The Super Bowl attracts by far the largest television audience compared to any other event in the U.S. And while this makes it an irresistible target for advertisers, we at HawkPartners would add “…. if you have something compelling to say,” as great advertising cannot overcome a weak brand message.
So when we asked our team of Partners and our Affiliated Advisors (primarily former CMOs) to assess the Super Bowl LX advertisements, they looked at not only how entertaining, memorable, and resonant they are, but also how effective they are in generating brand momentum likely to result in incremental future sales – specifically sales that will exceed the $8-10 million it cost to air a 30-second spot.
What we found is that there was consensus that the general tone this year was friendly and less strident than in recent years, addressing relevant themes such as personal connections and technology anxiety. One Advisor also noted the Bad Bunny halftime show was exemplary of stressing community rather than division, a theme evident in several ads. Another observed trend was that ‘nostalgic’ ads focused more on the 1990s, indicating a shift away from Boomer or even Gen X influence. Finally, many found that ads that relied on simple stories to strike an emotional connection were more effective than using celebrities.
“Many found that ads that relied on simple stories to strike an emotional connection were more effective than using celebrities.”
However, there were divergent views on the AI ads – while some did not consider any of the AI ads among the most impactful, others viewed the Claude/Anthropic ads as among the most effective for their combination of being well executed and addressing a relevant concern by clearly differentiating their offering. Given the significant focus on AI this year, it will also be interesting to see what happens in the future – will the number of AI-related Super Bowl ads turn out to be a temporary bubble (as it was for the dotcom and crypto Super Bowl advertising bursts), or is this the beginning of sustained category investment signaling a real change in our society.
Considering the various factors noted above, there is general agreement that some of the most effective ads overall include:
- Lays, with its two spots focusing on simple storytelling that provided both an emotional resonance and brand differentiation
- Dove, which continues to reinforce its decades-long resonant brand message in fresh ways by focusing on women’s sports
- Dunkin, which continues to find ways to mine its Boston connections for humor (while thankfully trying to distract New Englanders from the game!)
- Rocket Mortgage/Redfin tapped into the societal desire for connections via a memorable song performed by Lady Gaga
- Pepsi leveraged the polar bears commonly associated with its competitor in a compelling way
“The general tone this year was friendly and less strident than in recent years, addressing relevant themes such as personal connections and technology anxiety.”
And while these and many other ads had a positive impact, our Advisors are quick to note that how these brands leverage this momentum via social media and other channels in the coming weeks will be the real test of their cumulative influence.