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← Back to IdeasBig Ideas From the Big Game — 2024
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“This is our Super Bowl” … quite literally.
Each year, the big game provides the ultimate stage for big ideas to shine. And as the minds behind some of that big thinking, Ogilvy always takes the opportunity to understand what work wins (even though we don’t get a ring).
This year, we’ve broken down 6 elements of winning game play and what we can learn from them.
- Temperature Check: The state of the nation
- Audience: A collective viewing moment, for now
- Creative Ambition: Every second counts…. and costs $233,333
- Culture: Borrowing, flexing or investing in cultural capital
- Message: From slapstick to sentimental
- Connections: Thinking beyond the screen
1. A Temperature Check: The state of the nation
As one of the last remaining monocultural moments, the Super Bowl gives us a glimpse at the sentiment of society. Meant to appeal to the entire country, the ads also give hints at how people are feeling and what will resonate with them.
Despite the realities of what’s happening in the world each February, the Super Bowl is a time when people simply come to be entertained. This year, with a rematch between the Super Bowl teams of 2020 (and a likely rematch on grander political scale too), entertainment value and creativity were bound to be well received.
Humor and celebrities are always mainstays in Super Bowl ads, but absurdist humor and celebrity-studded spots really took the spotlight this year. The over-the-top nature of these ads may showcase what advertisers feel needs to be done to win attention, when sometimes it is simplicity and sharpness that people crave.
This year’s frequency of religious ads, plus a nostalgic political feature for the independent campaign of RFK, suggests that the typically polarizing institutions of religion and politics are striving to shift perceptions in a society that has become disillusioned with them. Is this an appropriate channel for those messages, or should there be a separation of church and football?
2. Audience: A collective viewing moment, for now
The Super Bowl is the holy grail for advertisers because it is a rare moment when so many people are actively tuned into the same program. But just as the fabric of the US population shifts, so too might this reality.
This year, TelevisiaUnivision broadcast a Spanish-language version of the game. To deliver personalized content to a Hispanic viewing base, some brands are taking their ad space (at very discounted rates) to the Spanish-language broadcast.
Similarly, Nickelodeon broadcast a kids-friendly version of the game, complete with special effects, an iconic performance of SpongeBob’s Half-Time Show, and a handful of Nick-only ads.
As we’re seeing broadcasts target specific yet large demographic bases, it leaves the question of whether the audience tuning in will become more fragmented. But given the diversity of the audience tuning into the game, it only makes sense that there are diverse ways of watching, too.
Ogilvy ads for Audi and Total by Verizon intentionally took their Super Bowl spots to Univision, seeing the opportunity to deliver an ad experience that was just as entertaining as the main broadcast. Instead of reaching for the lowest hanging fruit, these brands showcased real insight into the specific audience.
Choosing to run ads on this channel is a huge indicator of a brand’s future vision and their commitment to embracing growth audiences. When something as American as the Super Bowl breaks out from a single network to embrace different audiences and viewing experiences, it starts to redefine what “Americana” means.
3. Creative Ambition: Every second counts… and costs $233K
With such a hefty price tag attached to every second of airtime, the Super Bowl showcases first hand “the cost of being dull,” to reference Peter Field. Advertising thrives on creativity, yet there are so many brands that deliver just average work, in the Super Bowl and beyond. Those who do so on the biggest stage of all show us that the biggest risk we can take is, ironically, to do what is safest.
Unfortunately for viewers and the advertisers alike, many spots this year failed to deliver that big creative vision. Chinese e-commerce site Temu demonstrated “the cost of being dull” firsthand. While the spot gave nothing of note creatively, the company chose to pay the big bucks for scale of reach: it aired three times during the game, and twice after. The strategy made waves online as people not only criticized the brand for the dull spot, but called into question the ethics of the brand. The formula of high-spend plus low-creativity was not the best approach to effectively resonate with consumers.
Lindt’s “Life is a Ball” spot also did not reach its full creative potential. Featuring everyday moments of people eating the candy, it took a “mirror” approach instead of a “magnetic” one. Mirror ads simply show people using the product/service being advertised. While accurate, these kinds of spots aren’t particularly captivating. Magnetic ads on the other hand, use creativity to draw people in, giving them stories and intrigue that help the brand stand out.
