00:00:00
Right now, uh, you're seeing brands that
00:00:02
are both, um, looking at advertising the
00:00:07
AI technology itself. Think of like an
00:00:09
open AI, uh, meta, right, with the
00:00:12
Oakley glasses. And then you have ones
00:00:15
that are actually using AI for the first
00:00:18
time to create the ads. So, Zveca uh one
00:00:22
of alcohol brands used it to create its
00:00:25
femot and it actually used AI in the
00:00:28
creation of the ad. So, you're going to
00:00:30
see a bit of both in the way of both the
00:00:33
creative itself and building that but
00:00:35
then also in the actual technology being
00:00:38
advertised. And today we are so happy to
00:00:42
have with us the editorinchief of
00:00:45
advertising age Janine Poi. Hello
00:00:48
Janine, welcome to our show. Hi Jan.
00:00:50
>> Barbara. Hey Marcus. Good to see you.
00:00:52
>> Good to see you as well. Welcome.
00:00:54
>> So as editorin chief uh probably the
00:00:56
leading publication on advertising um I
00:01:00
assume that given this weekend activity
00:01:04
that you've been keeping busy. Is that
00:01:06
true?
00:01:07
>> You would assume correct? Yeah. Uh, our
00:01:10
own newsroom is uh,
00:01:12
>> wow,
00:01:12
>> really staying on the pulse of every
00:01:15
commercial coming out, every trend,
00:01:18
every celebrity that'll appear in an ad.
00:01:21
So, we're having some fun.
00:01:23
>> Interesting. So, Jannine, it's like the
00:01:24
war room. I love it. This is good.
00:01:26
>> Oh, it is. It's a war. It's the war room
00:01:28
over a course of a month. So, so tell us
00:01:31
about this year, which I definitely want
00:01:33
to hear. I I just want to make sure I'm
00:01:36
right about this hypothesis. So when you
00:01:38
do a Super Bowl ad, you're not just
00:01:40
paying for the 15 30 seconds that you
00:01:43
get on the Super Bowl. You are paying
00:01:45
for all the hype that goes in before.
00:01:48
And I know some of the com some of the
00:01:51
ads are showing us their ad. Like I've
00:01:53
already watched some of the ads and some
00:01:55
of them aren't. Like we had someone on a
00:01:57
couple weeks ago or last week that just
00:01:59
teased it and won't show the real ad
00:02:01
until the game. And then of course we've
00:02:04
seen some academic research about how
00:02:07
what the afterlife is of these Super
00:02:09
Bowl ads. So it's not just the hype but
00:02:11
also the idea that you associate some of
00:02:13
these products with games. And so
00:02:16
whenever there's a big game it gets
00:02:18
reinforced even if they don't
00:02:19
necessarily uh so can you talk a little
00:02:22
bit about that that about the life cycle
00:02:24
of these advertisements more than just
00:02:26
the 15 or 30 seconds which they pay
00:02:29
obscene amounts of money for.
00:02:30
>> Yeah. And aside from paying for like the
00:02:32
actual media time, you're also paying
00:02:34
for the director, the celebrities that
00:02:37
are in those ads and all of that, like
00:02:39
that's
00:02:40
>> hefty hefty cost depending upon who's
00:02:42
starring in your ad. I mean, you have
00:02:44
George Clooney in an ad, you know, this
00:02:46
year. You you know that that comes with
00:02:48
a price tag, right? But yes, you're
00:02:50
absolutely right. The life cycle of
00:02:51
these is a long one, especially when you
00:02:53
consider social media. you know, the all
00:02:56
the brands are looking considering the
00:02:58
cost. They're not looking for a oneand
00:03:00
done. And it's been a while now that
00:03:01
they'll either put out teasers, sort of
00:03:04
like hyping up early interest in the
00:03:06
ads, going on social, having their
00:03:08
celebrities do little tweets and Tik
00:03:11
Toks and going on, you know, YouTube to
00:03:14
talk about these ads before they release
00:03:16
any of the creative. And then, of
00:03:18
course, the ads will run in other
00:03:20
properties, you know, post Super Bowl.
00:03:22
They'll live online post Super Bowl. So,
00:03:24
there is a lot that goes into this.
