Research: What Makes an Effective Super Bowl Ad?

// Data and analysis originally created as part of a March 2023 Rival Spark Report

Who won this year’s Super Bowl isn’t as clear cut a question as you’d expect, especially when you think about the advertisers. Super Bowl ads are the US’ most prominent annual moment for the industry and the public to discuss advertising. However, what was the ‘best’ Super Bowl ad, or even just an effective one is divisive. To understand more about what Super Bowl ads made an immediate and longer term impact, 2023 big game ads were analyzed through survey data and Share of Search analysis. Attest surveys were run 24 hours after the Super Bowl and 30 days later, while brands search share, an indicator of market share changes, were monitored using Rival Curo.

Looking across the data, 3 considerations exist for what makes an effective Super Bowl ad.

1.) Historic Advertisers Create Cumulative Awareness

Double jeopardy exists when it comes to awareness for new Super Bowl advertisers. Historic advertisers such as Pepsi, Doritos, Budweiser and Bud Light all dominated unprompted recall responses at 1 and 30 day surveys. New comers are forced to cut-through with harder hitting, more distinct creative approaches, such as Pop-Corners leveraged.

2.) Smaller Brands Have a Lower Business Ceiling, Larger Brands Top-Up

Specialist brands and new comers have a much lower ceiling on what business impacts can be created from big game advertising. Workday and Dexcom, both speaking to smaller addressable audiences, saw the lowest 30 day awareness and the lowest consideration / use post game. The Farmer’s Dog, speaking to a larger addressable audience of US pet owners, but facing food switching barriers experienced similar outcomes.

Brands with easier to trial products and wider distribution, such as Doritos, saw larger gains on top of already sizeable brand awareness and consideration.

The myth of the overnight Super Bowl success doesn’t seem to exist anymore, as new entrants such as Pepsi Zero Sugar, Pop-Corners and Draft Kings all converted high immediate purchase to incremental consideration and purchase post game.

3.) New Brands Struggle to Stay Around Long Term

Challenger entrants into categories struggled to say present in consumer’s minds post game, vs. more established brands who’ve carved out a place in consumer’s lives. For new entrants, effective Super Bowl ads are the beginning of an introduction to a wider audience, not the end of it.

Curo Search Share and growth data illustrates how brands which lacked long term brand recall, such as Temu, Fan Duel and Turbo Tax did convert their Super Bowl advertising into search impact. Despite having low recall, viewers were seen to react to advertising by seeking more information.

So What Makes an Effective Super Bowl Ad?

Unhelpfully, the answer depends on who you are. The most effective Super Bowl ads seemingly come from brands that are big enough to have been there before. Effectiveness is most probable from brands with scale and heritage in the game, who translate an annual presence in the game to top-up what people already know and build on cumulative effects created in previous years.

For new advertisers and brands, a Super Bowl ad is only as effective as what you do afterwards. You see incremental gains in awareness and consideration, as well as search, but these will diminish faster for smaller and newer brands. Translating this platform into the start of continued support is key.

// Agency: We Are Rival
// Role: Chief Strategy Officer / Co-Founder