Nerd Alert: What Makes a Great Super Bowl Ad?

Welcome to Nerd Alert, a series of special episodes bridging the gap between marketing academia and practitioners. We’re breaking down highly involved, complex research into plain language and takeaways any marketer can use.

In this episode, Elena and Rob explore what drives ROI for Super Bowl advertisers by examining six years of sales data across nearly 200 media markets. They reveal why some brands see significant returns while others struggle to justify the investment.

Topics covered:   

• [01:00] "Super Bowl Ads"
• [03:00] Top advertising categories during the big game
• [05:00] How viewership impacts beer and soda sales
• [06:00] The importance of owning consumption occasions
• [07:00] Why competing ads can cancel each other out
• [08:00] Building brand associations beyond sales lift 

 





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Resources: 
Hartmann, W. R., & Klapper, D. (2016). Super Bowl Ads. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2385058  
 

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