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$186,667

That’s what it costs for 1 second of screentime during the Super Bowl.

The famed ads certainly come at a price…

But is it worth it?

You’re about to find out!

Super Bowl Overview

Estimated Viewers: 110+ million (Source)

Ad-Revenue: $434.5 million (Source)

Whether you watch American football or not, the chances are, you know what the Super Bowl is.

For those who don’t, it’s essentially the “holy grail” of American football.

It’s a winner takes all finale.

For American’s, it’s quite a big thing… in fact, it’s the biggest thing.

The Super Bowl makes up 8 out of the top 10 of the most-viewed events in US history.

With the only two events competing being:

• The most famous presidential speech of all time

• Apollo 11 - the first time human’s ever stepped foot on the moon.

So yes, it’s quite a big deal.

Not just for the people who love the game but also for all the companies desperate to advertise at the event.

When you’re able to put that many eyes on one broadcast, it means you have something very valuable. Something brands are willing to pay a lot of money to be a part of.

It’s a snatch and grab for every second.

A snatch and grab that get’s more and more expensive every year.

I suppose the question is…

How much would you pay for 110+ million people to watch your ad?

Breaking Down The Strategy

You’ve just watched the most expensive Super Bowl ad in history.

The ad cost Amazon $16.8 million - for exactly 90 seconds.

You may be thinking that’s an absurd amount of money.

It is.

However, the chances are Amazon would have paid more.

Why?

Let’s start by understanding why Amazon launched the ad…

1. To generate huge amounts of hype around their new product - the Amazon “Alexa”

2. To blow Google’s “Google Home” out of the water - who happened to also had a competing Super Bowl ad

From a branding perspective, Amazon absolutely killed it.

They showed a lighthearted side of the company (and their CEO). Whilst also showing a human side to their product - which a lot of people were somewhat scared of.

People loved it and the ad blew up ALL over socials.

But that won’t have been the only successful aspect of the ad.

Super Bowl ads are renowned for killing it with financial ROIs too.

Although the exact ROI of the Amazon ad can’t be calculated, I did the maths using averages.

Amazon spent $16.8 million on the 90-second ad.

This comes to $186,667 per second - a 1900X mark up on your average 30-second TV ad.

However, the average ROI on a Super Bowl ad is $4.60 per dollar spent.

So for that 90-second slot, Amazon will have made an estimated $77.28 million dollars.

$858,668 ROI per second the ad was on screen.

Now, you know why companies pay so much for it!

That being said it’s no surprise that Amazon are back this year with ANOTHER killer Super Bowl ad.

This year’s ad has already racked up 43 million views on YouTube. Before even airing during the super bowl.

There are so many reasons why companies advertise at the Super Bowl:

• The “Clout” - It’s not all about the financial ROI on these ads, just the fact they actually advertised at the Super Bowl is huge for the brand. When people think of Super Bowl ads they think of the biggest and best companies in the world. Get your company a Super Bowl ad and your company will be associated with the likes Amazon, Google and Facebook.

• The Money - It’s impossible to talk about advertisements without talking about ROI and when it comes to Super Bowl ads the ROI certainly is there! If you get screen time during the Super Bowl, the chances are you’re going to make a lot of money!

• Social aspect - This wasn’t a factor in the past, but it is a huge factor in 2022. Not only do you get the viewership of all the people watching the Super Bowl, but if your ad is a hit, you’ll get many more views online. This year’s Amazon ad is a prime example, 40M+ views before even going on TV!

Now going back to my original question…

How much would you pay for 110+ million people to watch your ad?

My answer: whatever they’re asking for!

How To Implement It

If you’re reading this, the chances are you’re not going to be getting a Super Bowl ad anytime soon. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t market in a similar way.

There are two very simple principles that can be carried across into a small to medium-sized business:

1. Eyes matter - Having eyes on your brand, means money in your pocket. The two aren’t directly correlated and it’s never guaranteed. But generally speaking the more eyes you get on your brand the more money you’ll make. So put your brand in front of peoples eyes. It might be a local TV ad, it might be an ad on a training course on a similar topic. It could simply be a local football team shirt sponsorship. No matter what it is, put your brand in front of eyes.

2. TV ad formats work - This doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be on TV. Create a TV ad and post it on your socials. There’s something rather special about that TV ad format, so special that it sticks in your mind forever. A social post is quickly scrolled past, but a high-quality TV ad format video - that tells a story. It can be ingrained in one’s mind forever!

Now, I couldn’t write this article without letting you see some of the killer Super Bowl ads that have gone out over the years.

So to finish, here are my 3 favourite Super Bowl ads of all time:

• Apple ‘1984’ (1984)

• Reebok - 'Terry Tate: office linebacker' (2003)

• Pepsi - The infamous Cindy Crawford ad (1992)

This has been a breakdown of the marketing strategy behind Super Bowl ads. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!