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The Super Bowl isn't just about touchdowns and halftime shows — it's also a battleground for advertisers vying for consumer attention on one of the biggest commercial stages of the year. As the country finalizes preparations for Super Bowl LVIII, the impact of commercials on retail sales has become a topic of interest. The big question: Are they worth the money?
According to an ad study completed in 2023 by Veylinx, a behavioral research company, Super Bowl commercials do indeed drive consumer demand. According to their results, “2023 Super Bowl advertising fueled a 6.4% increase in demand among viewers.” Some of the top advertising winners from last year’s game include Michelob Ultra, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Frito-Lay PopCorners, and Heineken 0.0 with a 19%, 18%, 12%, and 11% increase in demand, respectively.
Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData Retail, affirms the Super Bowl's significance, emphasizing its unparalleled reach and impact on sales and brand affinity. “The Super Bowl remains one of the key advertising occasions of the year for retailers and brands,” he noted. “That said, retailers need to be tactical in determining what the purpose of a Super Bowl spot is. Is it simply to burnish the brand or is it intended to drive customer behavior in some way?”
For this year’s Super Bowl, which is set to be held in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, advertising space sold out last November and cost as much as $7 million for a 30-second ad during the game, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In comparison, a 30-second ad in 1967 was about $40,000.
Companies also have to account for the cost it takes to produce the ads and pay for celebrity appearances or animation. But even with these exorbitant prices, advertisers think the ads are worth the cost. Traci Freling, a marketing professor at UT Arlington, told CBS News, “This is the only opportunity every year, year after year, where you can reach over 100 million Americans in one fell swoop.”
However, she doesn’t think all ads are worth “about $200,000 per second.” She believes the game can be a good fit for food and beverage brands, Hollywood promotions, and car companies specifically. “We expect our funny bones to be tickled," she explained. "We don't expect our heartstrings to be tugged or to be thinking about something really serious during the Super Bowl.”
So far for this year’s game, we can expect big ads like Michelob Ultra with Lionel Messi, a Doritos commercial with Jenna Ortega, and a funny Bud Light commercial that the company hopes will help it recover from a consumer boycott last year. We’ll also see Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdales in their 46th Super Bowl appearance.
Some commercials that did well last year include one from tech giant Google. Per Lisa Goller, B2B content strategist for Lisa Goller Marketing, “Google's Fixed on Pixel spot stood out last year for magically erasing flaws, exes, and background nudists from photos. Even ardent iPhone fans praised that feature as an engineering marvel long after Super Bowl LVII.”
Temu is another prime example with its “Shop Like a Billionaire” ad, which aired twice during the game. According to Saunders, “Temu used its Super Bowl ad to create awareness, and it resulted in a massive spike in downloads of the app which, over time, translated into more customers and sales. That was a very smart use of a very expensive advert.” Per EDO, the TV outcomes company, the Temu commercial “outperformed the median Super Bowl ad by 10x.”
However, the landscape of Super Bowl advertising is evolving. Melissa Minkow, director of retail strategy for CI&T, has observed a shift away from consumers wanting “brands to take a stance on political issues,” favoring creative messaging and entertainment value over overt political statements. “Now it seems there's a preference for leaving politics out of marketing and brand identity altogether,” she said.
She has also noticed the oversaturation of celebrity endorsements. “While it's fun seeing celebrities in commercials, there's so much branded celebrity and influencer content, I think the stakes are higher for brands to deliver creative messaging, independent of who serves as the spokesperson in the campaign,” she explained.
As for what products the ads endorse, she added, “I don't think consumers have particular preferences there. I think it's more just about ‘Is this content either relevant to me because it's about products I use, or is it at least entertaining?’”
According to Veylinx’s study, women in particular drove the increase in demand in 2023, accounting for a 21% increase in demand growth. This year, that may remain consistent thanks to the “Taylor Swift effect.”
Mark Price, an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas, underscored the need for retailers to adapt swiftly to changing consumer demographics. “The rise of teenage girl viewership of the Kansas City Chiefs (the Taylor Swift effect) challenges retailers to adapt their marketing strategies to capitalize on this phenomenon quickly," he explained. "Products and marketing channels need to be quickly reevaluated. We will see following the Super Bowl which retailers could pivot in such a short time frame.”
The Super Bowl remains a critical advertising occasion for retailers and brands alike, offering a platform for companies to amplify their message and drive consumer engagement. However, the question of whether ads are worth it and if they will be successful hinges on strategic intent and creative execution rather than mere participation. As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, retailers must remain agile, adapting their strategies to capitalize on emerging trends and consumer preferences.