Super Bowl Commercials

One of the most interesting aspects of the Super Bowl is the fact that the audience is so much different than a typical NFL game as virtually every segment of the population is tuned in to the big game. Some root for their favorite team, others enjoy the sport itself, but some viewers watch the game just for the advertisements. It's ironic how commercials are normally the break in the broadcast that viewers long to fast forward, but during the Super Bowl, there is no such thing as a commercial break. The three to four minutes between the live event are filled with much anticipated advertisements that entertain viewers and serve as water cooler talk and social media hashtags for days.

The draw to both the actual game and the advertisements is a strong example of the symbiotic relationship that McChesney references to between sports and media. In simple words, the relationship is that the game itself draws in a large amount of viewers due to the athletic competition. In Super Bowl history, advertisers realize the reach they could have if they purchased ad spots during the game since such a wide variety of viewers were watching. As previously stated, these entertaining commercials created a buzz and drew even more people in to watch the game. As a result, the viewership of the Super Bowl reached an all time high. In 2010, 106 million people watched the game, making it the most watched Super Bowl ever. The networks are not the only group benefiting from  the popularity of the Super Bowl. Companies who advertise during the Super Bowl have seen increased ad time as well, which has enabled them to create even more ad messages during the big game (see graph below). It is evident that the success of the Super Bowl impacts all three groups through a symbiotic relationship. The sport benefits from increased viewers, the media benefits from filling expensive advertisement spots, and the companies benefit from exposure at such a high level of viewers. The cycle of promotion continues.

McChesney sums it up well. "Virtually every surge in the popularity of sport has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the coverage provided sport by the media. Furthermore, each surge increase in the coverage of sport has taken place during a period when the mass media have sharply increased their penetration into the nooks and crannies of American social life."

How do advertisers determine target audiences for Super Bowl ads when so many people watch the game? Perhaps they should take a new study by San Francisco advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners into consideration. A survey pinpointed one segment of the population to be a rising force among Super Bowl viewers, and it's not the typical middle aged, buying power male.

According to the survey, the hot audience that should yield the most results this Super Bowl is young adults, ages 18 to 34. As a generation that is shifting into the working class and increasing buying power, advertisers would do well to focus on this group. Venables Bell & Partner suggests that the advertising show Mad Men may have effect on this group's interest.

"Call it the 'Mad Men' effect, but young Americans' intrigue with Super Bowl advertising seems to be at a steady increase, which is a great sign for marketers  who've made the investment," Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and head of strategy at Venables Bell & Partners said in a statement. "Take that passion - combined with their habit of multi-tasking on multiple technology platforms - and you get a consumer who is ready and willing to engage."

To support this Mad Men effect, the survey found "64 percent of young adults would opt to watch the game with commercials." Yes, this group would rather see commercials than not, and even better for advertisers to hear, 25 percent of the group said that they would pay for a subscription of $0.99 to watch the ads during the game if necessary.

So how does a company compete to be the best, most effective commercial that this active audience views? Engagement is key for this group, especially through social media as the survey discussed. Companies like Budweiser have already jumped on this trend, deciding that a 30 second ad could be more effective if paired with social media before, during and after. They launched the BudLight: Unlock the Spot Facebook challenge in which viewers interact to get a sneak preview of a new Super Bowl ad. With 974,108 "likes" on the Bud Light page, they must be doing something right. Again, successful social media usage like this ties back to the growing target audience of young adults ages 18-34 who use social media to communicate and form opinions daily.

In the end, even though technology has changed the way advertisers are reaching audiences, their tactics are still based on the same principles of the "Iron Rule" of advertising-supported media as originally termed by Ben Bagdikian. "It is less important that people buy your publication than they be the right kind of people" was the basis of this rule. With the Super Bowl, advertisers have found innovative ways to target "the right kind of people," (adult males, 18-34) as evidenced by the Mad Men effect and Bud Light social media campaign. Lowes says "the prevailing philosophy in the sports news industry is that the best way to attract male readers is with extensive coverage of commercial spectator sports." Advertisers realize that this philosophy still applies today, which is why they're willing to spend a large amount of advertising dollars on Super Bowl ads. Therefore, the philosophy is clearly being utilized to its fullest potential in Super Bowl advertising.