Seedtag applies advanced AI to deliver privacy-first advertising at scale. As the creator of neuro-contextual advertising, Seedtag moves beyond traditional contextual targeting methods such as keywords and categories. Instead, Seedtag understands deeper signals of interest, intent, and emotion to create custom audiences based on a brand’s objectives.

Suzy Davidkhanian (00:00):

Ever seen an ad that just fits perfectly? That's Seedtag, their neuro contextual technology combines AI and neuroscience principles to place brands exactly where they belong. It's privacy first advertising that taps into the user's interests, emotions, and intentions, making every interaction feel natural and relevant. Seedtag, where context becomes intelligence. Hi, everyone. Today is Wednesday, February 4th. Welcome to EMARKETER's Weekly Retail Show, Reimagining Retail, an EMARKETER podcast made possible by Seedtag. This is the show where we talk about how retail collides with every part of our lives. I'm your host, Suzy Davidkhanian, and on today's episode, we're breaking down how the Super Bowl has grown from a football game into one of the biggest cultural moments for brands. Joining me all the way from Maine is Paul Verna, VP of Content. Hey, Paul.

Paul Verna (00:59):

Hey, great to be here for the first time on your show, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:02):

I'm so excited to have you, and we have podcast regular senior analyst Blake Droesch. Hey, Blake.

Blake Droesch (01:08):

Hey, Suzy. Great to be back.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:09):

Thanks for joining me in the studio, even though it's freezing out.

Blake Droesch (01:13):

It is. It is quite cold here in New York City.

Suzy Davidkhanian (01:16):

So this week, we're talking about the Super Bowl, but not just the game. It's one of the few moments left where the commercials and the halftime show can get just as much attention as what's happening on the field. Maybe more if you ask me. For brands, the Super Bowl has grown into something much bigger. It's not anymore just about a single ad, but how brands show up before, during, and after the game through storytelling and activations across multiple consumer touchpoints. So before we really dig into this year's Super Bowl, I want you guys to think back. I'm going to start with you, Paul, and tell me what is your all time favorite Super Bowl ad and why do you think it's still memorable for you?

Paul Verna (01:56):

I'm partial to the Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola ad from 1979.

Suzy Davidkhanian (02:03):

Stop. Of course.

Paul Verna (02:06):

Yes. And I actually saw it live.

Suzy Davidkhanian (02:08):

Tell us more.

Paul Verna (02:08):

Just gives you an idea of how ancient I am. So yeah, Mean Joe Greene was a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers who were sort of like the "it" team in the late '70s. And it was just a great ad where he's very surly walking down the tunnel after presumably a bad game and this kid approaches him or calls out to him and he tells him that he's still great. And then the kid starts turning around to walk out, back out to the field. And Joe Greene says, "Hey kid, catch this." And he throws him his jersey. And it was kind of like, that sort of thing wasn't as common as it is now where you have this celebrity athlete and kind of a lighthearted moment. So I've always just had a soft spot for it. I think the Apple Macintosh ad from 1984 seems to be everybody's choice for the most iconic, and I wouldn't dispute that.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:03):

Paul, you're digging back.

Paul Verna (03:05):

I am.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:05):

You're going back in time. Blake, do you have a favorite?

Blake Droesch (03:08):

Yeah, I'll give you a recent example, actually. My favorite all time Super Bowl ad is the Dunkin, Ben Affleck, DunKing's commercial from a couple of years ago. Because every ad features a celebrity cameo now, and a lot of them are totally out of left field. But I don't need to explain to anyone why Ben Affleck is a great fit for the Dunkin brand. And I just thought it was great. It was funny. They rolled it out into a bunch of other snippets that ran on commercials throughout the year. And I just have an affinity for the Dunkin brand as well. So that's my favorite.

Paul Verna (03:50):

I like that one a lot too.

