Winter is cold, but the Super Bowl always pumps up the heat! The Super Bowl has become one of the premier venues for marketers. The thrills, the chills, the excitement and surprises – and that’s just the advertisements! At a cost of $5.6 million for 30 seconds of air time, the Super Bowl is also the most expensive advertising placement of any event or show. Add to the air time the costs of designing and producing ads, plus the integration into other marketing tactics, and a company can easily spend upwards of $6 million on a single day.
Love them or hate them, Super Bowl advertisements have become a talking point before, during, and after the game. It’s a big stage, and can also be a big risk. This year, a Jeep advertisement featuring Bruce Springsteen backfired when news surfaced that Springsteen had received a DWI citation in November. Other criticism was about the lack of inclusion and diversity. Of the 67 public figures who appeared in the ads, only 18 were Black, 14 were women, one was Indian American, one was Asian American, and five were of multiple ethnicities.
This year an audience of 92 million adults in the U.S. tuned in to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dominate the Kansas City Chiefs. The game had a 38.2 U.S. household rating and was viewed in an average of 46.2 million homes, far lower than previous years. Roughly 68% of U.S. homes in use were tuned to the Super Bowl.
The average amount spent per person was $74.55, a decrease from last year’s $88.65. Most is spent on food and drinks at 77%. As to who watches the big game, only 35% of Gen Z watch, compared to 54% of Millennials, 51% of Gen X, and 52% of Baby Boomers.
Which ad is your favorite?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Show the Nielsen data: https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-releases/2021/super-bowl-lv-draws-nearly-92-million-tv-viewers/?utm_campaign=Corporate%20Marketing&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=SFMC&utm_content=Newswire%20Newsletter&utm_id=02_10_2021
- Bring up one of the Web sites that have all the Super Bowl ads: https://www.ispot.tv/events/2021-super-bowl-commercials
- Divide students into teams. Have each team select a Super Bowl ad to analyze and present in class.
- What is the target market, key message, and offer from the ad?
- How does the ad integrate with a company’s other advertisements?
- Are the messages integrated with a company’s Web site and social media?
- As a class, after each commercial have students assign one to five stars for the advertisements. Which advertisement won the class vote?
Source: Ad Week; CBS; iSpot.tv; Nielsen Research; other news sources
