Media Trends 12:30 pm S20: Audience Metrics & Advertising

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Audience Metrics & Advertising - Blog 2, Question 1 (Feb. 4th)

How would you assess this year’s Super Bowl – from the commercials to the halftime show to the game itself? In this changing media environment, is the Super Bowl as influential as a showcase for advertisers, performers, and the NFL as it was in the past?

Limit: 11 responses

17 comments:

UnknownFebruary 3, 2020 at 12:04 PM
Max Marino
Question #1

This year’s Super Bowl saved the phenomenon of it after an awful game last year. Last years Super Bowl did not have any buzz around it while leading up to the game. The New England Patriots were in it once again, and it seemed as if they were going to take care of business against the Los Angeles Rams. That is what everyone assumes when the Patriots take the field in the Super Bowl, because over the past 20 years, we have seen them in the big game over again. On top of that, the game was a huge dud. The final score was 10-3 Patriots, with the only touchdown being a rush from inside the 5-yard line. Thank god this years Super Bowl was a lot more entertaining.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20, but the game came down to the wire in the fourth quarter. As a fan of the game itself, and neither team, that is all you can hope for. Not only was the game very interesting, but the commercials and halftime show kept the buzz going around the game as well. The first commercial to start off the game with the little boy running with the football, going through a myriad of NFL players was a great way to get the commercials started. The Bud Light commercials were always classic, as well as a commercial featuring Jim from the office and a cameo from David Ortiz (granted, I forgot who this commercial was sponsoring). The halftime show also created an enormous amount of buzz, as it was essentially a blast from the past with J-Lo and Shakira killing it on stage. My timeline on Twitter was filled with people giving praise to the two women, who we can all agree, did not look 50 and 43 by any means.
The buzz around getting a Super Bowl commercial might have died down a little bit of recent years, but it is still a huge deal to get your commercial involved. According to an article written by Brian Steinberg for Variety, even though Fox and the NFL discussed limiting the amount of ads in this years game, they decided there were some big name corporations still needing to get their commercials in. Seth Winter, executive Vice President of Sales for Fox Sports said they were going to go through with this, but “we have a lot of people who are eager to expand their creative.”
Even if it seems as if the Super Bowl is losing its popularity compared to other programs over the years, it is not. In an article written by Rick Porter for the Hollywood Reporter called Tv Long View: The Super Bowl Has Never Not Been Huge, he details how big the Super Bowl still is. When the first Super Bowl was aired 51 years ago between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Jets, the game drew about a 13 percent larger household rating than that of the top-rated series that year. Last years Super Bowl, which was one of the lowest watched Super Bowl’s of the past decade, was still viewed five times the amount of the top-rated entertainment show.
According to an article written by Lucy Handley before last years game, she detailed how much a commercial cost for the game. It costs $5.2 million for a 30-second slot, which results to about $175,000 per second. Companies spend the most money and put together their best commercial of the year, simply because they know the whole world watches Super Bowl Sunday.

Works Cited

Steinberg, Brian. “Fox's Super Bowl Ad Time Was Sold Out. Until It Wasn't.” Variety, 26 Jan. 2020, variety.com/2020/tv/news/fox-super-bowl-commercials-sell-out-floating-break-1203479716/

Porter, Rick. “TV Long View: The Super Bowl Has Never Not Been Huge.” The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Feb. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/super-bowl-tv-ratings-history-been-huge-1275466?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%2BToday%2Bin%2BEntertainment_2020-02-01%2B07%3A00%3A00_aweprin&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie.