00:03:27
>> That's incredible.
00:03:28
>> Okay. So, now we can't wait. I mean,
00:03:29
we're supposed to like kind of build up
00:03:31
to this, but I'm really excited to hear
00:03:34
um what some of these big what's been
00:03:35
going on in the war room. Like, what are
00:03:37
some of these trends?
00:03:38
>> Yeah, it's a really really interesting
00:03:40
year as you can imagine given like just
00:03:42
the uh climate here in the world. like
00:03:45
there is a lot of consideration that
00:03:48
goes into striking the right tone for
00:03:51
the ads and a lot of thinking around you
00:03:54
know the strategy of are we going to go
00:03:55
funny are we going to go serious are we
00:03:58
going to bring back nostalgia which is a
00:04:00
fan favorite u so a lot of what we're
00:04:02
seeing is sort of this like absurdist
00:04:05
humor which is playing upon uh the
00:04:08
interests of Jenzie who tend to like
00:04:10
sort of the more obscure and uh odd
00:04:13
creative uh So, we're seeing, you know,
00:04:16
things like, this is a funny teaser,
00:04:18
Manscape, which is its first time as a
00:04:21
Super Bowl advertiser. They have a
00:04:23
teaser out that sort of a little gross,
00:04:26
shows hair trimmings on the floor of a
00:04:29
shower that like sprouts eyes to come on
00:04:33
like what that turns into. Um, but you
00:04:36
have, you know, Pringles, which said
00:04:38
that it is planning on bringing unhinged
00:04:40
humor to its Super Bowl ad. Uh the ad
00:04:43
star Sabrina Carpenter. Uh you have some
00:04:46
of
00:04:46
>> the ones I watched. Yeah. Yeah. You have
00:04:48
some humor with like uh Ben Stiller and
00:04:52
Benson Boon for Instacart uh doing a
00:04:56
like sort of hair band spoof u which
00:04:59
apparently seems to be a little bit of a
00:05:00
theme this year. Keegan Michael Key and
00:05:03
Danny McBride also do a spoof for State
00:05:06
Farm singing halfway there with you know
00:05:08
the full-on mullets and and the whole
00:05:10
thing. Um, so there's just some like
00:05:13
really funny out there humor, which
00:05:15
makes sense for the time that we're in
00:05:18
as you just sort of think about brands
00:05:21
like
00:05:21
>> wanting to play it as safe as possible.
00:05:24
Uh, not want to be controversial in any
00:05:27
sort of way. So, I expect we'll see as
00:05:30
more ads get released more leaning into
00:05:32
some of that kind of humor.
00:05:34
>> So, that's interesting. I mean, in some
00:05:35
sense, Janine, it's like you I mean,
00:05:38
these terms you just used kind of just
00:05:39
blew my mind, actually. Uh unhinged
00:05:42
absurdest humor. That was the You said
00:05:45
it. I didn't say it. That's what you
00:05:46
said.
00:05:46
>> Say it. And I was like,
00:05:47
>> go on TikTok, right, and just look at
00:05:50
what everyone's watching and take that
00:05:52
and sort of like apply it to Super Bowl.
00:05:55
>> Interesting. Super. I want to step back
00:05:57
really quickly, Janine, and jump in on
00:05:59
this as well, Barbara, because Barbara's
00:06:00
always telling us
00:06:02
>> that the context, Barbara always reminds
00:06:04
us that there are very, very, very
00:06:06
because of the advent of streaming,
00:06:09
there are very very few things that
00:06:11
happen where a bunch of people come
00:06:12
watch at the same time. And so is what
00:06:15
is how is that potentially raising the
00:06:18
stakes with respect to
00:06:20
>> let me just add to that because I you
00:06:22
were caught on the unhinged and I was
00:06:24
caught on her saying focusing for Gen Z
00:06:26
because like to your point this is a
00:06:29
massive art you know audience and the
00:06:31
idea of focusing on Gen Z it could like
00:06:34
backfire for some segments you know.
