Love for the Game; Or the Ads?

It’s everyone’s favourite time of year! Well, maybe next to Halloween. And your birthday. And definitely not for people who don’t even watch football.

Hmm…

It’s every football fan’s favourite time of year!

This Sunday, on February 7, NFL fans will be celebrating the 50th annual Super Bowl. This American tradition started back in 1967, with the Kansas City Chiefs (final score: 10) facing off against the Green Bay Packers (final score: 35). This year has the Denver Broncos battling the Carolina Panthers. Fans from all over the United States, and even neighboring countries, will be sure to tune in on Sunday for the game.

But not just for the game.

As we’ve all come to know over the last few years, the Super Bowl game isn’t just about football, but rather, the things in between the game. That’s right! We’re talking about halftime shows and Super Bowl ads.

Who could ever forget Katy Perry’s Left Shark during the halftime show in Super Bowl 49?!

Or the “You’re not You When You’re Hungry” Snickers commercial that aired during the 2010 Super Bowl?

Or one of our favourites: the Old Spice commercial “The Man your Man Could Smell Like”, which actually never aired on TV. Old Spice was able to save money by putting it on YouTube during the Super Bowl in 2010 and have it go viral.

The point is, while football can be what brings people together for the Super Bowl, some of the most memorable moments are the ads. And social media proves that. Just have a look at these awesome infographics by Crowdtap (source: Entrepreneur) and Salesforce (source: Salesforce Blog). 

Here are what we think are the top 3 highlight statistics from the Crowdtap infographic:

  1. 30% of the Super Bowl viewers say that they watch primarily for the ads, and not the game. In accordance with what we said before, fans don’t just love the game, they love the humour and the personality of the commercials. Viewers don’t mind watching the ads and halftime shows, and 85% of fans say that they prefer the Super Bowl the way it is, compared to having it with no commercials.
  2. 74% of viewers say they are very or somewhat likely to take action on social media if an ad asks them to during the Super Bowl. This shows that these ads can be extremely powerful for brands (at a hefty price).
  3. 85% of the people surveyed said that the most memorable ads are those with humor in them. Be funny, and be creative. These are the ads that are going to resonate in people’s mind when asked, “what was your favourite Super Bowl ad?”.

Here are what we think are the top 3 highlight statistics from the Salesforce infographic:

  1. The majority of viewers are male (54.7% male compared to 45.3% female). This isn’t really shocking information but is useful for marketing teams to figure how they need to direct their ad campaigns. They need to tailor their ads towards a more male oriented audience while still including aspects that the very present female side would enjoy.
  2. Doritos and Budweiser were the top mentioned brands through Super Bowl 49. Keeping in mind the point above, if your product excels in a male dominant market (e.g. beer), then you’re more likely to have an impact when showing your ad during the Super Bowl.
  3. The winner of the Super Bowl gets more mentions on social media than the loser does, but not by much. The New England Patriots received 1.9 million mentions on social media, whereas the Seattle Seahawks received 1.7 million mentions. That’s not a very big difference in the grand scheme of things. The moral of the story here is that everyone’s a winner at the Super Bowl 🙂

Off topic, we’re looking forward to the Queen B herself performing alongside Coldplay. Oh and if Bruno Mars decides to join, well that’s just great too.