Sunday, February 2 is the day of the big game, the Super Bowl. While it is a big day for the NFL and the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, this is advertising’s big day too.
193.8 million adults in the U.S. plan to watch the Super Bowl this year. This is around 11 million more viewers than the projected viewership of the 2019 Bowl. In 2019 there were 91 commercials during the Super Bowl broadcast with a total run-time of 49 minutes and 31 seconds.
Retail spending is expected to reach around $17.2 billion this year, up from 2019’s spending by about $3 billion.
WHY ARE SUPER BOWL ADS A BIG DEAL?
The U.S. television broadcast of the Super Bowl – the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) – features many high-profile television commercials, colloquially known as Super Bowl ads. The phenomenon is a result of the game’s extremely high viewership and wide demographics: Super Bowl games have frequently been among the United States’ most-watched television broadcasts…As such, advertisers have typically used commercials during the Super Bowl as a means of building awareness for their products and services among this wide audience, while also trying to generate buzz around the ads themselves so they may receive additional exposure. (Wikipedia)
This year, companies are forking over between $5.2 million and $5.6 million for a 30-second spot during the game. Super Bowl advertising prices are up 3% from the 2019 cost.
JUST THE STATS
Here are a few statistics from the latest annual analysis from Kantar Media:
30-second ads are the norm, half of all ads are 30 seconds.
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the top spender, investing $52 million in Super Bowl advertising.
Amazon is the second biggest spender at $23 million.
Auto Manufacturers are the top advertising category.
Five automakers ran ads in 2019 for a total spend of $59 million.
IS IT WORTH IT?
The majority of Americans say that Super Bowl commercials are good entertainment and 19% indicate that Super Bowl ads make them aware of brands, which means companies are getting the exposure they desire and reaching prospective customers. So, if you can afford it, Super Bowl Advertising is a good idea and is effective.
Our top pick this year: