The Super Bowl has become a national event in the United States. Football fans want to see the best two NFL teams of the season and many–football fans and non-fans alike–enjoy the ads that top brands air (such as the Budweiser television ad shown above). This year’s broadcast is setting records for revenue including the amount brands are spending on Super Bowl ad slots. According to Newsday, a 30-second advertising slot in 1981 cost a mere $324.000. This year, NBC has sold out all of its Super Bowl ad slots, which cost $4.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime and will feature well-known brands such as Budweiser, Snickers, Bud Light, T-Mobile, BMW, Toyota, McDonald’s and more.
I’ve been watching how digital media and marketing is trending upward. eMarketing recently published a new report about the growth of online search as a trusted media source; it has even lapsed traditional media (including television). The fact that consumers turn to Google and Yahoo first means that television advertising could be a less than attractive option.
But John McDermott, in an interesting article for Digiday, wrote about how digital media has actually increased the value of Super Bowl advertising. “In an era of ad-skipping, time-shifting and a virtually infinite number of on-demand digital media options, sports — the Super Bowl, especially — remains a last bastion of appointment viewing and, correspondingly, one of the precious few times a brand can ensure people will actually watch its TV ads.”
That makes sense.
It doesn’t lessen the fact that the amount of money brands pay for a 30-second Super Bowl spot is astounding. Taking McDermott’s lead, here’s how $4.5 million could benefit a company if it invested it in digital media: run 3.5 billion display ads, get 50 million video views on Facebook, receive 6.4 million clicks on search ads, have a topic trend for 22.5 days on Twitter, pay for 7 days of Snapchat ads, and cover one year’s worth of sponsored content on DailyMail.com.
The businesses I work with don’t have marketing budgets as large as Budweiser or McDonald’s, but I do think the example from the Super Bowl ad slots and what could be purchased online instead, show the growing value of online marketing…no matter the budget.
How would you invest $4.5 million in digital marketing?
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