00:06:36
Yeah, and I think that play it's an
00:06:38
interesting point and you're absolutely
00:06:40
right. It's one of the few places that
00:06:41
still garners 100 million plus audience
00:06:44
live watching something at the same time
00:06:46
which is incredibly rare if not like
00:06:49
non-existent you know these days. What I
00:06:52
will say is yes I think we're seeing
00:06:54
like more um opportunities and ways that
00:06:57
brands are trying to connect with Gen Z
00:06:59
such as bringing in like Mr. beast to
00:07:01
help create an ad for Salesforce or
00:07:04
leaning on some creators, but in the
00:07:06
same breath, you're not really seeing
00:07:09
those things stand on their own. They're
00:07:11
always weaved in with
00:07:14
>> a tie into a movie of a sense of
00:07:16
nostalgia. Exfinity is leaning on
00:07:18
Jurassic Park. You're leaning in, like I
00:07:21
said, to like hair bands and songs.
00:07:23
Sweet Caroline, a spoof on Sweet
00:07:24
Caroline for Helman's. So, it may have
00:07:27
some of that absurdest humor, but with
00:07:29
elements that feel very nostalgic to
00:07:32
some older audiences and some of more of
00:07:35
the core demographic that you would
00:07:36
think of. So, you're not seeing these
00:07:38
things like live on their own. They
00:07:40
definitely are layered in with
00:07:41
celebrities that, you know, the
00:07:43
traditional audience will know.
00:07:45
>> Interesting. I mean, I think this is an
00:07:47
interesting approach, Barbara and
00:07:49
Janine, because one of the things that
00:07:51
that I observed, my daughter, she is big
00:07:55
time. She pulled me into the Stranger
00:07:57
Things universe. Okay, I got pulled in
00:08:00
and I fell in love with this thing
00:08:01
obviously because I grew up in the 80s.
00:08:03
But it's a really interesting when you
00:08:04
see these examples of kind of my
00:08:06
generation, her generation, and they
00:08:09
love it. Like we love the same thing
00:08:11
suddenly, which is kind of weird, but it
00:08:13
is that for me it's nostalgia for her.
00:08:14
It's like, well, that's just really
00:08:16
cool. I mean, are we seeing some some
00:08:18
sort of, you know, ads this year that
00:08:20
are trying to kind of bridge the gap,
00:08:22
let's say, between generations and like
00:08:24
using nostalgia as the mechanism to kind
00:08:27
of create that gravity or what what are
00:08:29
there some examples that stand out to
00:08:30
you?
00:08:30
>> Absolutely. I think even just the couple
00:08:32
that like I was talking about about like
00:08:34
some of this uninched humor, they're not
00:08:36
in a vacuum. So, like I said, like you
00:08:38
know, the Ben Stiller and Benson Boon
00:08:39
like really funny, a little bit weird.
00:08:42
Like I'm not sure I fully get it, but it
00:08:45
does like allude back to sort of like
00:08:47
those hair bands. So there are, you
00:08:49
know, you have Sabrina Carpenter in an
00:08:51
ad alongside more traditional
00:08:53
celebrities. So they are doing it in a
00:08:56
way that's really smart and that it's
00:08:58
not like just limited to those creators.
00:09:02
So let's talk about some of these big
00:09:04
trends you were talking about.
00:09:05
Everybody's talking about AI. So tell us
00:09:07
how AI is playing out in the Super Bowl.
00:09:09
>> Oh man, you cannot escape AI this year.
00:09:11
I'm sure that that is you know true of
00:09:14
uh almost everything in this world right
00:09:16
now right so right now uh you're seeing
00:09:19
brands that are both um looking at
00:09:23
advertising the AI technology itself
00:09:26
think of like an open AI um meta right
00:09:30
with the Oakley glasses and then you
00:09:32
have ones that are actually using AI for
00:09:36
the first time to create the ads so
00:09:39
Zveca uh one of alcohol brand used it to
00:09:42
create its femot and it actually used AI
00:09:46
in the creation of the ad. So you're
00:09:48
going to see a bit of both in the way of
00:09:50
both the creative itself and building
00:09:52
that but then also in the actual
00:09:55
technology being advertised.
00:09:57
>> So I know Coca-Cola had been doing
00:09:59
something with AI generated ads but I
00:10:01
don't know that Coca-Cola is advertising
00:10:03
on the Super Bowl this year are they?
