Super Bowl 52 by (some of) the numbers
During yesterday’s Super Bowl, those in the ad world, glued to the action — including on second screens — weighed in with their thoughts on the work and, for some, the actual game.
David Harbour in the Super Clio-winning series of Super Bowl ads for Tide
On the one hand I love seeing the Patriots lose
On the other I hate seeing the Eagles win
On the other F Bob Kraft
— Ian Schafer (@ischafer) February 5, 2018
.@tide is absolutely crushing this super bowl. — Ian Schafer (@ischafer) February 5, 2018After the real-time action wore off, the industry put out all manner of numbers and data, helping paint an interesting and compelling picture of how brands fared on the most significant ad day of the year.
Below is a selection of data and insights that showed the movers and shakers during Philadelphia’s historic win.
Super pricey time
A preliminary estimate from Kantar Media’s in-game ad spend for Super Bowl LII totaled around $414m, the most for a regulation game. Last year’s game, which was the first Super Bowl to run to overtime, brought in $419m.
Football is a 60-minute game — but this year’s advertising was a game in itself. The total commercial time from paying sponsors, the NFL and NBC Universal networks was 49 minutes, 35 seconds.
A ‘spot’ of streaming upticks
Spotify tracked the boost in streaming during the halftime show, and for various ads throughout the game. Justin Timberlake’s hit singles 'Mirrors' and 'Suit & Tie' both received an over 500% increase in streams in the hour following the performance.
The Prince tribute that happened near the end of the Timberlake medley brought an instant spike from fans of the Purple One. There was a 205% increase of streams for his overall catalog — a boost of 916% for 'I Would Die 4 You' alone.
Other songs that received a Super Bowl boost: 'Adventures in Mental Health' from Will Powers for Squarespace (671%) and Skylar Grey’s 'Stand by Me' for Budweiser (408%).
Australia takes Facebook
In data released from Facebook, over 62 million people shared 270 million interactions during Super Bowl 52, 90% of those interactions taking place on mobile.
A stand-out in the brand bowl for Facebook was Tourism Australia, which spoofed a trailer for a Crocodile Dundee “remake” starring Chris Hemsworth and Danny McBride. Four teaser trailers were optimized for mobile on Facebook and Instagram just before halftime. The campaign will continue with Facebook Live sessions with global ambassador Hemsworth, and additional videos on Instagram and Facebook.
Audiences had the time of their lives
Eli Manning and Odell Beckham, Jr. went dirty dancing last night, and a panel of 250 respondents from AudienceProject thinks the New York Giants were the real winners. The spot that entertained them the most, however, was the Dinklage-Freeman brand battle for Mountain Dew and Doritos’ new respective flavors.
Meters, blitzes and some super Clios
USA Today’s Ad Meter turns 30 years old this year. Its top ad, based off of public and panel vote, was Amazon’s Alexa Loses Her Voice, featuring celebrity replacements like chef Gordon Ramsay, rapper Cardi B, actress/comedian Rebel Wilson, and Anthony Hopkins.
The Amazon spot also took the top spot in YouTube’s Ad Blitz, followed by Groupon’s Tiffany Haddish-led Who Wouldn’t commercial, Pepsi’s Generations extended cut, and Bud Light’s The Bud Knight (dilly, dilly). Overall, Super Bowl ads saw a 16% increase in viewership compared to last year’s totals—52% more people watching from their living room than in 2017.
The Super Clio was also announced, with a panel of judges including Rob Reilly, Keith Cartwright, Stacey-Ann Dale and Corinna Falusi. This year’s winner: the David Harbour ad-thology, “It’s a Tide Ad Campaign” by Saatchi & Saatchi.