Super Bowl Advertising; the Times They Are a Changing

by Alex Van Lepp

Last Sunday, more than 111 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. But just a few days later, neither I nor most of the people I’ve spoken to remember much about it -- or the ads that companies spent millions of dollars to air during the broadcast. (Though I’m sure if my Chargers were playing, it would be a different story.) So I have to wonder: Is it worth it for companies like Bud Light to spend $1.2 billion to be official sponsors of the NFL or air a commercial during the Super Bowl?

Sure, the Super Bowl generates 85 million more viewers than the last game of the World Series, and the pregame and postgame shows are on Nielsen’s top-5 list of highest event viewership every year, but do these companies’ advertising efforts actually increase sales? In the case of Budweiser the answer is no. Even though Bud Light and Budweiser have been staples at NFL stadiums the past two years as the official beer sponsors of the NFL, sales decreased for a third straight year and Coors Light recently surpassed Budweiser as the second best-selling beer in the U.S.

So, while exposure is great, I believe these advertisers’ money would be better spent reaching consumers on a granular level, because to me it feels like the days of creating one huge campaign that appeals to millions of people are vanishing.

Think about NFL teams. They want to reach national consumers, but ultimately they’re catering to their particular region or city, especially if it’s a small market team. Someone in San Diego isn’t going to see a majority of Minnesota games unless they buy a special TV package, so does a Minnesota team tailor its ads to appeal to people living in San Diego? No, the team targets its consumers by doing events like a snowmobile rally to reach consumers in its area and grow its hometown fanbase.

I realize this isn’t easy to do, but work with me for a minute. Look at the majority of the ads during the Super Bowl: Who were they geared toward? Men, even though women now make up 44 percent of all football fans. Imagine the lift these advertisers might get if they were to also create campaigns that appeal to this huge segment of the audience. After all, women are said to make 85 percent of buying decisions and are thought to be consumers for life.

As the times are changing, so too should the way advertisers address consumers. And on that note, I’ll end with my favorite ad of this year’s Super Bowl, which features Will Ferrell and only aired in North Platte, Neb. Their target audience for that one was apparently people who would seek out the ad online, and, well, mission accomplished.

[Photo Credit: RonAlmog | Flickr.com / Creative Commons License]

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