The Do-Gooder Bowl
Just before the big night, we take a look at what the Super Bowl advertising landscape looks like according to our market research tools:
“While last year’s game was marked by political statements (witness this crazy spot by It’s a 10 Haircare, among others), many Super Bowl marketers will be using this Super Bowl to tout less controversial philanthropic efforts, E.J. Schultz reports. Hyundai is using an expensive 60-second ad spot in Sunday’s game to plug an organization dedicated to fighting childhood cancer. The automaker and its agency, Innocean, will assemble the commercial with a combination of content captured on game day and pre-shot footage. The spot will air in the fourth quarter.
And Anheuser-Busch is dedicating two of its in-game spots to “pro-social” efforts: a Stella Artois spot starring Matt Damon to promote Water.org and a Budweiser ad touting the brewer’s Red Cross-affiliated program donating canned water to areas hit by natural disasters.” (AdAge)
Our ongoing brand monitoring shows that nearly fifty brands have announced that they’ll be shelling out the big bucks and taking part in the big game this year, and about half have already given the public a taste with released teasers. From these sneak peeks, it’s looking like a majority of brands are taking the safe route and using a humorous or heart-warming tone in their ads. Whether philanthropic, focused on unity, or just meant to make people laugh, this year’s much awaited ad line-up is likely to be a pleasant and easy one to watch.
Leveraging their large platform in the name of doing good, Stella Artois and Budweiser are each dedicating their TV time to show support for water crises and disaster relief, while Hyundai is promoting its non-profit, Hyundai Hope on Wheels, which battles pediatric cancer. Doing their fair share of good in a different way are rival brands, Pepsi and Coke, who are each fighting to show unity within their ads, as well as Kraft, who is, quite literally, trying to unite real families with the Super Bowl by showing images of real people watching the game. For a good laugh, make sure to pay attention to Amazon, whose 3-star teaser is already generating buzz, and M&M’s, who has one teaser even achieving 5-stars. Both creatives effectively use character and narrative and show great potential to be quite humorous.
While a lot of brands are striving for an emotional or uplifting approach, many teasers are struggling to emotionally engage viewers within their short time frames. Almost half of the teasers released so far fall in the 1-star range, with only 12% reaching 4- or 5-Star territory. M&M’s and Pepsi have both seen a lift in their subsequent teasers, which more effectively develop character and story arc compared to their initial, very raw clips. Our bet is that with a little more air time to establish story arc and build character, as well as the pressure to bring their A-game to the big day, game day ads will be able to move their way up in emotional resonance and, therefore, star rating.
Stay tuned for our brand testing results to see which ads make the most of their high spend and whether the longer versions of the creatives (or in some cases shorter) will manage to improve their rankings! We’re live testing all of the ads tonight, follow along throughout the game for results: https://superbowl.system1group.com
Here is an overview of Super Bowl Advertising: veterans and rookies, ads by category, pre-releases, plus stats on length of the Super Bowl ad teaser/pre-releases.
Brands that have announced they are going to have an ad in the Super Bowl: 53
Brands returning from last year: (23)
• Amazon
• Avocados from Mexico
• Bud Light
• Budweiser
• Castle Rock
• Coca-Cola
• Febreze
• Hyundai
• Jack in the Box (local buy)
• Kia
• Lexus
• Michelob Ultra
• Persil ProClean
• Sprint
• Squarespace
• Mission: Impossible
• TBD
• Tide
• T-mobile
• Turbotax
• WeatherTech
• Wendy’s
• Wix
Brands backing out after last year: (10)
• Clorox
• Buick
• YouTube
• GoDaddy
• Wonderful Pistachios
• Fiji Water
• Snickers
• Skittles
• Honda
Brand coming back after a year or more gap time: (11)
• Diet Coke
• E*Trade
• Groupon
• M&Ms
• Mountain Dew/Doritos
• Skittles
• Stella Artois & Water.org
• Toyota
• Universal Parks & Resorts
• Verizon
• HBO
Brands advertising for the first time ever: (5)
• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime)
• Intuit
• Kraft
• Monster Products
• Pringles
Industry breakout:
Automotive (5)
• Hyundai
• Kia
• Lexus
• Toyota
• Chrysler (FIAT)
Beverage (11)
• Bud Light
• Budweiser
• Stella Artois (+water.org)
• Pepsi
• Michelob Ultra
• Mountain Dew
• Coca-Cola
• Diet Coke
• Yellowtail (Local buy)
• Shiner Beer (Local buy)
• Natty Light (Local buy)
CPG/FMCG (9)
• Avocados from Mexico
• Febreze
• Kraft
• M&Ms
• Doritos
• Pringles
• Skittles
• Tide
• Persil ProClean
Retail (2)
• Amazon
• WeatherTech
Restaurant (3)
• Jack in the Box
• Pizza Hut
• Wendy’s
Services (12)
• Amazon Prime
• E*Trade
• Groupon
• Hulu
• Intuit
• Squarespace
• Turbotax
• Verizon
• Quicken Loans
• Sprint
• T-mobile
• Wix
Technology (1)
• Monster Products
Media and Entertainment (4)
• NBC (Olympics and the show The Voice)
• Universal Studios (for a trailer and for Universal Parks & Resorts)
• Paramount Pictures
• HBO
NFP (2)
• Water.Org (with Stella Artois)
• Julian Carr PSA on Climate Change
Other (2)
• Koch Industries
• Turkish Airlines
(Trailers): (5)
Brands that have released their ad beforehand: (29)
• Amazon
• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime)
• Bud Light
• Budweiser
• Castle Rock
• Coca-Cola
• Febreze
• Groupon
• Hyundai
• Jack in the Box
• Kia
• M&Ms
• Michelob Ultra
• Mountain Dew/Doritos
• Natty Light
• Pepsi
• Pizza Hut
• Pringles
• Sprint
• Stella Artois & Water.org
• Squarespace
• Toyota
• Universal Parks & Resorts
• The Voice
• WeatherTech
• Wendy’s
• Winter Olympics
• Wix
• Yellowtail
Brands that have released teasers (26)
• Amazon
• Avocados from Mexico
• Bud Light
• Budweiser
• Diet Coke
• Febreze
• E*Trade
• Hyundai
• Intuit
• Jack in the Box
• Kia
• Kraft
• Lexus
• M&Ms
• Michelob Ultra
• Mountain Dew/Doritos
• Mucinex
• Pepsi
• Pringles
• Skittles
• Sprint
• Squarespace
• Tide
• Turkish Airlines
• Universal Parks & Resorts
• WeatherTech
–Sonya Polyakov, Research Associate at System1
At System1, we help the world’s largest advertisers make confident, creative decisions that lead to transformational business results. Our powerful ad testing platform (Test Your Ad) and our idea testing platform (Test Your Idea) help brands predict the commercial potential of ads and ideas. Complementing TYA and TYI is Test Your Brand, our brand tracking tool which measures the impact of ads and ideas on brand health, ensuring long-term brand growth through predictive success.
Get in touch or book a demo with one of our experts to learn more.