00:10:04
>> They don't have an ad in the Super Bowl.
00:10:06
Um, and this is really the actually a
00:10:08
use of AI to create the ad has been so
00:10:13
like limited. It's really been more on
00:10:14
the back end. This is the first time in
00:10:16
the Super Bowl we're actually seeing an
00:10:17
ad being created.
00:10:19
>> Very interesting. But isn't isn't it
00:10:20
true though that Pepsi
00:10:22
>> is on the attack? I I don't know what
00:10:25
this could be like false. This could be
00:10:27
this could not be real. I don't know
00:10:28
because who knows what's real because I
00:10:30
am on TikTok, you know, checking trying
00:10:31
to understand so I can stay in the
00:10:32
cultural zeitgeist. But I saw this polar
00:10:35
bear like sort of Can you explain this?
00:10:38
Are they I mean this is what are are the
00:10:40
cola wars back? Is that is that where we
00:10:42
are?
00:10:43
>> Yeah, they're uh using their polar
00:10:45
bears. They're bringing back the polar
00:10:47
bears that is known as a uh Coke icon,
00:10:51
right? And they are uh bringing it in
00:10:54
their ads. So, it's really interesting
00:10:57
uh to see that play on uh an icon that
00:11:00
has been so well known uh for Coke that
00:11:05
Pepsi is using. It'll be interesting to
00:11:06
see because it's also an older reference
00:11:08
to see which generations sort of get it
00:11:10
right to our point of thinking about
00:11:12
like Gen Z, millennials, boomers, and
00:11:14
like what generations get these. Um will
00:11:17
they get the reference to the polar
00:11:20
bears? It's been a while since they've
00:11:22
really been used in that capacity. So
00:11:25
that will be interesting to tell. Given
00:11:27
it's a broad um audience as we've been
00:11:30
discussing and one of the huge trends in
00:11:32
marketing is healthcare, wellness,
00:11:33
pharma, all of these new drugs. It is a
00:11:36
good opportunity for some of these
00:11:38
companies to be on the Super Bowl. And
00:11:40
we'd seen this in the past like I know a
00:11:43
couple years ago Dexcom, which is a
00:11:45
glucose monitor, had its first um
00:11:47
healthcare ad etc. So, I know that this
00:11:49
has been a trend, but I would imagine
00:11:51
with the GLP1s that that's another
00:11:54
opportunity. And how do these kind of
00:11:57
companies come on the Super Bowl? Are
00:11:59
they funny? I mean, they're not really
00:12:00
funny topics. So, I find this trend
00:12:03
really interesting because if you think
00:12:05
back historically to Super Bowl ads,
00:12:08
food, junk food, right? Sodas, uh,
00:12:12
pizza, like this, these are the items
00:12:15
like we've associated with Super Bowl
00:12:17
for so long. Doritos, aocado, right?
00:12:20
Like now to see this influx in like
00:12:23
health care companies and it speaks to
00:12:26
this wellness culture, right, that has
00:12:28
really emerged over the last couple of
00:12:30
years. You're absolutely right, Barbara,
00:12:31
with the GLP1s. That's a huge huge part
00:12:34
of this. We are seeing him and hers with
00:12:37
an ad uh democratizing
00:12:40
health care and preventative medicine.
00:12:42
Uh Novartis is doing a spot on prostate
00:12:45
cancer screening. Oh, that's a Super
00:12:47
Bowl topic.
00:12:48
>> No, really. I mean,
00:12:50
>> wait, wait a minute. Hold it. Hold it. I
00:12:52
mean, come on. Listen. I Barbara, I just
00:12:55
want to watch the game. I don't need
00:12:57
like, you know, medical anxiety in the
00:12:59
middle of the punch.
00:13:00
>> Well, so it's interesting like that's
00:13:02
that's an interesting take on it, right?
