The Super Bowl TV ads are sold out to the tune of $6.5 million for a thirty-second spot. Anything at $6 million or above would represent a new high-water mark in the world of Super Bowl advertising. Advertisers seem to forget that advertising is supposed to sell products.
The Super Bowl is attracting a more significant number of rookie advertisers. These marketers, in some cases, are not big spenders on TV and, as a result, lack the years-long relationships with NBC or another network that would help them carve out a discount. NBC said it had attracted more than 30 new advertisers, representing about 40% of the 2022 Super Bowl ad roster. Last year, CBS had 26 new entrants advertise in the game, compared with just seven in 2020 and 2019.
Already the business media is talking about which commercials are best at “entertaining” us, but how many will lead to consumers buying more brands?
The luxury suites will be filled with agency and brand executives patting themselves on the back on their spots but could that money have been used more effectively? The answer, in most cases, is YES.
The Super Bowl is great at generating awareness for a new product or brand. Still, the perception of oil companies is going to change because of an ad from the American Petroleum Institute showing petroleum uses from spray paint to lipstick, with on-screen messages such as “Oil strikes a pose” and “Oil runs cleaner”?
Then there is the usual Budweiser advertising which tends to entertain. I’m not too fond of Budweiser beer and don’t intend to ever Budweiser beer. They are rubbing three spots, and frankly, the money could have been better spent on in-store displays.
Coke is scheduled to run two previously aired 30-second spots, one for Coke and one for Sprite, according to people familiar with the matter when soda sales are tanking.
What’s not going to be talked about is the money used to produce these commercials and the “infrastructure” of agencies and clients that waste money on these spots. Let’s see how many new customers Netflix picks up because of these ads.
Advertising is supposed to sell your brand. Try and remember that.
