Masters of Scale - From Nike to Bud Light to Tubi: Lessons from the Super Bowl 2025 ads, with Autodesk's Dara Treseder
Dara Tresider, CMO of Autodesk, discusses the key elements that make a successful Super Bowl ad: ownability, memorability, and relevance. She notes that many brands played it safe this year, leaning into nostalgia and Americana, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. Tresider highlights the importance of aligning celebrity endorsements with brand values, citing examples like Nike's powerful message on gender equity in sports and Michelob Ultra's culturally relevant ad featuring Willem Dafoe and Catherine O'Hara. She also critiques ads that failed to connect with their audience or overused celebrities without clear brand alignment. Tresider emphasizes the need for brands to be purpose-led rather than cause-led, ensuring their messages resonate authentically with their audience. She praises Nike for making a strong statement about women's sports and criticizes brands for not reflecting diversity, especially during Black History Month. The conversation also touches on the strategic placement of ads during the Super Bowl and the risks involved in such high-stakes advertising.
Key Points:
- Successful Super Bowl ads must be ownable, memorable, and relevant.
- Brands should align celebrity endorsements with their values for authenticity.
- Nike's ad was praised for its strong message on gender equity in sports.
- Many brands played it safe, focusing on nostalgia and Americana.
- Ads should reflect diversity and be purpose-led, not just cause-led.
Details:
1. 🚀 Atio: Revolutionizing CRM for Future Businesses
1.1. Features and Benefits
1.2. Promotional Offer
2. 🏆 Crafting the Perfect Super Bowl Ad: Key Elements
- A great Super Bowl ad must be ownable, meaning it should clearly be associated with your brand, especially given the significant investment involved. For example, Coca-Cola's polar bear ads are instantly recognizable and linked to the brand.
- Memorability is crucial; an ad must be remembered by the audience to drive business results. Notably, Apple's '1984' ad is often cited as a memorable campaign that left a lasting impression.
- Relevance is key for creating a lasting impact beyond the initial ad duration, enabling a multiplier effect on business impact. An ad that resonates culturally, such as Budweiser's Clydesdales, can extend its influence.
- This year, there was a trend towards nostalgia and Americana, with varying degrees of success among brands. For instance, Jeep's use of Bruce Springsteen appealed to a sense of American identity.
3. 🎙️ Marketing Insights: Dara Tresider on Super Bowl Ads
- Dara Tresider examines the impact of celebrity endorsements in Super Bowl ads, noting their significant role in capturing audience attention and enhancing brand recall.
- The segment explores the cost-effectiveness and ROI of including political statements in advertisements, indicating varying results based on the audience's reception.
- Dara conducted a live focus group during her Super Bowl party to gather real-time data on consumer reactions, allowing for nuanced understanding of demographic-specific engagement.
- Specific ads are analyzed, including one with Matthew McConaughey which successfully engaged audiences, and another that led to a noticeable audience departure, highlighting the risks of controversial content.
4. 🔍 Advertising Strategy: To Buy or Not to Buy a Super Bowl Spot
- Investing $8 million on a Super Bowl ad requires alignment with business objectives and a careful assessment of potential ROI.
- Some brands that advertised this year did not appear to have calculated the potential return on investment effectively, leading to suboptimal outcomes.
- The decision to not buy a Super Bowl spot was strategically calculated, allowing the brand to focus on more effective marketing tactics.
- Forgoing a Super Bowl ad enabled the brand to enhance customer engagement through alternative strategies such as targeted digital marketing campaigns and personalized customer experiences.
5. 🤔 The Calculated Risks of Super Bowl Advertising
5.1. Ad Placement Timing and Viewer Engagement
5.2. Strategies for Taking Calculated Risks
6. 📣 Engaging During the Super Bowl Without an Ad
- Brands can effectively participate in major events like the Super Bowl without purchasing expensive ad spots by engaging authentically and strategically in the conversation.
- Autodesk leverages the Super Bowl to showcase its software's impact on high-profile projects, such as the Caesar Superdome Stadium and stages for performers like Kendrick Lamar, highlighting real-world applications of their products.
- This approach allows Autodesk to celebrate customer achievements and reinforce brand relevance without the cost of a traditional ad, demonstrating an effective strategy for other brands to emulate.
- Engaging without ads can benefit brands by positioning them as integral to significant events, enhancing visibility and credibility within relevant industries.
7. 🎨 Creativity and Nostalgia in Super Bowl 2023 Ads
- Brands prioritized safety and ownability in their Super Bowl 2023 ads, focusing on ensuring viewers could easily identify the brand behind the advertisement.
- Memorability and relevance were underutilized, with many brands missing the opportunity to create lasting impressions and drive business impact.
