Millennials Influencing Super Bowl 50

Walking around San Francisco on the weekend of Super Bowl 50 was not only invigorating, but as a marketing practitioner it was captivating. During the Super Bowl even those that turn up their noses to football can be heard saying, “Well I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.” This is a golden opportunity to for companies to showcase their products and services to over 114 million viewers who are glued to their screens, but it's only awarded to those willing to pay as much as $5 million for a 30-second time slot.

Now, more than ever, there has been a dramatic shift in the way that the majority of people view the Super Bowl. Joe Martin from Adobe Digital Index sums this up perfectly in his article “Millennials and digital shifts will rule Super Bowl 50” . The shift in demographics caused by the upswing in the number of Millennials viewing the Super Bowl has provided marketing geniuses around the world with a golden opportunity to reach more people than ever, and invent new ways to get consumers to pick one commercial out of the barrage of commercials contained within the timespan of the game.


Image Source: Adobe Marketing Cloud

Even in the early days, advertisers have always made a push to be innovative and over the top for Super Bowl commercials. NPR highlights some of the top commercials, old and new, in their article Super Bowl Ads Past and Present. This year the major difference seems to be the number of celebrities appearing.



With so many eyes watching this event, advertisers cannot afford to make any mistakes. The days of static content are over, todays viewers are taking that content and sharing it online through social media. In order to win the hearts of the newest generation of adults, campaigns need to stand out. With the overwhelming amount of information at our fingertips, this generation can be tough to market to please. Marketing Drive recently posted an article discussing the things that brands need to do to win over this tough crowd.



A large part of a brand’s success weighs heavily on their ability to market themselves through mobile devices. The transition, as Joe pointed out, affecting how people are viewing the Super Bowl demands a more diverse marketing plan for portable devices to grab the attention of Millennials. Although, trying too hard may backfire quickly and this generation will write you off as unauthentic. Audi and the Onion achieved great success targeting millennial in a Snap Chat campaign just a few years ago: