LAS VEGAS, USA — Around 123.4 million people tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, a new record for Super Bowl viewership.
For the advertising industry, the game served as one of the biggest showcases of the year for creative work; and this year, brands pulled out all the stops, with teaser commercials, influencer marketing campaigns, social touch points across media platforms, and even exclusive ads displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere.
With new entertainment and media channels readily available to consumers, the Super Bowl has become more than just a Sunday. It’s a full-on pop culture phenomenon – from comedic TV commercials to strategic multi-media campaigns, this year’s game was full of fun surprises.
The Super Bowl is one of the most competitive media buys of the year, and securing coveted space for this premium audience is crucial. For LVIII, creative network WPP and its agencies went all out. Led by GroupM media agencies and its planning experts, the group brought to life activations for Adidas, Ally, The Coca-Cola Company, Duracell, Mars and Google (EssenceMediacom), DoorDash, Danone and the US Navy (Wavemaker), Nestlé (OpenMind) and Booking.com, Dove, Hellmann’s, Nerds, and the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (Mindshare).
Here are a few other WPP work examples featured in this year’s Big Game:
Ogilvy: Verizon
Verizon, Beyoncé and Ogilvy collaborated to create Can’t B Broken, and put the Verizon’s network to the test in the biggest way possible, on the biggest stage, with the biggest icon there is. Beyoncé breaks the internet, but can she break the network?
WPP Onefluence: CeraVe
Skincare brand CeraVe made its Super Bowl debut this year with the help of WPP Onefluence, a bespoke WPP agency team led by Ogilvy PR in North America. After rumors had spread about the real mastermind of the CeraVe brand following public sightings and videos on social media of celebrity Michael Cera, the L’Oréal team set the record straight during the game.
Ogilvy UK and Mindshare: Dove
With a new 30-second ad that raises awareness of the effect of body insecurities experienced by young girls in sports, Dove returned to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2006. Created with Ogilvy UK, the Hard Knocks spot introduced the brand’s Body Confident Sports program, offerings tools by Dove and Nike to instill body confidence in girls aged 11 to 17, and help #KeepHerConfident.
Grey New York: Pringles
Pringles returned for its seventh Super Bowl appearance with a 30-second spot starring actor Chris Pratt as “Mr. P,” the ever-present mascot for the brand. What started as an innocent remark from a convenience-store clerk noting that Pratt bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr Pringles soon spiraled into a viral phenomenon.
VML and Mindshare: Hellmann’s Mayo
With the help of VML (lead creative), and Mindshare (media buying and planning), Hellmann’s was back to encourage Americans to “make taste not waste,” and this time they had the help of a rather furry spokesperson.
Accompanied by comedians Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson, the feline star Mayo Cat was on a mission to save the leftovers.
Ogilvy: Total by Verizon
Total by Verizon, a wireless provider from Verizon, joined the ranks of advertisers looking to reach Latino audiences with a 30-second spot on the nation’s largest Spanish-language TV network, Univision. The spot was directed by comedian, producer, and musician Fred Armisen and featured creative work from Ogilvy.
VML and Wavemaker: The U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy aired spots in key regional markets throughout the United States during the Big Game, working with Wavemaker (media) and VML (creative). In addition to new creative work centered around the Navy Reserves, commercials from the Navy’s Forged by the Sea campaign amplified some of the many tasks of Navy sailors, ranging from tracking storms to flying fighters off an aircraft carrier.
Ogilvy Canada: H&R Block Canada
Through a comical depiction of different “certainties” that people experience in life, H&R Block and Ogilvy Canada emphasized the reliable certainty that the brand will help get Canadians the maximum tax refund, guaranteed.
Ogilvy: Audi
Luxury vehicle manufacturer Audi aired a spot exclusively on Univision. Audi and Ogilvy worked with Wes Walker, featured on Free the Work’s Super Bowl shortlist, to make his Super Bowl directorial debut. The fully Spanish ad, titled What Drives Us, kicked off the brand’s debut campaign created for Spanish-language consumers and premiered on the night of the Big Game.
VML: Progressive
This year’s Super Bowl game went to overtime for only the second time in history, and Progressive Insurance kicked it off with their “Watch Party” commercial, created by VML.
