Super Bowl is considered to be one of the major events for advertisers in the ASA, but in fact some of the brands, who advertise during the Super Bowl XLVII game, won’t see real returns on their investments. The placement is quite expensive (it can cost over $126,000 per second to show an advert), so the effect also should to be big. But it doesn’t always happen. Brand Keys revealed in their 11th annual Super Bowl Engagement Survey that the money spent on the promotion will result in revenues (building the brand’s equity, driving positive behaviour, etc.) for just about 60% of advertisers.

Pic.: Super Bowl XLVII, www.cuindependent.com

For the research, which was conducted January 26-27 in the USA, Brand Keys surveyed 1,500 men and women aged 18 to 65 years—all the respondents said they would be watching the Super Bowl XLVII game. The researchers examined 31 brands, which were indicated as Super Bowl advertisers reported in media, to figure out how much brand values were affected by the Super Bowl venue. Brand Keys then classified the advertisers into three groups—winners (+5 or more brand equity points), losers (-5 or more brand equity points), or tied (brand values were left unaffected by the Super Bowl venue). They all are listed below:

Winners

Doritos +14
Taco Bell +13
Axe +12
Coke +11
Pizza Hut +11
Car.com +10
M&M s +10
GoDaddy.com +9
Hyundai +9
Wonderful Pistachios +9
Audi +8
Mercedes-Benz +8
Pepsi +7
Oreo +6
Soda Stream +6
Mio +5
Skechers +5
Toyota +5

Losers

Century 21 -9
Best Buy -8
Kia -6
Wheat Thins -5

Ties

Anheuser-Busch -0-
Etrade -0-
Fiat -0-
Gildan -0-
Lincoln -0-
Milk -0-
Samsung -0-
Tide -0-
Volkswagen -0-

The reactions of the consumers to the ads, which are shown within the game, mirror their attitude to the products and affect their purchasing behavior. In fact, just being seen is not enough—naturally, advertisers want their ads to build consumers’ loyalty and ultimately drive sales. Short adverts, aired during the game, give brands an opportunity to engage the audience—all they have to do here is not to mess it up. If the story in the ad doesn’t create value for the consumers, the money spent on it will give you some morning-after buzz, but no revenue.

“With 30-second spots selling for $3.7-4 million this year on top of production costs, it should be a whole new game when it comes to ad effectiveness and ROI. You’re talking about engagement,” commented Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys president. “And because engagement assessments are separate and apart from how many eyeballs were watching, and certainly entertainment, they’re a reliable reality check that lets advertisers know how super their media buys will actually be.”