Is the Super Bowl a Place for B2B?
B2B marketing has become an increasingly polarizing topic in the industry. Are broad reach channels the right fit for B2B? Can brands show up in engaging and creative ways? Do B2B ads need to be treated as entirely different beasts from B2C?
The truth is, B2B is a beast, but one that many brands struggle to tame. Few invest in broad reach channels, with B2B accounting for just 6% of total US advertising spend in 2024, according to Statista. Those that do often fail to drive broad appeal or meaningful engagement. A staggering 75% of B2B ads achieve only a 1-Star Rating (equivalent to 0% market share gain), with an average of 1.7 Stars. In contrast, B2C ads perform notably better, with just 42% landing at 1-Star and a higher US average of 2.3 Stars, 0.6 Stars above B2B.
While this gap might suggest that B2B operates differently from B2C, the real issue isn’t the category, it’s the creative approach. B2B ads often default to functional, message-heavy content, prioritizing information over engagement. But the brands that break away from these rigid tropes, embracing emotion-driven storytelling, characters, and a so-called “B2C mentality,” consistently outperform the B2B average among both broad and targeted audiences.
So, what’s the real takeaway? When B2B brands behave more like their B2C counterparts, they see better results. And that’s because we often forget one simple truth: B2B audiences are just people. They enjoy storytelling, humor, and character-led campaigns just as much as any consumer. So why do we keep treating them differently?
What does this have to do with the Super Bowl?
If this weren’t true, we wouldn’t see B2B brands tapping into mass cultural events like the Super Bowl, which drew an astonishing 172 million viewers this year. Yes, even businesspeople love sports. In fact, major sporting events offer B2B brands a unique opportunity to connect with their target audience through personal interests, creating meaningful value beyond the boardroom.
In our research with sports marketing agency FUSE, we found that the most effective B2B ads in sports focus on value creation—leveraging data, analytics, or functional messaging to enhance the fan experience. Notice that I said sports fans, not B2B audiences. At these key events, that’s who you need to engage, build trust with, and resonate with. Your targets are there to enjoy the game, not to be bombarded with work-related messaging when they’re off the clock.
A great example is IBM’s partnership with Wimbledon, where they used their data capabilities to create an app that provided deeper insights into player performance and statistics. Instead of overtly selling their services, they showcased their expertise in a way that resonated with tennis fans, subtly demonstrating the power of their technology on a broad scale. The ad scored a strong 4.7 Stars with fans, proving the power of meaningful partnerships.
Should B2B Brands Invest in the Super Bowl? The Data Says Yes
Super Bowl LIX saw minimal participation from B2B brands, making up just 6% of all ads aired. Regular players like E*Trade were noticeably absent, as were major tech giants like Microsoft. While this isn’t surprising, since B2B presence has historically been low, it reinforces the perception that the Super Bowl is primarily a B2C advertising platform. But should it be?
Looking at six years of Super Bowl advertising data, the answer leans toward no. This year, B2B ads averaged just under 2 Stars, outperforming the typical B2B ad benchmark. While that may not sound groundbreaking, in a category where scores tend to be low, even a slight edge is a significant win. In fact, this performance places Super Bowl LIX’s B2B ads ahead of 75% of the category.
And this trend isn’t an anomaly. Year after year, B2B Super Bowl ads consistently surpass the industry norm, not just in long-term brand impact (Star Rating) but also in short-term sales potential (Spike Rating).
During the Super Bowl, B2B brands experience, on average, a 12% increase in positive emotional response and a 15% drop in neutrality. This matters because, as Jon Evans, CCO at System1 and host of the Uncensored CMO podcast, found in his research with Adam Morgan at eatbigfish and Peter Field, neutrality or “dullness” is the biggest cost to advertisers. Their report The Extraordinary Cost of Dull highlights how emotional engagement directly influences commercial success.
The heightened emotional intensity and stronger creative quality of B2B Super Bowl ads are not just improving audience connection but also driving greater business impact.