Suzy Davidkhanian (03:52):

[inaudible 00:03:52]. Yeah, it's true. Me too. And then there were so many different activations with Dunkin and other brands. I also gave this some thought and to be honest with you, nothing. I don't remember any specifics. They're all jumbled up together. I thought that Fenty had a really big ad. Turns out they didn't. It was just that Rihanna was on stage. I thought that there were a lot of really women first, women owned, women issue brands that did big ads, but that was not very recent. So then I went with the puppies, the Budweiser puppies and horses. Can't go wrong with that.

Paul Verna (04:23):

The Run Like a Girl or Throw Like a Girl, that was pretty recent.

Suzy Davidkhanian (04:27):

Oh, the Nike one?

Paul Verna (04:27):

Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (04:28):

Yeah.

Paul Verna (04:28):

I thought those were really moving.

Suzy Davidkhanian (04:30):

That was a good one. There are. And I think that's the whole thing, right? They're emotional. There's some storytelling. They're usually kind of funny. It's a little bit unexpected. And with media being so fragmented now, it seems like it's even more important to think about what your ads look like before and after the show itself. It does still hold the Super Bowl though an outsized impact when it comes to advertising. Blake, why do you think that this moment keeps that central theme around advertising and importance?

Blake Droesch (05:00):

I mean, you have a lot of eyeballs and a lot of cultural relevance, and I think that has always been and still is a recipe for advertising appeal. But even more so now, because like you said, the world is so fragmented, the media landscape, there's really not much left. I think the Super Bowl maybe be the only event left where you have such a large and diverse audience all tuning in at the same time. I mean, you could even make the argument that there was concentration around media on a nightly basis with the evening news and the late night talk shows, but then that has gone away. And then these annual events, whether it be the Oscars or the Golden Globes, so the award shows and then the other sporting events, those have sort of faded and lost some relevancy as well.

(05:57):

But for better or worse, the Super Bowl still maintains its relevancy. And in a culture where the rest has melted away, it's just become even more important for advertisers.

Paul Verna (06:12):

Yeah. I would add that the rising and seemingly limitless popularity of the NFL has definitely played into that as well because it's not just, I mean, we've always had the World Series and the Super Bowl and NBA, NHL, but it seems that football has just sort of eclipsed every other sport in terms of its place in the culture. So that combined with everything you just said, Blake, I think puts the Super Bowl even higher up and it really is the last one standing.

Blake Droesch (06:42):

Right. And of the major sports, it's notable for being the only one where the finals is not a seven game series. So the stakes are just elevated.

Paul Verna (06:52):

Right? Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:53):

The NHL?

Blake Droesch (06:54):

No, no. I just think-

Suzy Davidkhanian (06:55):

It does matter.

Blake Droesch (06:57):

... the NFL has, as Paul said, made a tremendous effort to reach new audiences, both domestically and internationally, but the format of the NFL where you have regular season games, a handful of playoff games, and then one Super Bowl, it just concentrates the audience even more so that's helped it as well.

Paul Verna (07:18):

Scarcity.

Suzy Davidkhanian (07:18):

Yeah. Especially with attention being scarce now. It's true. As a non-football watcher though, there are many of us who are also paying attention to this Super Bowl because it's like this giant shared moment, not just about the sport, but also somehow brands come all in and do all kinds of different things around the Super Bowl to get some attention. How do you think they can cut through the clutter? I mean, it's so expensive. It seems like right now, if you just do an ad that airs on the Super Bowl, it's not enough. This week, I think it was on Good Morning America, one of the brands already pre-launched their ad in a very public way. What should brands be thinking about when they're thinking about showing up for the Super Bowl now?

Paul Verna (08:00):

I think brands should approach the Super Bowl the way my college-aged daughter approaches a weekend, night out, which is basically, there is pre-gaming, there's the event itself, and there's the after party. And back in my day, you just basically went out. Pre-gaming and the after party were not a thing. I think the lifecycle of a Super Bowl ad is now very much about the before, the buildup, generating buzz, teasing it. Obviously during the game you want to win, you want to win in terms of attention and being in the conversation. And then after the fact, you want people to sit around and podcasts talking about you for years and years and years, which is what we're doing here and what I think every brand aspires to. So I see it as both an in the moment kind of opportunity, but also a very, very long game.

