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How Super Bowl Advertisers Can Go Beyond Traditional TV Advertising with Location Data

January 28, 2020

Are you ready for the Super Bowl LIV? But, more importantly – are you ready for those commercials? Since the 1970’s, ads have been a big part of the Super Bowl. From the Budweiser Clydesdales to Apple’s “1984” commercial, many companies have gotten a chance to have that precious 30 to 60 seconds of airtime. However, there has been a shift in the way Super Bowl viewers are consuming those ads. More Super Bowl viewers are preferring to watch the ads on social media. According to BWC, 58% of Super Bowl viewers preferred to watch the ads on Facebook before the game.

With the decline of Super Bowl TV viewership especially among adults aged 18-49, Super Bowl advertisers need to start thinking beyond the way they have always promoted their commercials. With location data, advertisers can go beyond traditional TV advertising.

How Super Bowl Advertisers Can Go Beyond Traditional TV Advertising with Location Data

Here are Gravy’s recommendations on how to move beyond traditional TV ads with location data:

Go Where the Superfans Are

Super Bowl advertisers shouldn’t just assume that the audience for their ad is just football fans. Location data can help them understand who their superfans are. By finding the superfans, advertisers can increase the precision of their audience targeting.

Let’s consider Doritos who is featuring rapper Lil Nas X in their Super Bowl ad this year. Lil Nas X’s fan base is active on social media and his country rap single, “Old Town Road,” is a viral hit. Doritos can use location data to target their ad campaign towards Lil Nas X fans. They could use Gravy Audiences such as ‘Hip Hop/Rap Fan’ or ‘Top 40 Music Fan’ to target music lovers who might like Lil Nas X’s music. By leveraging these audiences, Doritos can focus on targeting their ad campaign on Lil Nas X’s most popular channels, YouTube and Spotify.

Get Experimental with Experiences

Experiential marketing, such as pop-up shops, is another way that Super Bowl advertisers can engage consumers. How can Super Bowl advertisers determine the best area to set up their experience? They can conduct a foot traffic analysis based on location data. Not only can they use location data to conduct a foot traffic analysis on specific locations of interest, but they can also get an idea about consumers’ buying behavior. This allows them to make sure that the locations that they choose are appropriately suited for their experience.

For example, Planters announced the death of Mr. Peanut via social media, a teaser trailer, and press releases. While this has gone viral, there wasn’t much build up to the announcement. They could have created an experience in which Mr. Peanut does a cross country road trip and meets with his fans. Planters could take a look at the foot traffic data at football stadiums across the U.S. Based on foot traffic analysis, they would be able to determine when would be the best time for them to set up the meet and greet based on timestamps. If they find the most foot traffic happens during tailgating in the early afternoon before a game, then they would know that is the best time to schedule their experience.

Planters can also use location data to take a look at where else consumers, who have visited the football stadiums, go in the real world. They can use this data to determine if there is an overlap in consumers interested in snacks and football. Along with data gathered from the foot traffic analysis, this would allow Planters to be able to determine the best stadiums for Mr. Peanut to visit during his tour.

Go Digital with Billboards

Super Bowl advertisers can also use digital billboards for their advertising campaigns. Location data can be used to determine the best location for a digital billboard. Digital boards need to be in areas that can be easily seen. Based on traffic patterns gathered from location data, advertisers can determine where they can get the most exposure. In addition to traffic patterns, they can use event analytics to find the best venues for their ads. Location data can also be paired with additional information, such as sales data, to determine the best locations for out-of-home (OOH) advertising.

Take for example, Bud Light’s Super Bowl commercial featuring its alcoholic seltzer. Bud Light can use location data to determine where to put digital billboards promoting their seltzer. Based on sales data, they create a list of venues which sell the most Bud Light Seltzer. Then Bud Light can analyze location data around events at those venues to see if consumers show interest in alcoholic seltzer. Once Bud Light places their digital billboards at their selected venues, then they can geo-fence around their digital ad and retarget attendees after the event.

Get Smart with Connected TVs

Connected TV (CTV) is a great opportunity for Super Bowl advertisers. By 2023, it is expected that connected TV households will increase to 82%. With that in mind, Super Bowl advertisers need to be able to expand their campaigns into the CTV advertising space. This type of advertising allows them to target more precisely than traditional TV advertising. By using location data for CTV, Super Bowl advertisers can reach the exact audience they are looking.

For example, Avocados from Mexico’s Super Bowl ad features actor Molly Ringwald, who currently stars in CW’s Riverdale. Avocados from Mexico can use location data to determine which consumers might have visited a store which sells Riverdale merchandise such as Hot Topic. Once they have determined which consumers are visiting those stores, then they can target their campaign ads towards Riverdale fans’ Smart TVs.

Super Bowl advertisers shouldn’t just settle for traditional TV advertising. With location data, they can get their ad campaigns in front of a larger audience.