relevant for the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, collect significant customer data, and create a shareable moment — the ultimate win.

What were some of the other brand activations and campaigns that earned your attention during the Super Bowl? Drop me a comment with links to any fun campaigns I missed!?

Remember: Just because the Super Bowl is over doesn’t mean you can’t be SUPER every day! ??

Not your typical post-game statistics.. but definitely the most important:

• Super Bowl 56 viewership increased by?12%?YOY
• First-time SB advertisers made up?40%?of all of the commercials
• 59% of viewers found it important to keep up with the game on multiple devices, a?16%?increase YOY
• According to USA Today Ad Meter, the award for the?worst ad?(by sentiment) goes to CoinBase?
• The award for driving the?most engagement?on social media also goes to CoinBase

I don't have the top play highlights for you, but let's break down some of the biggest moments on social media:

Evan McPherson escapes the team meeting to enjoy the halftime show.

Rams' safety Taylor Rapp proposes to his girlfriend mid-celebration????

Twitter went crazy when CoinBase’s 60-second spot - featuring just a floating QR code - crashed its own site.

Many brands utilized TikTok for their Super Bowl advertising this year, but how does that compare to Instagram Reels? And which one should you use for your ideal audience??

Check out this article by CMS Wire for the stat comparisons.

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts.” -Jeff Bezos

Have a great week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!