- Creative elements were at times pushed to ineffective extremes, such as the 'seal as a seal' and 'dancing tongue from Coffee Mate,' which were not well-received.
- Nostalgia and Americana were common themes, with varying degrees of success in execution.
- The importance of balancing ownability with memorability and relevance was highlighted as crucial for maximizing business results.
- A notable success was the use of nostalgia in the ad for 'Breaking Bad,' which effectively engaged viewers and was well-received.
8. 🌟 Celebrities and Cultural Relevance in Advertising
- Brands must ensure celebrity endorsements align with their message to avoid consumer confusion and ensure a positive return on investment (ROI).
- Hellman's successfully recreated a scene from 'When Harry Met Sally,' using Sidney Sweeney alongside Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal to enhance cultural relevance and brand memorability.
- Budweiser and Bud Light effectively captured their target audience by embracing the 'red-blooded American vibe' and community spirit, ensuring their ads resonated well.
- Budweiser’s narrative featuring a Clydesdale delivering a keg was humorous and aligned with their brand identity, showcasing their understanding of the demographic.
9. 🚀 Innovative Ad Strategies: Never Been Done Before
- Rocket delivered a groundbreaking ad that effectively conveyed the concept of 'owning the American dream' through home ownership.
- The ad resonated across diverse demographics, from older generations like father-in-laws to younger audiences like daughters, indicating broad appeal.
- The ad integrated live experiences by playing 'Country Roads' in the stadium, creating a powerful connection between the ad content and live fan experiences.
- This strategy represented a novel integration of digital and live experiences, marking a first in ad strategies for connecting on-screen content with in-stadium events.
- Rocket successfully claimed the 'Never Been Done Before' category by blending digital advertising with live event marketing, setting a new standard for ad innovation.
10. 👟 Nike's Standout Moment and Other Highlights
- Nike's 'So Win' ad featured top female athletes like Kagan Clark and Jordan Childs and was reminiscent of their past successful campaigns, striking a balance between creativity and effectiveness.
- The ad was memorable and immediately recognizable as a Nike spot due to its athlete presence, visual aesthetic, and clear messaging.
- Nike's campaign powerfully conveyed the theme of purpose and performance, emphasizing the significance of gender equity in sports.
- In a year where many brands avoided making strong statements, Nike stood out by addressing the power of women in sports effectively without being preachy, making it both relevant and memorable.
- The ad resonated with viewers, inspiring and empowering female audiences, as evidenced by personal anecdotes such as the reaction of a viewer's daughter.
11. 🎭 Celebrity Endorsements: Hits and Misses
11.1. Nike's Strategic Positioning
11.2. Branding Decisions
11.3. Union Market's Employee Appreciation Strategy
11.4. Celebrity Choices in Advertising
12. 🤖 Technology's Role in Super Bowl Ads: A New Era
12.1. Celebrity Influence in Super Bowl Ads
12.2. Technological Advancements in Super Bowl Ads
13. 🖤 Representation and Diversity in Advertising
13.1. OpenAI's Ad Creativity and Impact
13.2. Black History Month Reflections
13.3. Brands and Representation
14. 🇺🇸 Unity in Diversity: The Power of Inclusive Ads
- Jeep's ad effectively navigated the political divide by featuring soldiers with families and a voiceover by Harrison Ford emphasizing unity in diversity.
- The ad was successful in creating authentic unity, avoiding inauthenticity which can highlight division.
- It resonated with diverse audiences by allowing viewers to see themselves in the ad and reflecting on shared human experiences.
- Brands that clearly answered what they want to say, who to say it to, and how long they want the message to resonate, succeeded.
- Many brands spent significant money on ads but failed to achieve ROI due to playing it safe and not standing out.
- Boring advertising is detrimental to business, leading to a lack of brand recall despite high spending.
- Successful brands in this context asked the right strategic questions and answered them effectively.
- Some brands wisely chose not to advertise during the Super Bowl, recognizing it might not be the right platform for them.
15. 🧠 Purpose-Led Brand Messaging: Beyond the Super Bowl
- The Super Bowl presents high risks and ROI calculations for brands spending millions on brief airtime, highlighting the need for strategic messaging.
- Brands that played it safe or overcompensated with creativity often failed to deliver impactful messages.
- Successfully purpose-led brands like Eagles, Jeep, and Nike balanced messaging effectively at the Super Bowl.
- Distinguishing between purpose-led and cause-led messaging is crucial; not every issue requires a brand stance, but consistency in purpose-led messaging is key.
- Brands should maintain purpose-led messaging throughout the year, not just during high-profile events like the Super Bowl.