Worth It

This isn’t another piece on how much a Super Bowl ad costs. Everyone’s heard it a thousand times. It’s almost quoted as often as Tom Brady’s age. Instead, let’s look at the VALUE of each of those advertisements. Is advertising at the big game worth it?

To start, SB ads are typically brand building exercises rather than selling any specific products. Fittingly, masters in branding Apple’s story of growth could arguably be traced back to Super Bowl XVIII in 1984; the year of the Macintosh release. Apple sold 72,000 Macs in the 100 days following the Super Bowl, 50% above their most optimistic projections.

Over the past decade, no company has spent more on advertising than An-Bev, owners of Budweiser, Bud Light and other popular US beers. A 2018 study found that Budwesier sales increased up to 4.7% in the weeks following a Super Bowl ad. With annual sales deep into the billions, the US$5m for an ad is very easily paid off.

While hundreds of companies have paid up in an attempt a shot to win the hearts and minds of the audience, few really succeed. Aside from the cherry picked success stories above, a 2014 study found that 80% of ads have no effect on sales. Consumers were interviewed about their spending habits before and after watching Super Bowl commercials and as much as brands may hate to hear it, the US$5m could be better spent elsewhere.