Suzy Davidkhanian (08:49):

And Blake, does that also include activations, not necessarily the ads themselves?

Blake Droesch (08:55):

Yeah. I mean, look, there are only so many brands that can afford the $8 million time slot, but every brand feels a need to participate in this event in some form or fashion. So there are all different types of ways to approach it. I think if you're a CPG brand, for instance, as Paul mentioned, the pre-game is very important because you want to be driving sales ahead of the game around the events that take place. But there's also influencer activations, ways in which that you can sort of approach the buzz that's taking place around the actual game itself. And then there's an earned media component, I think that has become even larger in recent years around how can brands insert themselves in the conversation through social media by figuring out a niche that is relevant to the game? Whether it's the Super Bowl halftime show, whether it's the locality of the event or the teams that are involved.

(10:12):

There are all types of ways that brands can make an effort to get their name out there, get involved in the conversation without spending the $8 million on the ad.

Suzy Davidkhanian (10:25):

Although remember the brand that did spend the $8 million on the ad that was like the Stablecoin ad or was it the Bitcoin ad that broke the internet for a hot second?

Paul Verna (10:35):

Yeah.

Blake Droesch (10:35):

With the QR code?

Suzy Davidkhanian (10:36):

Yeah.

Paul Verna (10:36):

Nobody even remembers what brand it was.

Suzy Davidkhanian (10:39):

Horrible, right?

Paul Verna (10:39):

Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (10:40):

So even more important to do the warmup and the post-game sort of activations. I think Dunkin does a really good job of that. They're using that same joke over and over and over again, and the better recall, but also it's kind of a clear extension that you can relate to.

Paul Verna (10:59):

And I think on the point of it's not necessarily how much you spend, but what you do with it, I think the classic moment was the Oreo Power Out Tweet from 2013. So they spent zero money on that and it was so opportunistic. Basically what happened was there was a big power outage in the Super Bowl and Oreo just sent out this tweet about how you can still dunk in the dark. And I don't know how you can possibly prepare for that. I don't know if they actually had an action plan or if somebody was just very quick on their feet, but the amount of attention it got and just the cleverness and how opportunistic it was in a good way, just in terms of capturing the moment without even necessarily having to spend that much money.

Suzy Davidkhanian (11:45):

And that was viral before viral was a thing, so that's even more clever. But you do bring us to a good point around most people who are celebrating the Super Bowl in some way aren't anywhere near the stadium itself. They're not at the game. So what are some of the smartest ways that brands can bring that energy, whether it's at home, on people's phones, at bars, hosting parties, how should they be thinking about that?

Blake Droesch (12:10):

Yeah, I think, as I mentioned CPGs, the grocery store is a great place to try to reach consumers to drive, basically performance sales before the game. I think last year there was an NRF survey that said that 81% of households plan to purchase food specifically for the game. So this is a huge little bump to the economy that if you are a snack brand, it presents an opportunity to have an early activation that can help drive sales, perhaps bring in some new customers because it's a tent pole event. So it goes outside of, they're buying products outside of what they would normally buy on their weekly trip to the grocery store. And also, the Super Bowl has to be a massive second screen event because you have so many people who are participating in the event, going to watch parties, sitting around with their families who aren't exactly interested in watching football.

(13:17):

So they're spending a lot of time on their phones and that presents obviously a huge opportunity for brands to reach them there on social media feeds and elsewhere.

Suzy Davidkhanian (13:27):

There is this amplification of social and connected TV too that's happening during the Super Bowl that's kind of new.

Paul Verna (13:32):

Yeah. I mean, everything is now a streaming event as well as a TV event or in some cases more a streaming event. I mean, the Super Bowl happens to be the big last bastion of linear television, but yeah, the CTV aspect, the social aspect are huge. Although I wouldn't say that CTV is like a second screen in the sense that you're either watching it through a streaming service or through a legacy network. But I think most people watch the Super Bowl, unless you happen to be a fan of one of the teams in it, it's more of like a casual social thing. So I think it lends itself a lot more to being on your phone and kind of exchanging notes with your friends and family. So I think that is a huge opportunity. I also see an opportunity maybe untapped for a company like Spotify.