Handley, Lucy. “The Super Bowl Is Worth Billions Each Year - Here's Who Makes What.” CNBC, CNBC, 1 Feb. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/02/01/the-super-bowl-is-worth-billions-each-year--heres-who-makes-what.html
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Sarah SingerFebruary 3, 2020 at 5:42 PM
In regards to advertising, I believe the Super Bowl is still an extremely influential showcase. For days leading up to the event, you will hear people say, “I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials”. The fact that people with little to no interest in football still watch the whole game just to see the ads proves that the Super Bowl still has a huge impact in the advertising world. What’s important to note is that this influence is strengthened by social media. Now, companies make sure their ads have a replay factor so that after the Super Bowl, people have the desire to go online and re-watch their favorite commercials. Although the silly commercials get our attention, it’s the “deeply touching” ads like Google’s Loretta that invoke emotion and make us want to Google them to watch again later, no pun intended (Lowry). USA Today’s ad meter shows that Super Bowl commercials get millions of views on YouTube. Without the ability to watch these ads over again after seeing them on live TV, Super Bowl ads would be missing out on a heightened level of reach and exposure. Although the Super Bowl itself has a huge audience, it’s platforms like YouTube that really showcase these ads.

This year, it seemed like most viewers shared a positive opinion about the halftime show. With 99.9 million viewers, the halftime performers have to be recognizable by an insanely large audience (Battaglio). They also have to appeal to a wide age group. This is why it makes sense that Shakira and Jennifer Lopez were generally favorable; no matter your age or gender, Shakira and/or JLo have had a hit in your lifetime. Again, social media only increased attention towards the halftime show. Twitter was immediately swarmed with praise for a female-led show, shock at how incredible the two women looked onstage, and of course, good spirited jokes about instances where the performance made viewers do a double take. New tweets about the halftime performance are still showing up on my timeline today. I think the new age of media only increases the influence of the Super Bowl because it makes the conversation last longer than just the length of the game.

As for the actual game, there was a lack of hype in Quinnipiac’s community because the Chiefs and 49ers represent states that QU’s student body does not. This was the first Super Bowl of my college career without the Patriots, which meant a huge decline in excitement, as it seems like a huge amount of Quinnipiac students are Pats fans. However, we are only a tiny segment of Super Bowl viewers, so it would be naïve to think that energy was low across the country. Although I did not feel the typical Super Bowl energy this year, social media reinforced the idea that people all over the country all had their TV’s tuned into the same game last night.

Lowry, Brian. “The Best (and Worst) Super Bowl Commercials.” CNN, Cable News Network, 3
Feb. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/media/best-super-bowl-commercials-2020/index.html.

Suter, Rick, and Nate Scott. “2020 Ad Meter Results.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information
Network, admeter.usatoday.com/.

Battaglio, Stephen. “Super Bowl 2020 Scores 99.9 Million TV Viewers with Chiefs Comeback.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2020, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2020-02-03/super-bowl-2020-scores-99-9-million-tv-viewers-with-chiefs-comeback.

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Zach LoCiceroFebruary 3, 2020 at 5:51 PM
Zach LoCicero

