Running Super Bowl Ads Without A Super Bowl Budget.

Let’s start with the obvious. Super Bowl advertising is ridiculously expensive. According to AdAge, a 30-second spot in 2023 cost companies a record $7 million. SEVEN MILLION. That is a lot of zeros.

Luckily we live in a world where digital advertising has become the great equalizer. When you run a digital campaign, not only can ad minimums be significantly lower, but you also get more opportunities to target and more flexibility in how you spend dollars. Guess what, it’s no different for Super Bowl.

Using digital to get in the Super Bowl advertising game

This year we ran a digital Super Bowl campaign for our client, Pancho’s Dip. They wanted to increase brand awareness and worked with Minneapolis creative agency Griffin Archer to develop a series of 15- and 30-second spots featuring Vikings hall-of-famer, John Randle.

By taking a non-traditional approach to our media planning—focusing on CTV and YouTube vs. traditional television—we were able to drive millions of impressions at a significantly lower CPM, and keep our playbook flexible while we did it.

Targeted play. Using digital channels allowed us to target with pinpoint accuracy. We focused our spend on Pancho’s priority markets. We were also able to target specific segments of people who frequently hosted events, purchased chips, watched football, and were looking for easy and delicious snack foods.

Controlling the clock. Running an ad during the game wouldn’t be as effective for Pancho’s since they wanted people to buy dip before the game. Instead, we ran our ads for the six days leading up to the Super Bowl. This gave people plenty of time to get to the store and buy some delicious Pancho’s queso for their party.

Ability to change the game plan. Sticking to digital channels allowed for last-minute buys, and gave us the opportunity to shift dollars or rotate creative based on performance.

In the end, our client reached the right consumers at the right time with a memorable Super Bowl message. And they found a smarter, more efficient way to do it. That’s a win for digital, a win for Pancho’s, and a win for every lucky football fan with delicious Pancho’s Dip at their party.