It is common knowledge that the Super Bowl is the most watched American television broadcast every year. Last year, in Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, 115.1 million viewers tuned in on Feb. 12, 2023.
The Super Bowl is an event where many celebrities, influencers, athletes come together to support the National Football League, and various sponsors that make the entire thing happen. Social media also plays a huge role in the biggest sports event of the year.
Over the past decade, the correlation of Super Bowl advertising and social media has grown immensely, becoming a strategy for brands wanting to make a significant impact. It has become a valuable way for brands to maximize and maintain their social engagement.
In past years, brands would invest large amounts of their budget just for a 30-second commercial slot during the game. They would rely on a small moment of airtime to carry the brand’s name and engagements. Nowadays, the pregame to the Super Bowl is just as important since it is not just a standalone event. The continued conversations and content being pumped out is key to maintaining their audience. Keeping the audience engaged before, and both during and after the game, is what makes the difference.
A multi-channel marketing strategy and social media-heavy approach has become the pregame show. This happens through trailers, companies teasing their commercials, getting celebrity or influencer sponsors and being creative, of course. All of this interaction usually comes from social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to build excitement. One of the most popular pregame advertisements was with Starry and Ice Spice.
This just does not have to do with brands, it also has to do with the athletes involved. Have you heard of the Kelce brothers and their podcast called ‘New Heights?’ Launched in September 2022, “New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce” has quickly grown to become phenomena in sports and pop culture. It has become a top sports podcast on Apple and Spotify. The ‘New Heights’ fan community growth has been insanely rapid. The Kelce brothers have accumulated 2.3 million Instagram followers, 2.18 million Youtube subscribers, 3.9 million TikTok followers with 140.9 million likes just on TikTok. With Jason and Travis Kelce building themselves a brand on the field, it builds an even bigger brand for them on the field. So when Travis Kelce and the Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens to make the Super Bowl, the marketing aspect became that much bigger. Plus, Kelce being in a public relationship with worldwide popstar Taylor Swift is a whole different side of the story which is just as huge for marketing purposes.
The halftime show also plays a role in Super Bowl marketing. Last year, Rhianna’s halftime show generated a record 121 million views. Usher is likely looking at a similar viewership this year which will translate to increased streams. Usher being the performer this year could also boost the sales of R&B artist’s new album which was released on Friday. Usher will follow his album release with a tour starting in August. Other artists who have performed in past halftime shows like Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Shakira and Bruno Mars have seen boosts in either their music streams or sales as a whole. The way they are advertised on social media is another way for them to gain more exposure as the Super Bowl Halftime show is one of the most hyped-up and anticipated performances of the year. It will be talked about for days, months, and even years after the event and will be compared to all the different performances from some of the best artists in the music industry.
Another factor to Super Bowl marketing is real-time analytics. Brands get to measure the impact of their Super Bowl campaign on social media which almost insanely provides them feedback and insights on their audience engagement and outreach. Analytical tools allow brands to refine their strategies and adjust their content on real-time data. There are a lot of factors now that allow brands to make the best approach possible for the maximum impact.
The Super Bowl is so much more than just a football game. Social media has become an enormous part of the event where brands can also score big by engaging with their audiences in all parts of the game and this part of the marketing strategies will only grow larger in coming years.