(14:26):

So Bad Bunny is like the biggest thing on Spotify. Has been for the past several years. And obviously with Bad Bunny having the halftime show, I just haven't seen Spotify tap into that and I think there could be an opportunity. I know that other brands have definitely latched on to the halftime show. I know the halftime show is sponsored by Apple Music or partially sponsored, so maybe there's some lines that you can't cross, but the halftime show has become much more of a thing over the years. Tapping into that is definitely something that brands should be open to.

Suzy Davidkhanian (15:00):

I mean, commercials and halftime show, it's why I watch not the 11 minutes of football that actually gets played in four hours. One thing that it did get me thinking about though, really, if you think about the Super Bowl, people like me who are not Super Bowl fans, or should I say NFL fans necessarily, are watching. And it's not just the Super Bowl this year, right? There's the FIFA World Cup that's going to be in America's. There is the Olympics that's obviously going to not be in our time zone necessarily, but there are these really gigantic moments. If we think about these big cultural sport related moments, what do they tend to get right? What are brands doing that gets everybody galvanized around this moment?

Blake Droesch (15:43):

I think we live in such a pessimistic culture, but particularly around the Super Bowl and the Olympics, there is an opportunity for brands to be a little bit more sincere in their messaging in a way that is typically received pretty well by the general public. So if we think back to a lot of those commercials, particularly in recent years that have really moved the needle, a lot of them can be a little bit sappy. And I think in a way that if something is just around the idea of sports and people coming together to watch an event, I think opens up a door for brands to really sort of pull out the heartstrings a little bit more than they'd be able to, if they were advertising on the evening news where there's just typically so much negativity or even on social media for that matter, where you can only get a couple seconds of attention before the user moves on to something else.

(16:49):

And as we talk about all the time, I mean, that type of advertising tends to be the most effective when it comes to really building an emotional residence with the brand, which leads towards trust and authenticity. And I think that this is one of the last bastions where brands have an opportunity to be a little bit more sincere without necessarily getting scoffed at.

Paul Verna (17:14):

Yeah. I think of the Chrysler Halftime in America ad with Clint Eastwood some years ago. One of the things that sets the Super Bowl apart from the other big sporting events that you mentioned, Suzy, is that brands advertise specifically for the Super Bowl, right? They create ads that are very much geared for that moment. And as we discussed for the before and after, I think for the Olympics and the World Cup, you generally have sponsors and you will see the same ad repeat over and over during the many, many games that make up those tournaments. So I think it's a little bit different. I think the Super Bowl has become an advertising showcase. It's almost like the upfronts for ads. So that gives brands both an opportunity and maybe some limitations because there are things you do and you don't want to do around the Super Bowl that you may be able to do if your ad is going to be seen in many, many countries and you can be more generic.

(18:18):

You also have to tap into the zeitgeist of the moment. So everything is political now, you have to be very watchful of that. And there's just a lot more scrutiny before and after. So you have to think not just about how the ad is going to play during the run of the game, but what are people going to be talking about? You have to get the messaging just right. So there's a lot that goes into it. And I think, even though it shares a lot in common with other big sports advertising events, it's also unique.

Suzy Davidkhanian (18:52):

And I think we're spending a lot of time talking about the ads themselves, but it's really important to remember that that's a one-day thing that you're spending so much money on. So as retailers and brands, you really need to think about like, oh, if someone is going to host people, I'm going to have end caps, like you were talking about, Blake, to talk about the Super Bowl and make it really easy. Or maybe you're Under Armour and you do some sort of activation in a set number of cities. We were talking about Levi's the other day, they're doing something new with their brand and they're starting in San Francisco, which is where the Super Bowl is going to be. And so I think as a brand, you also need to think beyond that one day. The ads need to stay relevant and fresh throughout. I mean, you're obviously not making a million dollar buy for one day, but then how do you tie all of that so that you don't lose on the momentum from the ad?