This year’s Super Bowl definitely did not disappoint and gave fans all the entertainment they needed for a Sunday night. From the game itself to the commercials to the halftime show, the Super Bowl was definitely as good as advertised. There were so many different storylines coming into this game which created a massive buzz. The quarterback battle, coaching battle, and long droughts for each team since their last Super Bowl win built up the hype and it delivered Sunday night.
The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 31-20. The Chiefs came back from a 20-10 deficit in the forth quarter lead by Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. Tension was high and the 102 million viewers were on the edge of seats watching the comeback. According to Mollie Walker from the New York Post, “Super Bowl 2020 turned out to be the 10th most-watched championship game in NFL history. Drawing 1.3 percent more viewers than last year,” (Walker). Besides the game itself which was filled with big plays and strategic play calling and excitement for the audience, the commercials and halftime show were very entertaining.
The commercials this year had a mix and match of different styles and at the end of the game, there were some clear winners and losers after their $5.6 million dollar investment for a 30 second spot. Besides the variety of styles, there was a variety of different companies advertising. According to Brian Lowry from CNN, “Streaming services, however, also had a sizable footprint during the game, a tangible sign of the entertainment industry's shifting priorities, (Lowry). The streaming services definitely did well I thought and specifically the Hulu commercial with Tom Brady. The commercial was playful and played well off of the recent discussions of Tom Brady’s future in the NFL. It was funny and had people thinking he was announcing a retirement but it was really just an ad for Hulu with Brady saying, “Hulu doesn’t just have live sports” after saying “They say all good things must come to an end, that the best just know when to walk away, So to my teammates, my family and most of all, my fans, you deserve to hear this from me.” I thought this was comical and gave people a scare.
The entertainment didn’t stop with the game and commercials. The halftime show was something else and all 102 million viewers all still know that J-Lo and Shakira can still move and dance like they are 20. The music, production, costumes, and choreography were all top notch and I believe one of the better halftime shows in recent memory for me.
Overall, I believe the Super Bowl was great and definitely rebounded after last year’s dud. The Super Bowl is still one of the most viewed programs on television and has consistent ratings even though the media industry has gone under massive change. According to Rick Porter from The Hollywood Reporter, “The 53 Super Bowls played thus far have averaged a 43.5 household rating, and there hasn't been huge amount of variance over the years…The household rating has only dipped below 40 on five occasions, four of which came in the game's first five years,” (Porter). This shows how consistent the Super Bowl is. Even though media is changing and football is changing, the Super Bowl is still a lucrative event for advertisers, performers, and the NFL to profit and showcase themselves. It is the biggest event of the year and still one of the most influential places for people to showcase themselves. The Super Bowl has been consistent over the years and is still as influential as it was in the past. I believe this Super Bowl was a huge success and I hoping Fox gets to air more in the next few years.
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Charlotte GardnerFebruary 3, 2020 at 7:21 PM
Part 1:
Over recent years, I’ve been witness to many Super Bowl games. Most of these instances have been by force- this one included. However, it didn’t feel as painstaking as those in the past. Firstly, was because I was solely focused on the advertisements going into this viewing. And right off the bat, the first ad that I saw was a Trump 2020 campaign. This was interesting because I wasn’t expecting his presidential campaign to move along while his impeachment investigation is still going strong. But it was also very out of place to see political ads during the game- Bloomberg’s included. In an article posted on the New York Times, my disbelief was confirmed: “Super Bowl ads are rarely seen in presidential politics. Though some campaigns have made local advertising buys during past Super Bowls, a national buy has often been out of reach, given the expense. It is also usually viewed as wasteful to pay to reach a 50-state audience rather than buying ads in key states where campaigns would prefer to target their message” (Corasaniti). This could be seen as a desperate ploy for American attention or it could be a preview of the lengths the candidates will go in an effort to be voted into office- a worrisome precursor that the public has only gotten a glimpse of. Another aspect of these ads that stood out to me and helped keep my attention was the sheer amount of celebrity cameos that appeared on my screen. In just the first half of the game I saw Jason Momoa, Tom Brady, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, John Krasinski, Rachel Dratch, Molly Ringwald, Jonah Hill, Martin Scorsese, Chrissy Teigen, and John Legend. Even Tik Tok star Charli D’Amelio made an appearance during a commercial break. This displays the importance of celebrity in society and the control that advertisers have over their influence. The ads seem to distract from the actual Super Bowl game and are effectively competing against one another to see what company will have the most viral ad- if I didn’t list the companies or products I wouldn’t even know what half of these commercials were advertising.
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UnknownFebruary 3, 2020 at 8:23 PM
Quinn Frankel

