If you’re involved in marketing in any capacity, then you’re probably aware that there was a significant event that happened on Sunday 11th February. That’s right, it was the 2024 NFL Super Bowl. Hailed as one of the biggest sporting events in the world, the Super Bowl attracts a-list attendees, legendary half-time performers and over 100 million people tuning in at home. There’s also the matter of the actual game which saw the Kansas City Chiefs claim their fourth Super Bowl victory after defeating the San Francisco 49ers.
But what is fascinating about this sporting event is everything that happens outside of the actual game.
So here is your rundown of everything that happened at the 2024 Super Bowl (except anything that happened in the actual game).
Usher and Beyoncé Capitalised On Over 100 Million Viewers
The Super Bowl half-time show is known as one of the most prestigious stages an artist can grace. With a 13 minute uninterrupted slot to perform to over 100 million viewers (some of whom only tune in to watch the half-time show) it can be a catalyst for the performer’s career. However, the artists are never paid for their performance slot at the Super Bowl. Although they’re given a sizeable budget for their production, they are not paid a dollar for their actual performance. This might seem unreasonable, however, there are very few opportunities for artists to perform to such a huge audience, with the exposure alone helping them benefit very lucratively.
For instance, after Usher completed his set at this year’s Super Bowl half-time show, tickets for his new tour immediately went on sale. Last year, Rihanna took a powder and blotted her face halfway through her set. This powder was from her makeup line Fenty Beauty which saw searches for the brand and product skyrocket immediately after her set ended. Over recent years artists have seen streams of their songs increase almost immediately after their half-time performance.
However, Beyoncé also decided to get involved in the Super Bowl frenzy and capitalise on the exposure. She starred in a commercial for Verizon during the infamous ad breaks where she attempted to ‘break the internet’ multiple times only for her Verizon network to keep up. Until, right at the end of the ad, viewers could hear Beyoncé say “okay they ready, drop new music.” Right after the commercial ended, she dropped two new singles and posted the trailer for her brand new album on her social media channels.
With everyone watching the Super Bowl also following the action on social media or posting their reactions, artists who might not even be involved in the Super Bowl are able to use the hype of the event to promote their new music or push their brand.
We Can’t Wait For The Commercial Breaks
What makes the Super Bowl such a unique sporting event is not only the global viewership it attracts for the same, but the masses of viewers it attracts who are only interested in one thing – the ads. Think of the last time that you were watching a TV show that had ad breaks (I know this might be difficult) – did you sit and wait to watch the ads? No, you sprinted around the house taking a bathroom break and boiling the kettle for your next cup of tea.
But with the Super Bowl drawing in over 100 million viewers each year, it’s become the biggest platform for brands to promote themselves on a huge scale. With ad slots pricing at a cool $7 million for a 30 second ad slot, it can be a game-changing campaign for brands to build exposure, launch new products, and grow their brand.
You can read more about this in our previous blog post.
Don’t worry if you didn’t catch any of the ads, YouTube has a dedicated channel to all of the Super Bowl ads which you can find here.
Our personal favourites from the Super Bowl commercials this year include UberEats’ featuring two of our favourite Friends.
Also shoutout to T-Mobile who built on their previous Super Bowl ads with Scrubs stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison as they welcome Hollywood star Jason Mamoa to the neighbourhood in this flashy, musical-inspired ad.
We Can’t Avoid Talking About Taylor Swift
Apologies to the Brad’s, dad and Chad’s but we can’t avoid talking about the Swiftie-sized elephant in the room. Since international pop-star Taylor Swift went public with Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce it’s estimated that Taylor has increased the brand value for the Chiefs and the NFL by $331.5million. The team also saw a 400% increase in sales for Travis Kelce’s jersey, making it one of the top 5 best-selling jerseys this season.
NFL also reported that ratings surged when Taylor attended her first Chiefs game, most of them predicted to be her fans, bringing a whole new demographic to the sport. Also, since Travis’ team made it all the way to winning back-to-back Super Bowls, it’s predicted that Taylor has created a whole new cohort of football fans from them watching the game just to see her, to actually watching and enjoying the game.
This is one thing that the NFL marketing department couldn’t have seen coming at the beginning of the season.
However brands during the Super Bowl leaned into the phenomenon of Swiftie’s becoming football fans, like skincare brand Cetaphil beautifully illustrated in their heart-felt commercial between a daughter and her dad.
The Super Bowl has become a hub for marketers to unleash their ultimate creativity and something that we should be paying close attention to. These are the biggest brands with limitless budgets (a marketer’s dream) so when they have the chance to do anything with their marketing campaigns on an international scale, we need to take notes.
References:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/11/has-taylor-swift-helped-boost-nfl-popularity-in-the-us#:~:text=According%20to%20Apex%20Marketing%2C%20Swift,also%20benefitting%20from%20her%20influence.
