If you don’t tune into the Super Bowl performances and commercials in between the plays, this may be a great year to start.
A big reason has to do with the halftime show, during which Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny is set to sing entirely in Spanish. He’ll be the first solo headliner to do that.
“This is something you’ve never really seen in a Super Bowl. This is the first time ever something of this caliber is happening,” Virginia Tech marketing expert Donna Wertalik said. “I feel like this is the year for cultural relevance.”
Companies want to take advantage of the moment, and get commercials in front of the wide range of people who will be watching.
“We’ve got more than big brands, we’ve got a lot of new brands this year, which is really interesting,” Wertalik said.
A 30-second ad during Super Bowl 60 costs about $8 million. So, is it worth it?
Many companies use their Super Bowl commercial as a launching point for a major ad campaign, Wertalik said.
“This is the tipoff of it, and then they’ll run much of this throughout the rest of this year … getting a lot of value out of that one spot.”
She’s already seen many of the ads, and said the audience can expect them to feature a lot of artificial intelligence and funny celebrities.
The commercials may stick in your head, but will you remember the products they’re trying to sell?
“A lot of brands suffer from that,” Wertalik said.
For instance, you may remember a funny car commercial, but can’t remember which car it was trying to get you to buy.
Something Wertalik will be tracking is whether what she calls the “Taylor Swift effect” is continuing.
Swift has attended Kansas City Chiefs games to support tight end Travis Kelce, her fiance. Those appearances got more women interested in the NFL.
“A lot of women started watching it, and brands started getting engaged and saying we have a lot of people here … that are new audience members,” she said.
The Chiefs didn’t make the Super Bowl this year, and that has Wertalik wondering: “Do those women and young girls still stay? It will be interesting to look at that.”