00:13:04
Because is this the um forum for these
00:13:07
types of conversations? But if you think
00:13:09
about, we just talked about 100 million
00:13:11
people watching the Super Bowl and you
00:13:13
know to the point of like him and hers
00:13:15
of democratizing healthcare like what
00:13:17
better place to reach people about
00:13:20
health, you know, and you know, diabetes
00:13:23
testing is another one that comes up and
00:13:25
navigating high blood pressure. Um, and
00:13:27
then they'll definitely be like Serena
00:13:29
Williams is in the row campaign uh
00:13:31
during the Super Bowl. So GLP1, I think
00:13:34
we'll see plenty of those during the
00:13:36
game as well. But the the tone of the
00:13:37
GLP ones, going back to Barbara's point,
00:13:39
is not going to be absurdest unhinged
00:13:42
humor.
00:13:44
>> I will say the we don't need them yet.
00:13:47
>> The plastic cancer one does have some
00:13:49
humor in it and plays to some humor, but
00:13:52
they are um very much talking about the
00:13:56
benefits of doing these things. Some of
00:13:58
them have a lightness to them to not
00:14:00
make it very serious, which I think is
00:14:02
smart in this kind of environment. Um,
00:14:05
but the Hims and Herses one, for
00:14:06
example, is like very straight and
00:14:09
serious about like democratizing health
00:14:11
care and how historically people of
00:14:14
wealth like had better access to medical
00:14:16
care. So, they definitely take a more
00:14:19
serious approach. Yeah.
00:14:21
>> Is Jesus back?
00:14:23
>> Jesus Jesus is back. We haven't seen the
00:14:26
ad yet, but Jesus is back in the rebrand
00:14:30
of He Gets Us. Uh, we'll see what they
00:14:32
bring to the game. But Jesus has Jesus
00:14:35
has been in it for the last couple of
00:14:36
years.
00:14:37
>> Jesus is back in. Wow. I I thought you
00:14:38
were asking a philosophical question.
00:14:40
This is like literally Jesus is
00:14:42
>> backed
00:14:44
in Jesus's advertising campaign.
00:14:46
>> It's always one that uh stirs up some
00:14:49
conversation.
00:14:50
>> Yeah. But here's something that's super
00:14:51
interesting. I don't you know our show
00:14:53
Janine is completely apolitical, but you
00:14:55
know there's a lot of things going on
00:14:56
right now. There's a lot of protesting
00:14:58
happening. Is is everything chilled to
00:15:01
the extent that no one is willing to
00:15:02
come out and come into the ads and make
00:15:04
any kind of statements about any of the
00:15:06
stuff that's going on? Is this like the
00:15:07
insular like we just won our football
00:15:09
game, let's not in input any with well
00:15:12
except for Jesus. Jesus gets a pass
00:15:13
because Jesus is Jesus. But you know I
00:15:16
mean you know are we seeing anyone who's
00:15:18
willing to you know do a bad bunny and
00:15:20
come out make a statement or anything
00:15:22
like that?
00:15:23
>> Very little. And that's I mean back to
00:15:25
the idea of humor really being like the
00:15:27
driving force and theme in these ads.
00:15:30
You know it's a safe place to be in. Um
00:15:33
no we are not seeing uh many at least
00:15:36
right now we have not seen any that take
00:15:39
any sort of major political or social
00:15:43
stance. There are a couple that are a
00:15:45
little bit more straight and serious.
00:15:47
Budweiser has its Clyde sale back. Oh.
00:15:49
>> Uh, this time if you remember puppy love
00:15:52
back uh back some time now um of the
00:15:55
Clydesdale and the puppy. This time it's
00:15:57
a Clydesdale and a bird of some kind in
00:16:00
the beginning that are not filine a baby
00:16:02
bird.
00:16:02
>> Okay.
00:16:03
>> And then as the story line progresses we
00:16:05
actually see it is an eagle. So it's
00:16:08
supposed to uh lean into the 250th
00:16:11
anniversary of the country um and
00:16:13
playing on that a bit. Another thing you
00:16:16
were talking about is celebrities. And
00:16:18
one of the things that I've noted, and
00:16:19
this I haven't seen people talk about
00:16:20
necessarily. I've just anecdotally
00:16:22
noticed that there's a lot more sports
00:16:24
celebrities involved also. Um, and those
00:16:27
sports celebrities kind of play a
00:16:29
different role. I mean, a lot of times
00:16:31
they're football players or the Mannings
00:16:33
or the Kelsey's. I don't know if Travis
00:16:35
is in any of these ads, but or Jason.