At this point, someone might argue, “But what about the target consumers? How can you effectively measure success with a nationally representative audience?” When we tested B2B Super Bowl spots with a B2B target sample, the results were clear. The average Star Rating increased by 1.8 Stars, elevating these ads from modest to strong performers.
A great example of this is Amazon Web Services’ 2024 Super Bowl ad. By aligning with the game’s themes, clearly demonstrating its value creation, and ensuring relevance to both general and B2B audiences, AWS earned a 4.0 Star Rating among B2B viewers. This highlights the importance of crafting a Super Bowl ad that is not just high quality but strategically designed to resonate with the audience watching on game day.
One of the biggest challenges for B2B brands is being memorable. Unlike B2C brands, which benefit from mass appeal, B2B brands often target a narrow audience. Many consumers will never interact with them directly, making it even more crucial to brand boldly and frequently to ensure lasting recognition.
On average, 22% of audiences cannot recall which brand a B2B Super Bowl ad was for, leading to misattributed emotions and a weakened commercial impact. This year, GoDaddy stood out in brand attribution, achieving an impressive 89% brand fluency, far surpassing the average. Their success was largely due to consistent on-screen branding throughout their ad. While it may not be the most aesthetically appealing approach, prominently displaying your logo is one of the most effective ways to ensure brand recall. In B2B, where fewer audience members are familiar with your brand to begin with, failing to reinforce recognition is a risk you simply cannot afford to take.
B2B Should Stand for Back 2 Basics
Like many brands, including B2C, the core purpose of TV advertising and mass media moments seems to have been forgotten. Driving awareness and building a brand should be the priority, yet the fundamentals of emotional, brand-building creativity have taken a backseat.
In his books Lemon and Look out, System1’s Chief Innovation Officer highlights the power of “right-brained features.” These elements capture broad attention and enhance engagement. For B2B brands to maximize success during high-profile events like the Super Bowl, they must shift their focus from the purely rational to the deeply emotional. Instead of relying on heavy, message-led campaigns or overly functional creative codes, the most effective ads prioritize people, music, humor, togetherness, and culture.
Indeed demonstrated this power in their 2021 Super Bowl spot, using storytelling and emotion to create a compelling ad that resonated with audiences. The result was a strong Star Rating and a strong Spike Rating across broad audiences, an exceptionally rare feat for a B2B brand.
One of the most effective ways for B2B brands to create emotionally engaging ads is by harnessing the power of brand characters. A standout example is E*Trade, a brand I was disappointed not to see return this year. Their 2022 Talking Babies spot, part of a campaign running since 2009, remains one of the highest-scoring B2B Super Bowl ads of all time. And is it rational? Absolutely not. Instead, E*Trade has consistently leveraged humor, memorable characters, a strong sense of place, and a recurring brand character, a strategy that has also worked effectively for Salesforce with their character Astro.
These characters not only enhance emotional connection but also play a critical role in solving the B2B brand fluency challenge. E*Trade has used the Talking Babies for 16 years, achieving year-over-year increases in brand recognition. This consistency demonstrates the power of fluent devices in making B2B brands more memorable and impactful.
If more B2B advertisers embraced this kind of long-term emotional storytelling, they could significantly strengthen brand recall and engagement, proving that the Super Bowl is just as much an opportunity for them as it is for B2C brands.
Create with Confidence
The Super Bowl presents a unique opportunity for B2B brands to harness emotional appeal and mass reach, but it also comes with a significant investment and inherent risk. That is why we help brands create with confidence throughout the creative process, testing everything from script to final film to ensure success.
If you are ready to create an emotional, strongly branded ad, whether for the Super Bowl or any time of year, get in touch with our team today. You can also explore strategies from the top-performing B2C ads of Super Bowl LIX in our How to Win the Super Bowl research, designed to help you maximize emotional impact and brand effectiveness.
