Despite the buzz around the rapidly growing creator economy, traditional celebrities were still the favored choice for Super Bowl advertising. Brands largely relied on well-known faces for their Super Bowl commercials, as the mass appeal of celebrities proved more attractive than the niche followings of digital influencers.
Brands gravitate towards celebrities for wide appeal
The Super Bowl is a rare moment of shared culture within our diverse society, attracting a broad live audience. Marketers are aware of this; to ensure mass appeal, several brands cast multiple high-profile celebrities in their ads. The goal was to engage consumers with recognizable personalities.
James Nord, founder of influencer marketing shop Fohr, explained this trend. “You need names and faces that are recognizable cross-generationally,” he said. “Now that culture has fractured into hundreds of thousands of small branches…even somebody who is hugely influential in a number of those branches is going to be completely anonymous to others.”
Statistics from Fohr’s Super Bowl celebrity tracker underscore this preference for celebrities. Of the 59 ads aired during the game, 80 celebrities were featured. These personalities, who averaged 49 years old, were picked for their broad appeal – a factor that some digital creators often lack.
The role of experience and risk-aversion in casting decisions
Other factors influencing the selection of talent were experience and risk aversion. With 30 seconds of advertising time costing $7 million – exclusive of production costs – brands were hesitant to gamble on less experienced influencers.
Nick Miaritis, chief client officer at VaynerMedia, expressed the safer bet that celebrities offer. He stated, “You’re basically locking in the performance you’re gonna get and you’re leaving very little risk on that vector for your investment…whereas an actor is a chameleon that can play any part.”
Brands didn’t completely shun creators though. These influencers were extensively used on social media to generate buzz ahead of the big game. Brands like T-Mobile and Hellmann’s engaged various creators to extend their Super Bowl campaigns onto social media platforms.
The wider issue at play, however, is that marketers relied too much on celebrities to make their commercials stand out, rather than developing unique and captivating ideas.
