Evaluating Brand Strategies in Super Bowl Advertising

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Advertising during the Super Bowl involves significant financial investment, with costs reaching around $5 million for a 30-second spot, necessitating greater scrutiny from brands. Marketers increasingly release ads in advance of the game, with about half being shown prior to airing to build anticipation and gauge audience reaction. A significant disparity can arise between consumer preference and anticipated sales effectiveness of these ads, highlighting the need for brands to clarify their objectives. Successful brand strategies must align with specific goals—whether it be increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or fostering social media engagement—each of which requires different metrics for evaluation. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for brand managers to effectively measure the success of their Super Bowl advertising efforts.

The Super Bowl isn’t just American football’s championship game. It’s also one of the world’s biggest stages for brand messaging.

In 2024, the average 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $7 million —and that doesn’t even include production costs. So how do brand managers know if they’re getting a good return on that huge investment?

In this episode, Bentley University assistant professor of marketing Shelle Santana discusses the evolution of corporate branding, using lessons from classic Super Bowl ads, like Budweiser's iconic Clydesdale horses.

She shares how to choose the best, measurable goal for an ad campaign, while also accounting for the risks that can accompany bold storytelling—like controversy or online backlash. She also explains why some brands release their ads ahead of the game, while others don’t. (Hint: It’s about social media engagement, and ultimately expanding the ROI on your ad investment.)

Key episode topics include: strategy, brand management, sales and marketing.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands? (2019)

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