Regardless of how many controversies the NFL is involved in, the low ratings in the past years, or the teams that are in it, the Super Bowl will always be the biggest spectacle of the entire sporting year. 99.9 Million viewers worldwide tuned in on Sunday, which brought the Super Bowl ratings up for the first time since 2015 (ESPN).
The stars were out and about in Miami for Super Bowl LIV. Kevin Hart, Paul Rudd, Jay-Z and Beyoncé were some of the A-list celebrities that attended the game (Slane). Jason Momoa, John Krasinski, Katie Sowers, Pitbull, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, and Bill Murray were a few of the celebrity that made in the Super Bowl Commercials this year (Griner). As I’m getting older, I find myself less interested in the commercials than before, and I think that’s due to the quality of the commercials going downhill. I remember seeing the hilarious Doritos and Snickers ads that would be talked about for weeks, now the only memorable commercials that’ll be talked about in a positive manner are a Bill Murray “Groundhog Day” spoof for Jeep, or a John Legend and Chrissy Teigen gensis ad (Lowry).
Super Bowl LIII was the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever (AP), the Patriots and Rams played in a dull game with not-so-memorable commercials. Super Bowl LIV was a match made in heaven for football fans. The Kansas City Chiefs had the top ranked offense, led by one of the most likeable players in the league, quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The San Francisco 49ers had a top tier defense with an offense that could explode at any moment. The game got off to a slow start but both teams came out fast in the second half. Patrick Mahomes led his team from another deficit as the Chiefs scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl LIV. The game was thrilling with a great mixture of fantastic offensive and defensive plays.
Although the performance on the field was fantastic, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira absolutely stole the entire night with their electric halftime performance. Whether it was the sparkling outfits, Shakira’s memeable tongue rolling (I guess you can call it that), or the remarkable dance moves, the two Latina queens are still being talked about more than 24 hours after their performance. It’s been a few years since either Jennifer Lopez or Shakira has topped the charts, but with their jaw-dropping halftime performance, both Jennifer Lopez and Shakira have seen their classic hits increase in sales. Shakira’s “Whenever, Wherever,” saw an increase of 1,194% compared to the day before, and her 2006 single “Hips Don’t Lie” saw an 1,126% increase (Pesce).
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Liana DiMitriFebruary 3, 2020 at 9:03 PM
Liana DiMitri

Can we give a big round of applause to Super Bowl LIV? Granted, Super Bowl LIII was not that hard to beat when it came to the excitement of the game, the halftime show, and advertisements, but there is something to be said about the cultural event that was this year’s Super Bowl.

I didn’t have high hopes for Super Bowl LIV because last year’s game was such a bummer. As someone who isn’t into football, my time spent watching past Super Bowls has been because of parties with friends. This year, however, I was happily surprised to be very invested in the game. I think the matchup of the 49ers and the Chiefs made for a fun game because I finally didn’t have to suffer through the Patriots getting another win. I could just enjoy watching two teams have a very energetic game that kept me interested until the final quarter.
The experience I had with the Super Bowl this year made me realize just how important and relevant this game is to media industries. Firstly, the game itself remains a cultural event as an average 60% of television watchers have been tuning in to the Super Bowl, and the amount of game day watchers hasn’t fallen below 83 million since 1990 (Porter). The Super Bowl has become a statement of American culture and it doesn’t seem like that concept is fading anytime soon. Super Bowl LIV had 102 million total viewers beating out the 100.7 million viewers of last year’s game (Herbert).

With so many eyes glued to the screen for one Sunday out of the year, the Super Bowl continues to be an important showcase for advertisers and performers. There was definitely a noticeable level of quality to many ads during this year’s game. The highest viewer ranked ads were those that had well established actors and looked like movies themselves. The top five ads were “Groundhog Day,” “Smaht Pahk,” “Loretta,” “The Cool Ranch,” and “Comfortable.” With respective appearances from Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Chris Evans, Rachel Dratch, Lil Nas X, and Jason Mamoa, it’s easy to see why these ads were favorites for many viewers (Suter). The fact that such well known celebrities are appearing in car and snack food commercials just proves how important advertising is during the Super Bowl. The commercials we see during the Super Bowl are some of the most remembered video content of the year. I’m pretty sure everyone is going to be talking about how disturbing it was to see Jason Mamoa without muscles and hair.

