#SB47 – The Multi-Million Dollar Audience

The players are not the only superstars on Super Bowl Sunday.  In fact, the game is the last thing on a lot of people mind’s that day:  food, booze, parties, gambling, the halftime show (Will Beyonce lip sync?  Will Jay-Z join her?), and, let’s not forget, the commercials!  This year in New Orleans, Louisiana, our very own Baltimore Ravens will take on the San Francisco 49ers, but in the broadcast world, it really never mattered which teams would throw down because 80% of CBS’ Super Bowl commercial inventory was sold out all the way back in August, before the NFL season even began.

With nearly 50% of the entire country watching, it’s a safe bet that those $4 million spots will be seen (at an average cost of $133k+ per second!).  Last year, more than 110 million viewers watched the Super Bowl and another 4 million tuned in to see Madonna at the half.  Those numbers are expected to increase this year.  Viewers can also stream the game online and even watch from their tablets and smart phones.  We can definitely assume many viewers will be on multiple devices throughout the day.

So advertisers cannot cater only to the television audience anymore.  The commercials merely set the stage for what happens when that 30-second spot ends.  Executing a multi-channel media buy and providing an engaged audience with a compelling call-to-action can transform a potential customer to a brand loyalist in real time simply by including text-in numbers,  URLs, hashtags, Twitter handles and so on.  Driving consumers  from the television to another device is just one way to track an ad’s performance through page views, Facebook Likes and Twitter Followers, for example.

Overall, Americans are 3% more likely to “like” a brand on Facebook than they are to “like” their favorite team.  It seems that this year brands have really tried to get the “buzz” going early by leaking commercials online prior to airing them during the big game.  The number of Followers, Likes, Re-Tweets, search queries, YouTube views, etc. are all measurable in real time, too.  Social sharing is the new word of mouth.  By putting spots in pregame and making the video content available online, brands can ensure their message will be shared and discussed for a longer period of time, thus generating even more incremental impressions.

After the 2012 Super Bowl, 86% of all video ads shared were posted to Facebook, while 30% were shared via Twitter.   Sharable video ad content rose 129% from 2011 to 2012, and it’s anticipated to grow even more this year.  Since half of Americans will rewatch their favorite ads, it is imperative for an advertiser to display video ads, whether they’re risqué, humorous or potentially controversial.

Even though General Motors has ceased all Facebook and Super Bowl advertising, make no mistake: you can expect to see something from the heavy hitters at Anheuser-Busch InBEv, Doritos and Coca-Cola, who year after year seem to have to out-perform themselves with the frogs, the finger-licker or “Mean Joe Greene,” respectively.   But you’ll also be treated to some new guys: sodastream, The Lincoln Motor Company and Wonderful Pistachios, who are all first time advertisers.

The Super Bowl Engagement Survey has estimated that 60% of the in-game advertisers will score a ROI.  So if your brand can muster up the millions and your creative shop can slap together a catchy :30, it just might be worth it – just as long as you have a solid digital plan to back it up.  Because even if your spot is less than stellar, the people will still talk about you.

And just for fun…  Americans will spend $10.8 Billion on beer this Super Bowl Sunday, which is enough money to reconstruct the Mercedes-Benz Superdome 26 times.  They will also eat 1.25 Billion Chicken Wings, which explains the 31 Million people calling in “sick” on Monday.

The Havas Discovery team will be live tweeting our thoughts about the ads live during the Super Bowl!  Use #DSCBowl to join our discussion.