Are Super Bowl TV commercials worth the money advertisers are paying for them?

The NFL is down to its final four, and the teams for Super Bowl 48 will be set within the week. For marketing, the showcase of creativity will be here before you know and the broadcast is again sold out with record setting rates.

Forget the game, the hype will be the half time show and the commercials. We'll leave the choice of Bruno Mars as the entertainment for another blog, and focus on the commercials. But are the commercials worth it?

Fox Business hosted a panel to discuss whether the commercials are worth it; for the price and for the recognition they can bring to a brand. The answer to whether the ads are worth it is probably yes, realizing that the goals for each of the commercials that will run during the game from New York are different for each.

Water cooler talk and brand buzz are hard to measure regarding the price paid for the spot. In research done by Communicus, one 1 in 5 Super Bowl ads sells products. http://www.communicus.com/topic13.php
Other ads actually produce a negative product image for the advertiser. http://admeter.usatoday.com/story/sports/ad-meter/super-bowl/2014/01/09/ad-meter-story-super-bowl-ads-not-effective/4384197/

Marketers have to keep an eye on the brand that they are suppose to be promoting. Sometimes I think they lose track of the product and the end goal producing Super Bowl commercials, placing all too much emphasis on the need to be funny and creative. 

In the 2013 Super Bowl, I still believe the Dodge Truck commercial, a tribute to the American Farmer voiced by the late Paul Harvey was a powerful commercial. It was recently judged by some as one of the best ads of 2013. It was not witty or funny, but still generated great emotion.

The bigger concern for me on Super Bowl ads is the memorability of the ads. Every year, I review the commercials with my sales staff to discuss the good content and the bad. It is always amazing to me how many don't register with the staff 12 hours later.

Let's hope that 2014 offers a good crop of creative, funny and memorable marketing messages.

Pete Van Baalen is a dynamic marketing professional specializing in traditional and digital marketing platforms with over 25 years in media and marketing experience. From Central Indiana (Indianapolis), you can reach Pete at pete.vanbaalen@gmail.com.