Some people may not event realize how important the appearance of Shakira and J-Lo for the halftime show was, but that concert was something to be remembered. This was the first time in history that two Latina women headlined and that a song was performed in Spanish (Mack). Since the Super Bowl took place in Miami, a cultural statement was definitely made with the decision to have Shakira and J-Lo perform. Something as big as breaking walls in Latinx diversity doesn’t just happen during an ordinary television broadcast. The NFL and everyone involved with the halftime show understood the importance of the event. This performance wouldn’t have been as groundbreaking had it not been featured as the Super Bowl half time show.

The Super Bowl has not dwindled in its importance and I doubt it ever will. The media industry is growing along with the Super Bowl. Advertisements seem like 30 second cinematic masterpieces and this year’s halftime show just may have surpassed the coveted performance of Lady Gaga in 2017.
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Liz FlynnFebruary 3, 2020 at 9:49 PM
The Super Bowl is one of, if not the most popular sporting event every year. Whether you’re a diehard fan or a casual watcher, this day is considered a holiday for millions of Americans. While it has obviously changed in terms of the game itself, the Super Bowl has also become a place for media to thrive thanks to the advertisements and a chance for lucky performers to perform on one of the world’s biggest stages. It is even more influential than it used to be, especially since so many companies rely on it to get their brand out there. The Super Bowl has become more and more about the “behind the scenes” aspect every year, but I believe it adds to the experience and helps the sport in the long run.

This year’s Super Bowl was refreshing for many fans because it featured the San Francisco 49ers, who haven’t won since 1995, and the Kansas City Chiefs who were in its first Super Bowl in 50 years. On top of that the halftime show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, who were the first two Latina performers in Super Bowl history. Jennifer Lopez even made a point to showcase the Puerto Rican flag during hit song “Born in the USA” to make a subtle statement. American magazine The Atlantic acknowledged this integration as being smart rather than overdone. “Solidarity, pride, and the notion that unity complements diversity: These themes were communicated less via slogans than as fundamentals of the show itself, baked into the sound and look and meta-narrative” (Kornhaber). Shakira and Lopez found a good balance between entertaining the audience as well as represented an important cause.

Those that weren’t interested in the teams or the performers were still pulled in to watch the advertisements in between the action. A variety of commercials rolled out throughout the evening, from Disney+ plugging new Marvel shows and films to a Google ad that tugged at the heartstrings. One commercial that had everyone talking was Planters’ “Baby Nut” commercial. The company’s staple mascot Mr. Peanut died on January 22, and was properly mourned on social media. Entertainment Weekly shared tweets from fellow mascots including Oreo, Mr. Clean, Snickers and Jeopardy (Aquilina). When it seemed like the world had grieved and moved on, Planters dropped a commercial featuring the birth of Baby Nut, a little version of Mr. Peanut himself. This was brilliant timing because the company had just announced the end of one era and used the Super Bowl to implement another. Planters also took advantage of the Baby Yoda and Baby Groot phenomenon and hoped the introduction of Baby Nut would catch the same attention. While some were not happy with the “Baby” competition, it still got people talking.
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Samantha SheehyFebruary 3, 2020 at 11:36 PM
Overall, I think that the Super Bowl is just as influential as ever. It is a great opportunity to catch many eyes for performers and advertisers. This year, since the Patriots were not playing, I do think that the event was a bit less influential in New England. Because of this, they were more focused on enjoying the Super Bowl itself, watching the commercials, and enjoying the halftime performance. Nationally, however, “Nielsen data showed the Fox telecast of the game from Miami was up nearly 1.5% over last year’s contest between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams,” (Battaglio). This proves that the large audience makes the high ad spend worth it for advertisers.

In this changing media environment, there are less live events that gather such a large number of people. As we have discussed in class, almost no one watches TV shows at the time that they air on TV. That type of viewing is limited to awards shows and sporting events. The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event of the year and it is vital that advertisers take advantage of this opportunity to reach their audiences (Battaglio). As discussed in the Variety article, Fox had to add more commercial spots since there was such a high demand from advertisers (Steinberg). This shows the impact that the game still has on society. According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, “Ratings for the game have remained pretty consistent over the years, even as the rest of television has undergone enormous changes,” (Porter).