(19:39):

So when we do zoom out, how should brands be measuring success around moments like the Super Bowl?

Blake Droesch (19:45):

I think it's one of these anomalies where you are paying for a spot, but there's a big emphasis on basically how much additional press can you generate from the spot that you're buying. So there are all of these lists of the best Super Bowl ads and there's social media buzz that happens after the fact. And I think because it is so largely a brand marketing play, just the lift and mentions that you get across digital channels is the best way to immediately understand the impact of your commercial. I mean, it's pretty simple. You want to be the commercial that you're talking about with your friends and coworkers the next day. And while further down the line, that should have some residual effect on sales and lifetime value and brand affinity, which I think is a more complex way of measuring it. But I think from the jump, I mean, that's what you're paying for.

(20:58):

You're paying for the exposure to get into the conversation. And I do think that if you are spending the money for that level of reach, that should be the priority.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:09):

The social listening?

Blake Droesch (21:10):

Yeah. Social listening can be a part of it. Yeah, for sure.

Suzy Davidkhanian (21:13):

Paul, anything that you would add?

Paul Verna (21:14):

I agree with Blake. I think obviously everybody wants to drive sales. That's the end game of all advertising, but I don't see the Super Bowl as an opportunity to be in a kind of direct response mode or thinking about attribution specifically. I think you're really thinking about putting your brand out there, generating conversation, and again, playing that long game. When we think about the truly iconic brands today, part of the reason they are so iconic to us is because they've been in the Super Bowl for generations now. So I think you can't downplay the value of getting in front of an audience and making an impression and having that impression last. So I think they all go together, but the times when a Super Bowl ad specifically leads the sales in the direct aftermath is probably the minority of cases. I think it's more about like-

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:10):

The long game, as you said.

Paul Verna (22:10):

... the brand halo. Yeah.

Suzy Davidkhanian (22:12):

Yeah. And not every brand will get to have a Super Bowl ad, obviously, but I think you can still capture in the moment by trying to be as relevant as possible and trying to find adjacencies around that moment where your brand might fit in an authentic way.

Blake Droesch (22:28):

Yeah. And I think that is a good summary because there are brands that could spend the $8 million and then there are brands that can spend less than that. And I don't necessarily think that because there's so much noise around the event that a medium level of investment is really going to do much. So if you can't afford that Super Bowl spot, the emphasis is really on being creative and how are you going to stand out, not trying to just have a sort of lackluster paid media effort around the event because that's likely going to lead to a waste of money just because there's so much noise. But if you are really creative, then there's ways of getting in the conversation by spending nothing or very little.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:13):

Yeah. That's all the time we have for today. Thanks so much, Blake.

Blake Droesch (23:16):

Always a pleasure.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:17):

Thanks, Paul.

Paul Verna (23:18):

Thank you, Suzy.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:19):

And thank you listeners and to our team that edits the podcast. Please leave a rating or review and remember to subscribe. I'll see you for more re-imagining retail next Wednesday. And on Friday, join Marcus for another episode of Behind the Numbers, an EMARKETER podcast made possible by Seedtag. How's that? The intro was amazing.

Blake Droesch (23:42):

You had a real high energy for Paul, and then you were like, "VP of Content, first time on the show, Paul Verna." Blake's also here.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:50):

Oh, sorry, Blake. And we have Blake.

Blake Droesch (23:54):

Too late.

Suzy Davidkhanian (23:55):

Podcast regular.

Blake Droesch (23:58):

You were as shocked [inaudible 00:23:59] that you were almost like, "Oh, Blake's here. Huh, didn't see you there."

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:03):

[inaudible 00:24:04] I would like to redo that one.

Blake Droesch (24:05):

No, keep it in.

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:06):

Should I do that?

Blake Droesch (24:07):

Too late. No, I think Suzy just knows that she can't be like, "And we're so excited to have Blake." And then I'm just like, "It's great to be here."

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:17):

Paul for the win.

Paul Verna (24:18):

What are you guys going to do without me?

Suzy Davidkhanian (24:21):

We're not going to survive, actually.