Winning ads, on the other hand, balanced being both creatively interesting and right for the brand. They featured product benefits, but did so in bold, surprising, entertaining ways. Etsy’s historical highlight of its gift finding tool demonstrated this beautifully. Instead of just showcasing a regular use case, they elevated the storytelling about the feature to captivate and entertain audiences.
4. Culture: Flexing, borrowing or investing in cultural capital
In attempts to appeal to the mass audience of the Super Bowl, advertisers have a few options on how to create work that works on such an iconic cultural stage. Brands tend to take three approaches: flexing, borrowing or investing in culture.
Flexing:
An iconic brand can refer to things their brand has done in the past, bringing them back to delight viewers with nostalgia. Showcasing the power of distinctive assets, E*TRADE has leveraged their baby characters to tell stories and delight Super Bowl viewers for years. Volkswagen played heavily into advertising nostalgia, referencing Darth Vader and what some consider to be one of the best Super Bowl spots of all time. And after a few tumultuous years for AB InBev, Budweiser’s choice to feature the iconic Clydesdales signaled that they wanted to stick to the tried-and-true instead of forging new, potentially riskier, paths.
Borrowing:
Super Bowl advertising is a star-studded affair as many brands attempt to borrow cultural relevance from big names and pop culture moments that automatically command attention and (if done well) create unforgettable buzz. As we all know, a celebrity alone is not a strategy, so the brands that do this best borrow cultural capital with purpose.
Verizon’s “Can’t B Broken” showcases how to do this well. Both the star of the spot, Beyoncé, and other timely references like AI and Barbie add meaning and relevance to the Big Idea behind the spot. Partnering with such a big name also signals the status of the brand, aligning the brand with a viral moment that stole the show.
Investing:
Brands can also take big swings, attempting to create new cultural moments that they can only hope will become iconic. FanDuel started a new tradition last year with its Kick of Destiny, which returned for the second year (even though some fans speculate it might be rigged). Oreo attempted to create new meaning for the behavior of twisting an Oreo, telling viewers to “twist on it,” a branded version of flipping a coin. It will take some time before we know whether these acts become embedded in the future cultural landscape, but these brands are trying to make their mark.
5. Message: The spectrum from slapstick to sentimental
Super Bowl spots often default to a humorous tone, even if it is a deviation from the brand’s typical tone of voice. 63% of viewers just want to watch ads that make them laugh, while only 14% of viewers want to see a purpose-driven message (Attest). Even brands with serious tones of voice can break free during the Super Bowl in the name of garnering attention and positing reactions. BMW’s “Talkin like Walken” did just this, while maintaining the luxe appeal of the brand.
On the other hand, as tensions around the world rise, some brands used their air time to take serious, sweet or sentimental tones. Sticking with their highly effective brand platform, Dove delivered a purposeful, relevant and moving message about the reasons girls quit sports. Kia, Google and Disney+ also pulled at heartstrings, and proved that in a midst of funny (or wannabe funny) spots, a well executed sentimental one can stand out.
6. Connections: Thinking beyond the screen
By its very nature, the :30 second or :60 second spot talks at people, but brands are finding creative ways to connect and engage with consumers beyond the screen. While the long form spot still remains the hero at the Super Bowl, there is an opportunity to both deepen and expand connections with consumers.
Brands can successfully connect with consumers when they think about the full ecosystem that exists around their big ticket item.
“DoorDash All the Ads” was a smart and buzzy way to infuse the delivery app’s presence throughout the game, though its placement would have been more effective at the start of the broadcast to keep the promotion top of mind during the rest of the ads, instead of after.
CeraVe set a new standard for full-ecosystem thinking leading up to their spot. The multi-pronged, immersive marketing campaign seamlessly integrated creativity and celebrity with earned, social and influence, racking up over 6 billion earned impressions all before the big game. Rather than resort to the typical teaser, the brand relied on the internet gossip engine to build buzz, creating a one-of-a-kind campaign that will have people talking long after the game.
Summary
Super Bowl Sunday is a special stage for advertisers. In many ways, it is an anomaly from our typical marketing efforts, but in others, it is just an ultra-amplified version of the remaining 364 days in adland. The stage is bigger, the stakes are bigger, but the principles to win are largely the same.
Seeing how brands show up on the biggest stage of all can give us indications of how big ideas can have the biggest impact.