The commercials during this year’s Super Bowl were well thought out and fitting for current topics in our society. For example, there were a handful of commercials about ending gender equality and supporting women. This included a “Secret” brand deodorant commercial as well as the spotlight on the first ever female coach at the Super Bowl. Based on our political environment and numerous women’s movements occurring today, this was a smart way to target a “male focused” sporting event. Even though people of all types watch the Super Bowl, in the past many of the commercials have targeted the stereotypical male figure that watched football, including commercials about beer and cars. Surprisingly, this year there was no Budweiser commercial.

I was also very impressed by the Hulu commercial where Tom Brady revealed that he “wasn’t going anywhere”. This was a long-awaited decision from Tom Brady and many fans were wondering whether the Patriot’s player would return for another season. Hulu was very smart in partnering with Tom Brady to make such a big reveal. That is a decision people will be talking about for a long time and Hulu gets to be the name associated with that.
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maevehenniganFebruary 4, 2020 at 12:02 AM
Overall, I was impressed by this year’s Super Bowl’s commercials and the halftime show. Despite Adweek saying this year’s set of commercials “wasn’t the strongest... with few truly iconic pieces of creativity,” and CNN questioning “whether the investment payed off,” I felt that the commercials were funnier than what has been shown in the past (Griner, Lowry). For the most part, the star studded array of commercials did the “reported $5.6 million that advertisers shelled,” justice (Lowry). For instance, Lil Nas X and Sam Elliot’s appearance in the Doritos commercial was hysterical yet highly relevant due to its focus on Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road.”
This Doritos commercial is a perfect example of why I think the Super Bowl can still be an influential advertising platform in today’s complex media landscape. According to Variety, the Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers “drew 102 million total viewers across Fox and all its platforms,” (Herbert). With the significant audience reach that the Superbowl has, and the amount of anticipation that builds for the commercials in particular, I think that the Super Bowl is still an excellent platform for advertisers. This is especially true when you have a commercial like the Doritos one, which pulls people and music currently discussed in pop culture. “Old Town Road” and Lil Nas X became the most ‘memed’ things on social media last year. By having them appear in a Super Bowl commercial, it is almost certain to be a fan favorite discussed on social media for weeks in the future.
There’s no question that the presence of social media has made cable television advertisements less influential. However, because of social media, when it comes to Super Bowl commercials, they have a better chance of being even more popular because of how widely spread it can be shared across multiple platforms. Since “both the share of viewers watching the Super Bowl and the viewership relative to the total U.S. population have remained fairly steady,” I think the Super Bowl will continue to be a highly influential advertising ploy for years to come, especially with the amount of discussion about the game on social media (Porter).
The same goes for the halftime performers, whose performances will be discussed and transformed into memes constantly. Because so many people tweet in real time, even people not watching the game will likely have seen snippets, if not all of Shakira and J-Lo’s performance. The performances in the past have not been widely praised by viewers, but this year’s show seemed to have been a huge hit across social media (it already has 52 million views on Youtube with 1.5 million likes, while last year’s has 14 million views and nearly a million dislikes.) I personally was incredibly impressed with the performance, especially since Jennifer Lopez’s daughter made an appearance.
Overall, I think that the performers and advertisers should continue to look at the Super Bowl as a great opportunity to leverage themselves and their brands. Likewise, the NFL should continue to utilize the advertisements and the halftime show as a way to increase viewership. Since so many people watch the Superbowl because of the commercials and the performers, the NFL can profit from the spectacle of the halftime show and the humour or emotion of the commercials.
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Media Trends 12:30 pm S20

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Audience Metrics & Advertising - Blog 2, Question 1 (Feb. 4th)

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