National advertisers are already releasing their Super Bowl ads for 2017, hoping for viral sharing that will boost the brands and, with luck, encourage buying too.
Like funny ads? Watch Melissa McCarthy in her Kia ad, teaser already up on YouTube and elsewhere.
Like the Patriots? Tom Brady stars in an Intel ad (the ad was up even before Brady knew for sure he was back in the Super Bowl).
Like music? Pepsi sponsors the halftime show, and its ad featuring Lady Gaga is, well, musical.
Like quirky feel-good ads? Skittles has one for you this year.
Like something new? Mars (which is behind the Skittles ad) will shoot a Snickers commercial live, during the Super Bowl, which has (surprisingly) never been done. Well, it's a bit risky, maybe that's why this is a first. To attract attention, Mars will do a 36-hour livestream branded entertainment show (view at Snickerslive.com) leading up to the game.
And Yellow Tail wine has stitched together a series of coast-to-coast local ad buys to showcase its Australian wines. Locked out of national because of category-specific Anheuser-Busch InBev's exclusive Super Bowl commitment with Fox, which is televising the big game, Yellow Tail went the local route and will be seen during the game, just like any other big advertiser (except aired locally). The reach and the exposure, just not the "official" advertiser.
The pressure is on advertisers to, well, not drop the ball during the Super Bowl. “You want to make sure you're representing your client's brand in the best way possible,” says the head of the ad agency that produced Kia's Optima ad (starring Christopher Walken, above). That means delivering a memorable ad that adds to the brand's reputation or buzz, no lawsuits in sight.
This is a milestone year for the football championship. Will it be a milestone year for bowl ads? Already, marketers are sizing up the size of their response by releasing ads online ahead of the game. CBS is even touting the ads to be posted on game day and promising a fan vote finish for audience involvement.
For insights into how behavioral science is applied in Super Bowl ads, take a look at this fascinating Ad Agepiece. And don't forget the perennial approaches that have attracted viewers in the past, such as "see our banned ad."
On Sunday, which ad will score the most audience touchdowns? Which brands will do the best in social media?
