A cat meowing for Hellmann's mayonnaise, Peyton Manning pouring Bud Light beer to bar patrons, and Kris Jenner stacking Oreo cookies. These companies have one thing in common: Those companies reportedly paid him a seven-figure sum to get their products in front of viewers during this year's Super Bowl.
For the second year in a row, the average cost of a 30-second ad spot during the Super Bowl was $7 million. Super Bowl ad costs continue to rise, even though many companies have taken tighter control over their marketing dollars and ad spending has slowed in recent years.
The reason is simple. Because there's no guaranteed opportunity to reach more people than the Super Bowl, and other slices of the pie continue to shrink.
“We're behind the times in terms of being able to reach everyone at once,” said Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova School of Business.
As the media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, the opportunities for companies to reach large audiences through advertising on network television are decreasing. Increasingly, popular shows are streaming with viewers moving to his platform. Networks increasingly rely on live events such as award shows and sports to draw viewers.
“Live events are still big and the most-watched events for advertisers,” said Frank Maguire, vice president at ad integration platform ShareThru.
However, not all live events are created equal. The Emmy Awards ceremony in January had record low viewership. Ratings for the NCAA men's basketball finals have declined in recent years, as leagues such as the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League struggle to maintain and increase viewership.
However, the National Football League continues to see strong gains in both viewership and media deals. In 2021, television networks committed $110 billion in 10-year rights to broadcast the league, and the NFL continued to post record viewership. More than 115 million people watched last year's championship game.
The Super Bowl stands alone as a mass marketing opportunity on television. Ten years ago, the average cost for a 30-second spot was $4 million. Ten years earlier, it was $2.4 million. Analysts say the rise is a result of supply and demand. Competition is fierce because each Super Bowl has a fixed amount of broadcast time and advertising space. CBS, which broadcasts Sunday's games, sold out its advertising space within weeks in November. Paramount, which owns CBS, will reportedly air nearly a dozen spots to promote its films.
“In this era of fragmentation, the Super Bowl is what television used to be,” said veteran media analyst Brad Adgate.
For years, Super Bowl advertising has been closely guarded leading up to game day. Companies are now adopting marketing campaigns, often starting in mid-January.
“It's important to build a long-term narrative,” said Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, chief marketing officer at DoorDash, which is driving promotional deals for this year's Super Bowl ads.
Many viewers now turn on Super Bowl broadcasts wondering what they can expect from the ads. For example, a January preview of a Pringles ad featured an unknown man's mustache, leading many fans to speculate that it belonged to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. (Actually, it belonged to actor Chris Pratt.)
“You're not just paying for that 30-second spot. It's a four- to six-week buzz that you're creating,” says Roberts, a strategic communications professor at Montclair State University and sports and entertainment marketing professor. said Mary Scott, former president of agency United Entertainment Group.
The increase in female viewers of NFL games this season, made even more pronounced by Taylor Swift's relationship with Kelsey, presents another potential marketing opportunity for companies.
News of Kansas City's Super Bowl appearance was welcomed by health and beauty companies that unfairly target young women. This demographic is paying attention to more football games this season, thanks in large part to Swift's attendance at the Kansas City game.
NYX Makeup, a subsidiary of L'Oréal, purchased its first Super Bowl ad spot, and Dove will return with its first ad spot since 2015. Elf Cosmetics has been advertising for the second year in a row.
Cory Marchisott, ELF's chief marketing officer, acknowledged that Kansas City's Super Bowl play had a positive impact on business. Marchisotto said her company prepared different versions of the ad in the days leading up to the game, which was different from how Super Bowl ads were created in the past. Companies want to stay as agile as possible, always responding to the specific interests of the viewers watching the game.
“It was much easier to create a spot, spend a year on it, bring it to market, and then sit back and let it go,” she says.
At the same time, companies are investing more heavily to make the most of their $7 million. This year, expect to see more ads featuring interactive components such as QR codes that allow businesses to track engagement with brands in real time.
The technology debuted during the 2022 Super Bowl as a floating code for cryptocurrency company Coinbase. The concept was used in more ads during last year's Super Bowl, including an ad for Mexican avocados and a public service announcement ad from a religious organization. This strategy was featured prominently in the NFL's first Black Friday broadcast in November.
Taken together, Super Bowl ads are an annual snapshot of the country's economic and social moment, said Ethan Heftman, vice president of agency sales for Ampersand, an advertising consortium owned by Comcast, Charter and Cox. says.
“As long as there are new industries like automobiles, cell phones, high-tech companies, there will always be brands seeking that broad recognition,” Heftman said.
