This week H&M announced that it will air its first-ever Super Bowl ad.
H&M will use the time to support the global launch of its David Beckham Bodywear Collection, which will be in stores in early February.
Although Super Bowl advertising is still largely a U.S. phenomenon, the Super Bowl is clearly becoming a global event.
Football, in general, is much bigger in the U.S. than in other countries. Similarly, when it comes to Super Bowl ads, game night advertising historically isn’t as big a deal to viewers outside the States. In part, international advertisers don’t treat the Super Bowl as a big deal, so the hype overseas may not reach the same heights when compared to American viewers.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Super Bowl is the biggest single marketing event in the world. I suspect it isn’t a coincidence that H&M scheduled its big product launch to perfectly align with the timing of the Super Bowl. This may be a signal that the Super Bowl is starting to shape the global marketing industry.
Also, I suspect that as time goes on, more marketers will focus on global product launches, and this dynamic will make the Super Bowl even more valuable for global brands. H&M is just the beginning.
I concur with Tim’s post that Super Bowl advertising remains a unique and largely U.S. phenomenon. I also think it’s worth adding that one thing that helps make the Super Bowl such an important event in the United States is that, at least for 24 hours following the game, Super Bowl commercials are a media darling. The news media’s interest in Super Bowl commercials—both the one’s that warm the heart and the ones that absolutely fail—add luster to the event. And, outside of the media coverage of the event, it’s also interesting to note that over half of consumers may find themselves more interested in the commercials than the specific teams playing, according to Nielsen.
With this in mind, it begs the question: How global can the spots on the Super Bowl become? After all, memorable Super Bowl spots sometimes work because they speak to pop culture of the United States. Of course, if the event becomes more global, it is not written in the playbook that the same spots have to be shown, as long as the same hype can be built. However, as we think about some of the barriers that have kept the focus of the Super Bowl commercials more national, these are likely culprits.
So, if Tim’s suspicions are correct, it will be interesting to see how the Super Bowl will be used for more global launches both in the creative strategy and the broader media plans.
Great blog, I saw an interesting article from the University of Wisconsin regarding Super Bowl advertising and the impact of using sex to promote products and brands. Specifically, are the ads more “likable” or less liked when they use sexy content? http://marketing-heretic.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-superbowl-advertisements-selling.html
One obstacle for Super Bowl ads to become more global is the fact that advertising placement still happens on a national level. Foreign networks that do broadcast the Super Bowl live show their own local ads, not the American ones, during commercial breaks. The internet helps to mitigate some of this by allowing ways to watch the US broadcast online or making the ads available after the game on news and video sharing websites. But it’s still a different experience than watching it live on a TV screen.