00:16:38
Um, but but it is kind of interesting to
00:16:40
just think in general about celebrities.
00:16:42
And I guess um the sports celebrities
00:16:45
make a lot of sense. some of the other
00:16:46
celebrities are just attention or what
00:16:48
what's your observation about what what
00:16:50
the celebrity advertising was?
00:16:51
>> Yeah, that has definitely been a trend
00:16:53
over the last couple years. I would say
00:16:54
you know if you think about celebrity uh
00:16:56
sports stars as more than just
00:16:58
celebrities and really think about them
00:17:00
too in their own right as like an
00:17:01
influencer and you like look at like how
00:17:04
sports culture has really you know moved
00:17:07
onto Tik Tok and other social platforms.
00:17:10
I think there is a different audience
00:17:13
beyond just the sport itself, right, for
00:17:15
some of these celebrities knowing their
00:17:18
uh backstory and sort of how they got
00:17:20
there. Uh it's interesting too because
00:17:21
we're also at a time where we the
00:17:24
Olympics are starting right right in the
00:17:26
same time of the Super Bowl. We have the
00:17:28
World Cup coming up in the summer. So,
00:17:31
it's a moment in time where sports and
00:17:33
if you think about reach and audience
00:17:35
and where audiences are in like live
00:17:38
entertainment,
00:17:39
>> it's sports, right? Whether it's, you
00:17:41
know, women sports that are having a
00:17:43
bigger moment. Um, there's just a lot of
00:17:47
opportunity there for brands to lean in
00:17:49
and connect with sports stars in a
00:17:51
different way.
00:17:52
>> Yeah, I think it's interesting. Here's a
00:17:54
question, Barbara, uh, and Janine,
00:17:57
because, you know, there's there we one
00:17:59
of the things we always think about,
00:18:00
Janine, is sort of the world is a is an
00:18:03
interaction of sorts, right? Everything
00:18:04
interacts with each other. So, I'm
00:18:06
wondering is there I I guess you can't
00:18:08
plan with other things. But I'm I'm
00:18:09
wondering like the combination of humor
00:18:11
plus serious. Is there weird things that
00:18:14
could well two two things. One is
00:18:15
there's weird things that could happen,
00:18:17
right? So, maybe the manscape thing
00:18:18
happens and it's like kind of gross and
00:18:19
like here's the then the prostate cancer
00:18:21
thing, you know? I don't know. That's
00:18:24
weird. You know,
00:18:24
>> it absolutely could.
00:18:26
>> You know, I just wonder, do do they
00:18:28
think about this? It's like, wait a
00:18:29
minute. Let me get a list of everything
00:18:30
that's going to be out there and let me
00:18:32
at least understand how I can
00:18:33
potentially
00:18:34
>> Yeah. And the ordering of the ads, of
00:18:35
course, like when they
00:18:36
>> order Yeah, exactly. That's that's
00:18:37
exactly what I'm talking about.
00:18:38
>> Think about it. This these decisions are
00:18:40
being made of just like at the same time
00:18:43
that Super Bowl ends this year, like
00:18:45
they'll start thinking about what next
00:18:47
year looks like. A lot of these
00:18:48
decisions are made so far in advance
00:18:51
that that's like one of the issues,
00:18:52
right? It's so hard to plan for where we
00:18:56
are as a country, right? The tone the
00:18:58
tonality in that far in advance. It's
00:19:00
hard to plan for what others might lean
00:19:02
into. It's hard to plan for necessarily
00:19:04
like major cultural moments which is why
00:19:06
you know back to the beginning of this
00:19:07
conversation where we were talking about
00:19:09
like extending the life of an ad both
00:19:13
and after and why social plays such an
00:19:15
important part because there's ways for
00:19:17
brands and they do this all the time now
00:19:20
to be on social layering in additional
00:19:22
like insights and commentary around
00:19:24
their campaigns that are more real time,
00:19:27
right?
