By releasing these pricey commercials early, brands are not only catching the eyes of those watching the Super Bowl, but other audience who are not as keen on the game.
The number of people watching the Super Bowl has declined—last year was the lowest in 11 years. There are a number of reasons for the decline, including the Colin Kaepernick controversy, violence and concussions in the game, as well as other factors. The ways people can watch the game has evolved, too, whether it is through a streaming service, cable provider, or personal-communication device.
All of these factor in to whether or not it is worth it to invest in this expensive method of advertising and marketing. Is it worth it to invest $5.6 million for 30 seconds of exposure during the big game?
“There is no silver bullet in marketing,” says Pete Baka, president of Broadview Heights-based 360 LLC. “Marketing is accomplished by death by a thousand cuts. Super Bowl advertising is a unique venue. Is it worth it for the venue? Sure. But what the advertiser gets is all the associated things around the Super Bowl. So they get social-media plays for their television commercial and they get the website presence of their commercial. They get local support for their product and services. So, it’s not just the game and event. It’s all the things that lead up to it and all the things that happen before and after the Super Bowl.”
