Super Bowl Advertising

The majority of Super Bowl viewers enjoy the game’s ads more than the action on the field, according to a recent survey from Nielsen. Fifty-one percent of those questioned said they most enjoy the commercials compared to the Super Bowl game itself; 49% said that they enjoy the game more than the ads. The poll was one of many Nielsen findings in a study of the trends and effectiveness of paid Super Bowl advertising. Other insights:

· Ads that run early in the game are better remembered and better liked than those airing later in the game.

· Traffic to advertiser Web sites spikes on the day after the Super Bowl.

· In the last five years, the biggest Super Bowl advertiser has been Anheuser-Busch, which spent over $100 million on its Bud and Bud Light brands alone.

In the last five years, more money was spent on Bud Light than any other brand. The top five brands spent a total of $189.7 million on the Super Bowl over the last five years, accounting for 13% of entire network TV ad spend during that time. Over the last five years, the top five brands spent:

1. Bud Light: $59.1 million on Super Bowl advertising, compared to $531 million spent on all network TV advertising from 2005-2009 (11.1% of its total ad spending budget).

2. Budweiser: $42.4 million on the Super Bowl, compared to $330.1 million overall (12.8% of total ad spending budget).

3. Coca-Cola: $34.1 million on the Super Bowl, compared to $343.1 million overall (9.9% of total ad spending budget).

4. CareerBuilder: $30.8 million on the Super Bowl, compared to $102.9 million overall (29.9% of total ad spending budget).


5. Pepsi: $23.4 million on the Super Bowl, compared to $122.4 million overall (19.1% of total ad spending budget).

· Movies and beer were the top Super Bowl advertisers over the past five years. During that time, movie studios spent $117.4 million; last year alone they promoted eight different movies, representing $42 million in ad spending. Beer brands spent $114.2 million over the last five years, followed by automotive ($108.6 million), soft drinks ($92.1 million), and Web site employment services ($36.8 million).



· In terms of on-field signage, apparel logos, and any other space where brands are highlighted during the action of the game rather than during the commercial breaks, Gatorade scored the most screen time last year, with 191 on-screen exposures, for a total of 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Gatorade was followed by Reebok with 282 exposures (8 minutes, 21 seconds), Motorola with 165 exposures (5:36), Riddell with 93 exposures (2:31), and Bridgestone with 11 exposures (2:16).