00:19:28
to what is happening in the moment as
00:19:31
their ad is being
00:19:33
>> well you mentioned in real time. I
00:19:34
remember one of the things that Dolingo
00:19:36
did that was so cool is they had like a
00:19:38
two second commercial but right after
00:19:41
they ran their commercial they did a
00:19:43
social media outpouring to their whole
00:19:46
um to their whole audience and and
00:19:48
really really leveraged the you know two
00:19:50
seconds they paid for in the Super Bowl.
00:19:52
So, so there's one thing before and
00:19:54
after. Then there's also this third
00:19:56
screen that they may be connecting to.
00:19:58
How much of that do are we seeing?
00:20:00
>> Yeah.
00:20:01
>> Yeah. You can even think about brands
00:20:02
doing local ads as the same sort of
00:20:04
effect like not paying the full price
00:20:06
for a national 30 60C spot being in some
00:20:10
key markets but then layering in with
00:20:13
social activations. We see that a lot.
00:20:15
Uh extending putting those spots on
00:20:18
social so it reaches a broader audience.
00:20:21
and also like focusing on some key
00:20:22
markets. It's another way brands sort of
00:20:25
do something similar to that.
00:20:26
>> That's interesting. I also wonder Janine
00:20:27
and Barbara the idea of it's a big it's
00:20:30
a big bet in some senses, right? Because
00:20:32
you could get like a super boring game
00:20:35
and then with attention spans being so
00:20:37
low, people check out, right? Or you
00:20:39
could get like this amazing battle into
00:20:41
overtime and it's super close and
00:20:43
everybody's at the edge of their seat.
00:20:44
So there all to Barbara's point there's
00:20:46
like all these unknown factors that
00:20:47
you're managing and I think you're
00:20:49
hedging the bet when you have other
00:20:51
things pre and post that can sort of
00:20:54
smooth out the external shocks that
00:20:57
could happen that are uncontrollables
00:20:58
that exist let's say in the context of
00:21:00
the game. Do you agree with that
00:21:01
characterization Janine? Oh yeah and
00:21:03
it's why you know oftent times there is
00:21:06
more demand for that a slot you know the
00:21:08
first couple of spots in the first
00:21:10
commercial break and they often you know
00:21:12
garner premium more premium pricing as a
00:21:14
result. Uh there there is all of that.
00:21:17
Uh but there could be just as much
00:21:19
interest and planning around, you know,
00:21:21
plans in place. If a game goes into
00:21:23
overtime, we will there's a couple of
00:21:25
brands that know they might buy, you
00:21:26
know, time in overtime or brands that
00:21:29
don't even appear in the game, maybe
00:21:30
appear in pregame, but have plans if a
00:21:32
game goes overtime to buy those spots.
00:21:35
Uh so there are various ways that
00:21:37
already sort of media planners are
00:21:39
pre-planning to sort of make the most
00:21:41
out of those opportunities. The other
00:21:44
thing that we've seen historically uh
00:21:46
with the Super Bowl is whichever network
00:21:48
is airing it uses it as a springboard
00:21:50
for some of its programming. And I don't
00:21:52
even know which network is airing it
00:21:54
this year. It's NBC. So NBC will have
00:21:56
it. It will stream on Peacock, which is
00:21:58
another completely different opportunity
00:22:01
of like the streaming opportunity and
00:22:02
buying ads and streaming versus national
00:22:05
TV. And the Olympics are also airing on
00:22:07
NBC. So it's a nice, you know, sort of
00:22:10
springboard of like connecting that all
00:22:12
together.
00:22:12
>> Yeah. I think that's been very lucrative
00:22:14
for the networks in the past. You know,
00:22:16
a big thing that they could possibly
00:22:18
get. And the last thing, well, not the
00:22:20
last, we could talk forever on this, but
00:22:21
one of the things I did want to talk
00:22:23
about, you kind of implied it, but I
00:22:24
kind of want to make it more salient is
00:22:27
we talked about some of the new brands
00:22:28
that are coming on. Um, but then there's
00:22:30
also the traditional, you know, beer,
00:22:32
automobiles, financial services. Um,
00:22:35
what's the story with all of them?
