Whether you’re rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs or the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday, you’ll also watch at least a few of the commercials in between the action. That’s why Super Bowl ads are going for a whopping $7 million for one 30-second spot.
But how did the Super Bowl become such a marketing magnet, and does it really pay off? We spoke with Colorado State University College of Business Associate Professor of Marketing Todd Donavan, who teaches a class in sports marketing, to find out.
SOURCE: How did Super Bowl ads become so important? I mean, for some viewers they rival the game’s action.
Todd Donavan: Part of the reason they started making really good Super Bowl ads was because the Super Bowl averages around 110 million viewers, so one of every three Americans watch it. Again, that’s the average. At its peak it’s around 140 or 150 million people watching it. Advertisers know that if they get their ad in front of you, you’re more likely to buy. So, they’re willing to pay. That’s why the ads cost so much. Ad prices for this year’s game are at $7 million this year — $7 million for one ad, that’s huge. But if you have a product that has mass appeal, it’s worth it to get your name out.
Even if it’s not a mass appeal item, like Cadillac. I use this as an example in my classes. Cadillacs aren’t a mass marketed item, they’re a luxury item. But when Cadillac did a Super Bowl ad a few years ago, traffic on their website went up over 300% the very next day. So, it draws people in. Cadillacs are about $100,000 to purchase. With 110 million people watching, if they paid $7 million for one ad, they only need to sell 70 cars to pay for that ad. So, maybe it is worth it.
The Super Bowl is the second biggest food holiday in America, only behind Thanksgiving. You don’t even have to like either team to want to watch it. People still get together, and drink and eat — and they eat highly marketable foods like pizza, tacos and chips.
What are the key ingredients that make a good Super Bowl commercial?
What’s your favorite Super Bowl commercial?
You said they “had” great ads. What’s changed?
Budweiser used to be the king of Super Bowl ads and then InBev bought them out. I remember thinking that it wasn’t going to be good. I knew they weren’t going to let them advertise during the Super Bowl as much because they’re a European company. They don’t understand how important the Super Bowl is to Americans.
Or how important Super Bowl advertising is to products. You did some research about Super Bowl ads and publicity that showed the pre-game publicity about the ads helps viewers not only remember the ads themselves better, but also helps them almost forget about the brands that didn’t get publicity?
Yeah, there’s an inhibitive effect where so many of these ads now will do pre-Super Bowl ad teasers. You’re watching the evening news, and they’ll have a segment about Budweiser doing an ad with Brad Pitt in it and they’ll show 10 seconds of it. By doing that, it makes people, even if you don’t like their beer or even drink at all, you’re going to remember that ad. And then when you’re watching the Super Bowl and see other ads whether they’re a competitor or even something like M&Ms, you’re not as likely to remember the competing ad.
So, part of the argument is that you’ve got to publicize your ad ahead of time if you want it to stick. It’s like with the little kids. If you want little kids to behave at a special event, you have to remind them beforehand. It’s part of the AIDA model that we use — attention, interest, desire, action. We can’t expect people to go out and buy our product after hearing about it one time. There are some people who will do that, but that’s a very small fraction of people. You’ve got to get them engaged with it multiple times in multiple ways. It might be a billboard, a TV ad, or on the radio. Then eventually after a few times, they want to go buy it. So, this little teaser kind of whets our appetite, but it also inhibits people from remembering the other ads.
About CSU’s College of Business
The College of Business at Colorado State University is focused on using business to create a better world.
As an AACSB-accredited business school, the College is among the top five percent of business colleges worldwide, providing programs and career support services to more than 3,000 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students. Faculty help students across our top-ranked on-campus and online programs develop the knowledge, skills and values to navigate a rapidly evolving business world and address global challenges with sustainable business solutions. Our students are known for their creativity, work ethic and resilience—resulting in an undergraduate job offer and placement rate of over 90% within 90 days of graduation.
The College’s highly ranked programs include its Online MBA, which has been ranked the No. 1 program in Colorado by U.S. News and World Report since 2018 and achieved No. 11 for employability worldwide from QS Quacquarelli Symonds. The College’s Impact MBA is also ranked by Corporate Knights as the No. 7 “Better World MBA” worldwide.
