Snack food Cheetos emerged on top of the strategic ad rankings with its It Wasn’t Me spot in the 2021 Super Bowl Advertising Review.
Other brands earning top marks included Amazon, Bud Light Seltzer, Doritos and jobs platform Indeed, according to a rankings system developed at Northwestern University.
Brands reportedly outlayed $US5.5 million for a 30 second spot during the big game telecast, attracting an audience of about 100 million. Research shows that many tune in just for the ads.
Overall, the tone of this year’s ads was light humour with most brands playing it safe, avoiding the huge issues of the day including the pandemic, social justice and politics.
See the Super Bowl 2021 commercials HERE.
And many commercials relied on stars to give them a lift. They included Bruce Springsteen, John Travolta, Amy Schumer, Ashton Kutcher, Dan Levy, Mike Myers, Dolly Parton and Serena Williams.
A few brands did choose to share warm and empowering messages that attempted to inspire viewers or reunite the US, including Jeep, NFL, Bass Pro Shops and Indeed.
Consumer goods advertisers captured the highest share of voice, with 31% of all national ad minutes, according to research from media measurement firm Comscore and enterprise AI platform Hive.
The impact of automotive advertisers fell hard with collective airtime at 16% compared to 21% last year.
Financial services and insurance advertisers increased investment, with collective airtime at 14% compared to 8% last year.
Returning advertisers from last year's game secured a majority of commercial minutes at 56%, up from 52% last year.
Brewer Anheuser-Busch again led share of voice among advertisers.
Each year MBA students at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University conduct a Super Bowl advertising review using a strategic framework known as ADPLAN. The ads are graded on Attention, Distinction, Positioning, Linkage, Amplification and Net Equity.
Not all had a winning night, including DraftKings, Skechers, Squarespace, and WeatherTech, which scored low grades for missing on strategy and effectiveness.
“Cheetos is the winning ad this year with its It Wasn’t Me spot because it had very strong branding and played off its known attributes to leverage its equity in a simple and clear message,” says Derek D. Rucker, professor of entrepreneurial studies in marketing.
“A lot of money is on the line for any brand who advertises in the Super Bowl and they put themselves in position to benefit from the exposure.”
Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing and co-lead at the ad review, says this year’s Super Bowl mostly featured safe ads.
“But, it was good to see some brands aim for more empowering messages,” he says.
“Still, we didn’t see any major breakthroughs or ads that we’ll be talking about for years to come.”
The top ranking ads, according to the Northwestern University review: Cheetos, Amazon, Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade,
Doritos 3D, Indeed, Reddit, Tide, M&M's, Chipotle.
Only two advertisers – Bud Light and Bass Pro Shops & Cabela's – directly made reference to the challenges of the past year.
However, casting analysis showed a sustained effort to promote gender equality and diversity and inclusion with 91% of national TV commercials featuring women and 76% featured diverse casts, according to Comscore and Hive.
Less prevalent in this year's commercials was new product announcements.
While the Super Bowl is often a coming out party for new cars, devices and films, only 29% of national commercials this year introduced new products, down from 40% last year.
Another significant change included a sharp fall in references to websites, apps and hashtags. Only 29% of commercials featured an online call-to-action compared to 56% last year.
The telecast also provides advertisers significant in-content brand exposure through camera-visible signage, product placement and digital billboards.
Nike alone – with swooshes visible on uniforms, cleats and other sideline apparel – had more time on screen during the telecast (44 minutes and 51 seconds) than the sum of all national commercial airings.
Together, 24 brands visible on screen for at least five seconds collectively earned more than 70 minutes of exposure during the telecast.
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