An estimated 123.7 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl on February 11, making the event the most-watched single-network telecast of all time, per Nielsen. That’s good news for CBS and the football industry — and advertisers as well.
Super Bowl commercials are costly. A 30-second ad this year, according to sources, totaled $7 million. Still, many brands decided to make the investment, using the opportunity to reach new audiences or tease new products.
Many years ago, brands’ Super Bowl efforts revolved around TV. Now, with audiences interacting with Super Bowl content on various channels — linear TV, digital websites, Instagram and TikTok among them — brands are drawing out the length of their Super Bowl campaigns and repurposing the content long after the ads have aired. They see these ads as investments in building brand awareness over time, a long-term bet for bigger market share.
At the same time, brands are methodically tracking parts of their campaigns to see the direct impact on their businesses and provide reassurance to investors. With so many ways for consumers to view and respond to content, brands are using a wide range of KPIs to judge the success of their Super Bowl ads.
Here’s what three brands who ran their first Super Bowl ads in 2024 — Vuori, Salomon and Nerds — took into account.
Vuori
- Ad title on YouTube: “A New Perspective on Performance Apparel”
- Super Bowl ad length: 30 seconds
- Ad’s main KPIs: Web traffic and brand awareness
Athleisure brand Vuori turned around its Super Bowl spot in less than a month, founder Joe Kudla told Modern Retail. The brand, which is in the midst of opening 20 to 25 new stores a year, had run TV ads for years. It sees TV as a valuable marketing