Big Game LVII Ad Trends

Sunday, February 12^th Super Bowl LVII was held in Glendale, Arizona at the State Farm Stadium. The NFL Championship Game was a momentous event filled with nail-biting plays, A-list celebrities, field firsts, inclusivity, and big brands. Commencement of the event was marked by the musical performances of Sherly Lee Ralph, Chris Stapleton, and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. With the toss of a coin and the kick of a football, approximately 113 million viewers tuned in to their screens–creating advertising’s grandest stage.

The large viewership sets expectations high for Super Bowl spots. Viewers want to be entertained, and brands want to ensure their ads captivate the audience to improve their appeal and demand (achieve a good ROI). Evoking emotion is conducive to these results. Brands attempted to accomplish this in a multitude of ways. Some initiated marketing campaigns or advertised outside of the game to pique consumer interest or create media attention–causing excitement. Among those who used this tactic was Super Bowl halftime performer Rihanna’s brands, Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty. The singer marketed her Big Game appearance promoting limited edition merchandise and new and existing products. Her tactics on stage also proved profitable. In touching up her makeup during the show, she reportedly earned Fenty Beauty $5.6 million and generated $88.3 million in media impact total in the 12 hours after her performance. Other brands used their national commercial airtime as their main platform. This year’s game day spots came from a variety of markets and catered to diverse age groups. Despite this, patterns emerged and trends new and old were established.

2023 Ad Trends

As has become expected of the Big Game commercials, spots this year were primarily lighthearted and humorous in nature except for a few that tugged at our heartstrings or took a more serious tone. Brands tried to take viewers on an emotional journey through numerous strategies.

Overall, brands tried to stand out in the attention economy and promote engagement through emerging and familiar styles of advertisements–but how is their success evaluated? Most research companies rely on surveys to measure the effectiveness of Super Bowl ads. Surveys, while useful in some contexts, can’t accurately determine consumer feelings and predict market behavior. This because what people are willing to say in a survey accounts for only a small portion of behavioral response. Brands attempt to create an emotional connection with the audience, therefore, to accurately assess performance of advertisements, conscious and nonconscious emotions must be measured. Sentient’s emotional-based insights integrate implicit and explicit data to accomplish that–providing scientifically-backed results rather than opinions. To find out what ads were successful, and which failed, demo our Emotion AI platform for access to Super Bowl LVII insights!