This year's Super Bowl saw a host of big-name brands competing to earn the attention of 111.3 million football fans. We look at some of the strategies brands used to stand out.

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Super Bowl LI

2. G E T A D V E R T I S I N G S M A R T
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This year’s Super Bowl was a great reminder that advertising today is about more than a
perfectly executed 30-second slot, it’s about a standout idea that translates across
multiple channels.
The Super Bowl becomes a more complicated arena for brands to navigate every year.
Deciding to purchase a Super Bowl spot is a difficult decision - this year’s game pulled in
111.3 million viewers, making it the fifth most-watched TV broadcast in history, but the cost
of a 30 second spot has grown rapidly in the past few years to reach around $5 million
1
.
This meant that Super Bowl ad sales were slow this year, with slots still available a week
before the game, and Fox declining to confirm whether they had sold out on the day.
In terms of media budget, Super Bowl advertisers must also decide whether to release the
full ad before the game, whether to tease the ad but save the full creative, or whether to
reserve everything for the big-ticket ad spot. Teasers and pre-releases have become the
norm in recent years to make the most of the high-spend on the spot itself, but the cost of
this can easily add another million dollars to the media mix
2
.
The need to execute campaigns across multiple channels and devices has not only
changed the price of advertising at the Super Bowl, but it has fundamentally altered the
way Super Bowl ads must be conceived:
"The idea has to be big enough now that it can live on in
many different platforms. That’s a big difference between
what we did 5 or 10 years ago and what we do now for the
Super Bowl. There are a lot more extensions that go with it."
— Greg Hahn, CCO BBDO NY3
And as the big ideas have had to become bigger, this year we arguably saw a change in
strategy for many brands. Although humour will always be a staple of Super Bowl
advertising, the large number of brands using humour last year meant that many
1
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/business/5-million-for-a-super-bowl-ad-another-million-or-more-to-market-the-
ad.html?_r=0
2
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/business/5-million-for-a-super-bowl-ad-another-million-or-more-to-market-the-
ad.html?_r=1
3
http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/last-years-super-bowl-advertisers-tried-hard-funny-failed-study-
says/1420644?bulletin=campaign_agencies_bulletin&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=eNews%20Bulletin&utm_sourc
e=20170113&utm_content=www_campaignlive_co_uk_ar_9

3. G E T A D V E R T I S I N G S M A R T
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struggled to stand out
4
. Here are some of the different strategies brands used to
differentiate this year:
1) LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
Both Snickers and Hyundai chose to take a risk by filming and releasing their commercials
live during the Super Bowl LI. This was the first year that brands have attempted this,
possibly a reflection of the way that the in-game ad is increasingly becoming just part of
the equation, with teasers and other channels helping to take the pressure off the main
advert.
Snickers, “SNICKERS® Presents: A Live Super Bowl Commercial” by
BBDO NY
This year’s Snickers ad was a continuation of the brand’s “You’re not you when you’re
hungry” message, showing why you shouldn’t film a live Super Bowl commercial while
you’re hungry. The ad featured actor Adam Driver of HBO series “Girls” and Star Wars:
The Force Awakens, who appeared to get the timings wrong and ruin the whole advert. It
was promoted with teasers and a 36-hour live stream, with Snickers and Driver releasing
apologies to continue momentum after the event. As BBDO’s Peter Kain explained:
“We need to do something that makes people want to
watch and talk about the ads.”5
And talk they did, with countless articles following the game announcing, “Adam Driver
ruins everything in Snickers' live Super Bowl commercial”.
2) WIDER ISSUES
This year, the changing political landscape had a noticeable impact on Super Bowl
commercials. This could have proved to be a risky strategy, as Nielsen neuroscientist Carl
Marci explains, “If you make people think too much or get too serious during a game
where people are really looking to be entertained, you’re taking a risk”.6 However, viewers
of this year’s game were exposed to an unprecedented number of messages regarding
issues spanning from gender equality to immigration.
4 http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/last-years-super-bowl-advertisers-tried-hard-funny-failed-study-
says/1420644?bulletin=campaign_agencies_bulletin&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=eNews%20Bulletin&utm_sourc
e=20170113&utm_content=www_campaignlive_co_uk_ar_9 5
https://www.wsj.com/articles/snickers-to-air-first-live-super-bowl-ad-1485345610
6
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/business/super-bowl-commercials-
politics.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-
news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

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AUDI, Daughter, by Venables Bell & Partners
Audi’s Super Bowl ad features a father watching his daughter compete and win in a cart
race, and questions why she should be worth less than the males she is competing with.
The touching subject and execution has resonated with viewers and was voted third best
ad of this year’s Super Bowl in the USA Today Ad Meter
7
.
3) OPTING OUT WITH PURPOSE
Some big-name brands have opted out of purchasing official spots this year, but that
doesn’t mean they haven’t made the most of the highly-talked about event.
Heinz, “Smunday”, by David Miami
Viewers of the Super Bowl 50 may have anticipated another traditional commercial by
Kraft Heinz after its “Wiener Stampede”
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advert used both comedy and animals to great
effect. However, the brand went a different direction this year and instead published a
video showcasing its petition to make the Monday after the Super Bowl, dubbed
“Smunday”, a national holiday. With over 60,000 signatures currently
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, the petition will
earn Congressional consideration if it attracts 100,000 signees. Time will tell whether the
campaign proves successful, but in the meantime, the brand practiced what it preached
by granting its employees the Monday off
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.
WHAT WE THINK
Every year, the competition during the Super Bowl becomes more intense, meaning
brands that chose to be involved have to do more in order to stand out. This forces a raft
of high quality, engaging ads, and while there may be evidence to suggest that we may be
moving to a position where the cost of a spot is too expensive for some, the loss of these
adverts would be a loss for the Super Bowl, as arguably, unlike any other event, the
advertising has become as important as the game to many viewers.
7
http://admeter.usatoday.com/commercials/daughter/
8
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/heinz-skipping-super-bowl-has-idea-monday-after-175746
9
https://www.change.org/p/make-the-monday-after-the-big-game-a-national-holiday
10
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/heinz-skipping-super-bowl-has-idea-monday-after-175746

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If you are interested in learning more about the subject of this article, please contact
Sarah Emmerson, Insights Planner, emmerson@bbdoknows.com
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