Fox quickly sells out its inventory of 30-sec Super Bowl ad spots for $5.6 million each.... yes, you read that correctly.

Yes, more quickly than expected, Fox sold every 30-second spot for the upcoming Super Bowl for $5.6 million EACH, which is an all-time high​. And if you've ever watched the Super Bowl, you know there are a LOT of ads. 

Does it seem worth it? Or does it seem like a total waste of perfectly good marketing dollars? In honour of this news, I'm digging out [and updating] an old post about the value of expensive Super Bowl advertising, to re-open the conversation. Let me know what you think in the comments!...



In 2006 I distinctly remember being outraged that the Boston Red Sox paid $51 million just to negotiate with a promising Japanese pitcher named Daisuke Matsuzaka. "There's no way a pitcher who plays every fifth game is worth that!" I announced to anyone willing to listen. Then a colleague changed my thinking on baseball contracts...and subsequently on advertising costs...with one statement. "They expect to make that back in jersey sales alone" he said.  

Oh.  

I guess it's worth it then!  I'll shut up now.

The simple fact of the matter is that advertisers make their money back...and then some...for Super Bowl spots. Consider:

• More than 100 million people watch the Super Bowl. That's a lot.
• MORE THAN HALF of those people are watching JUST FOR THE ADS. Unlike any other program in the universe, people get up and make their sandwiches during game action so they don't miss the commercials! If you want to waste money on TV ads, buy spots on programs where viewers are making sandwiches while your ad is playing. I'm not even going to mention all the viewers that skip commercials using [the digital ad-blocking and playback recording options now available].
• Every ad gets countless mentions leading up to the game and even more re-runs after the game in the news media. It's next to impossible to count all the 'Best Super Bowl Ads' lists.
• Social media coverage and YouTube views can explode for the best ads. Forever. One of my all-time favourite ads - the Volkswagen Star Wars spot from 2011 - has [85 million] views and counting on YouTube. Update: the video has been removed from VW's YouTube page, but lives on on other YouTube channels.
• The retail channel makes more shelf space for products being advertised.
• Brand awareness skyrockets.

Forbes, who estimates the value of each spot at $10 million, believes the advertisers make their money back on brand recall alone.  

Much like the Red Sox making their investment back in jersey sales alone.

That, my friends, is the power of brand impressions, and the power of the Super Bowl.

YOUR TURN

Despite all this, many previous SuperBowl advertisers are backing out due to the hefty price tag. What's your take on the ROI of Super Bowl spots? 

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