00:22:37
>> Yeah. So for autos in particular, I
00:22:39
think you know for a while the auto
00:22:41
category has often been looked to as
00:22:44
like the one of the bigger one that
00:22:46
between that and like a a Bud Bud Light
00:22:49
and all of those. Um but it's this year
00:22:52
poised so far for a down year in
00:22:55
automakers. Uh right now we only know of
00:22:58
two brands, Toyota and Cadillac that are
00:23:01
confirmed to uh run ads in the game. Uh,
00:23:05
you know, I think for the auto brands in
00:23:08
particular, they're really kind of just
00:23:10
trying to seek more value with their
00:23:12
media buys. Um, we're seeing that like,
00:23:15
yes, of course, so many people are
00:23:17
watching the game, but only a fraction
00:23:20
of those people they find typically are
00:23:21
actually in the market for a car. So,
00:23:24
you know what they're really looking to
00:23:26
do is figure out better ways to more
00:23:29
directly reach the consumers who are
00:23:31
actually in the market to buy a car,
00:23:34
right? And because the rest of those are
00:23:36
sort of wasted media so I think that's
00:23:38
what we're seeing for brands like
00:23:40
automakers and why we've seen a pullback
00:23:42
in recent years and you know there are
00:23:44
other factors bigger economic factors at
00:23:46
play as well.
00:23:47
>> Yeah, that's interesting. I you know
00:23:49
what Barbara when you said that this is
00:23:51
triggering my mind again and again I'm
00:23:53
not trying to be political so I don't
00:23:54
want to be political I want to do I want
00:23:56
to be the opposite of political I want
00:23:57
to pull back from all the politics be
00:23:58
apolitical like Barbara always says
00:24:00
Americans be apolitical yes but I'm
00:24:02
wondering so Bad Bunny is doing the
00:24:07
I mean it's a
00:24:08
>> have they put the contract on him and
00:24:10
say listen bro like don't go out there
00:24:12
listen we're trying to cuz this could
00:24:14
like it could go pretty sideways and and
00:24:17
yeah what you have to imagine when you
00:24:19
make a decision like that, you know what
00:24:23
could happen, right? And what the
00:24:25
backlash or the response could be. And I
00:24:29
think when you make that decision,
00:24:30
you're also making the decision that we
00:24:31
want to reach a different audience and
00:24:33
we know this is the way to do it.
00:24:35
>> Well, Janine, it's been wonderful
00:24:37
talking to you. We're all looking
00:24:39
forward to the Super Bowl. Maybe we'll
00:24:40
have you on after and you can tell us
00:24:42
like what happened after, you know.
00:24:44
>> We'd love to. Thank you for having me.
00:24:46
>> Yeah. So again, Janine Po Poji, the
00:24:49
editor-inchief of Advertising Age, thank
00:24:51
you so much for joining us today. And
00:24:52
where can listeners go to to see all the
00:24:54
analysis you guys do on the game? Yeah,
00:24:56
I mean adage.com will have our ad review
00:24:59
after the game, which pretty much is our
00:25:00
take on every ad that ran nationally
00:25:03
during the Super Bowl. And then we will
00:25:05
be on LinkedIn, Instagram, all social
00:25:09
platforms during the game, live
00:25:11
streaming, having conversations, talking
00:25:13
about the brands, talking with the
00:25:15
brands in some cases in some fun
00:25:16
moments. So, uh, stay tuned until you
00:25:19
>> That's super interesting, too. Sorry,
00:25:20
Barbara. Really quickly, because that
00:25:21
that's actually because being a part of
00:25:23
this from a journalistic point of view,
00:25:24
Barbara, this is also like elevating and
00:25:27
continuing the amplification of these
00:25:29
things. So, the brands are happy.
00:25:30
They're like, "Oh my god, Janine's on
00:25:31
LinkedIn talking about our manscape, you
00:25:33
know, or whatever." So,
00:25:35
>> yes, they are.
00:25:38
>> Yeah, that's great.
00:25:39
>> Great.
00:25:39
>> Well, that's all we have time for today.
00:25:41
We'd like to thank our producers, Deion
00:25:43
Simkins and Marissa Rena. Thank you all
00:25:45
for listening today. We'll be back next
00:25:46
week. Till then, this has been Marketing
00:25:49
Matters on the Wharton Podcast Network.
00:25:51
I'm Barbara Khan here with America's
00:25:53
Read.
