The run-up to Super Bowl LIX has featured over a dozen major marketers activating around the massive game with no national linear TV media buy. That’s along with several brands, including Busch Light, Tullamore D.E.W. and P&G’s recent Spruce weed killer, which might be running more targeted, regional ad buys, and ones including Verizon, PepsiCo, Toyota and Captain Morgan which might be hosting experiential activations in New Orleans, where the sport is being held.
Many of those plays, from categories that mirror those in the massive game, depend on former NFL legends to pitch promotions, contests and second-screen experiences, but a number of notable ones tap into popular culture — a reminder of how the Super Bowl is increasingly becoming about greater than the on-field or in-ad motion.
“The Super Bowl will proceed to evolve, nevertheless it’s almost develop into less concerning the football, more concerning the cultural impact and significance of coming together,” said Scott Sutton, CEO of influencer marketing platform Later. “There’s so many interesting cultural moments happening that involve real people, celebrities and athletes… regardless of who you might be, the Super Bowl gives you content which you can eat.”
The cost of Super Bowl ad time keeps increasing — with some 30-second spots reportedly going for greater than $8 million this 12 months — but that hasn’t scared off advertisers. Dozens of brands — whether legacies or disruptors — across alcohol, automotive, financial services, food and beverage and technology categories proceed to pony up big fees to be a part of the massive game. But what concerning the countless marketers who can’t justify the high cost of a Super Bowl ad?
“We have numerous clients which might be very performance marketing-focused,” said Nicole Penn, CEO of agency EGC Group. “For them, a $7 million spot would should yield $7 million in revenue that moment.”
That’s a tall order for any brand, regardless of how compelling their QR code, which is why so many advertisers have needed to think outside the box to be a part of considered one of the last monocultural moments standing in a fragmented, polarized media landscape.
A well-recognized roster
This 12 months’s Super Bowl activations utilize a page from the identical playbook as recent big game ads, counting on recent NFL greats to attach with football fans. Tostitos kicked off Super Bowl season by partnering with retired running back Reggie Bush on a QR code-powered challenge around stopping the countdown clock for a probability to launch the confetti at the tip of the massive game.
Fans could also attempt to stop the clock in person. At select grocery stores, interactive pop-ups featuring countdown clock buttons let fans try their hand at competitive button pushing until Jan. 27. Tums and DraftKings teamed for the second time, alongside two-time Super Bowl winner Vince Wilfork, for a web-based game around food and drinks mixtures that has run in the course of the entirety of the playoffs.
Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski continues to be a go-to player for brand partnerships and signed up for 2 deals this 12 months, appearing in ads and social content for Procter & Gamble’s Bounty brand and making a digital version of himself, “Gronk AI,” for Avocado From Mexico’s Guacline effort. Created by digital experience agency 270B, the generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform sees the avocado brand tapping into marketing’s shiniest object while forgoing a Super Bowl ad for the second time in a row.
Jason Kelce and a handful of lookalikes gather for a Courtyard by Marriott activation.
Courtesy of Marriott
And what would a recent Super Bowl be without the Kelce brothers. With Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs on the sphere for the third 12 months in a row, it was as much as retired Philadelphia Eagles great Jason Kelce to line up for a brand. The podcaster and in-studio analyst embraced his role as Courtyard by Marriott’s “fanbassador” by giving fans a probability to win a stay at a special in-stadium suite — by finding the actual Kelce amongst a see of lookalikes within the French Quarter.
“The Kelce brothers blurring the lines between influencer, content creator, celebrity, athlete, cultural icon, whatever, makes it very interesting for a consumer, since you never had the access to athletes and content creators in the identical way as you do today. There are so many interesting ways for brands to tap into that,” said Later’s Sutton.
Second screen culture
The variety of consumers on the lookout for the Kelce brothers has only increased since Travis Kelce began dating pop superstar Taylor Swift in 2023. The so-called “Taylor Swift effect” on NFL engagement is predicted to proceed on Super Bowl Sunday, coinciding with an increase in second-screening as viewers race to maintain up with online conversations around each on- and off-field motion.
“It’s well beyond the hardcore Xs-and-Os football fans which might be tuning in, now greater than ever,” said Sarah Bolton, executive vice chairman of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “With considered one of the Kelces specifically and someone in considered one of those skyboxes specifically, individuals are on the lookout for those response shots after which the net response to the response shots.”
Several brands have made the second screen a component of their Super Bowl plans. Multihyphenate Wayne Brady will team with chicken brand Perdue for “Winging It” performances on his Instagram account, creating songs, jokes and sketches across the game, commercials and viewer requests, while Kia will direct Instagram and TikTok users to a digital game that may give winners a probability at a brand new automotive.
“Brands will probably be trying to hijack others’ trending moments during this 12 months’s game.”
Greg Zakowicz
Senior e-commerce expert, Omnisend
But no brand goes all-in on second screen more prominently than Twix. The Mars brand during big game ad breaks will run a Second Screen Staredown game that offers consumers who stare at their phone’s camera a probability to win two solid gold bars. The effort looks to have interaction with the 79% of consumers who will probably be checking their phone in the course of the game, 60% of whom will probably be texting or checking social media, per YouGov research commissioned by the brand.
A comparatively recent driver of second screening during sporting events is the rise of legal online gambling, which could lead on consumers to spend more time on the lookout for updates and statistics concerning the game.
“Marketers can’t ignore the betting aspect of the sport. Estimates suggest that 1 in 4 adults will bet on the Super Bowl,” said Jeff Hastedt, co-founder and managing director of digital ad firm Brkthru, in emailed comments. “This is the prime opportunity for advertisers to get in front of an audience that has a stake in the sport through mobile ads and contextually relevant pages.”
No matter what reason consumers are on their phones in the course of the game — texting and posting concerning the game, the halftime show and the ads; engaging with branded content; or checking on their parlays — savvy marketers will probably be ready to fulfill them where they’re. The savviest have already tweaked their paid media technique to play off what’s already known concerning the big game’s lineup of ads.
“Brands will probably be trying to hijack others’ trending moments during this 12 months’s game. Expect brands to spend big on social media ads in the course of the big game and incorporate trendy search terms and hashtags aligned with their ads,” said Greg Zakowicz, senior e-commerce expert at marketing platform Omnisend, in emailed comments. “Just because an organization doesn’t buy an ad in the course of the game doesn’t suggest they will’t reap the benefits of it.”
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