Despite an $8M+ price tag, a Super Bowl ad's cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) of $60-$80 is comparable to LinkedIn's $35-$80 range. Given the Super Bowl's high engagement and cultural impact versus passive scrolling on social media, the relative value can be a strategic bargain for large brands.
The Super Bowl captures mass attention, making it a powerful marketing opportunity for all brands, not just consumer ones. By incorporating relevant themes, even "boring" B2B companies can significantly boost engagement because the topic is top-of-mind for their audience.
The widely reported $10M price for a Super Bowl ad slot is only one-third of the true cost. The other two-thirds are spent on production/talent and, crucially, the post-game 'drag factor'—a follow-up marketing campaign to convert initial awareness into actual sales.
Wix's CMO views expensive brand activities like Super Bowl ads through a dual lens. While building the brand is key, the investment must also generate a measurable spike in relevant user traffic to be considered successful. All marketing, regardless of type, must be treated as an investment.
While standard LinkedIn ad clicks cost $10-15, high-engagement 'Thought Leader Ads' are rewarded by the algorithm with significantly lower costs. Clicks can drop to $1-2, making the platform economically viable and even competitive with Facebook.
The price disparity isn't about viewership. Legacy TV ad buys are often part of complex, negotiated packages that include talent access and integrations. This "engagement model" is different from YouTube's biddable, auction-based system, keeping TV prices high despite weaker analytics.
Securing a Super Bowl commercial isn't a one-time payment. Networks often require advertisers to commit to a significant additional ad spend ("max spends") across their other programming throughout the year, making the total investment much larger than the spot price alone.
The Super Bowl is a massive cultural moment. Even 'boring' B2B marketers can capitalize on this by incorporating relevant themes and language into their campaigns, regardless of industry. This taps into audience top-of-mind awareness and can lead to a significant lift in engagement.
Peter Field's analysis, applying attention data to media costs, reveals TV's high value. With an average 14-second attention span versus 1.7 for in-feed ads, TV's attention-adjusted CPM is extremely low. It also captures over 50% of Gen Z's media consumption, busting the "TV is dead" myth.
For products valuable only when others use them (like credit cards or social apps), Super Bowl ads are uniquely effective. The value isn't just reaching many eyeballs, but ensuring those eyeballs know *other* eyeballs are also watching, solving the chicken-and-egg adoption problem.
While TV’s initial cost-per-thousand (CPM) seems higher than social media, the conclusion flips when adjusted for actual attentive seconds. Research shows TV’s attention-adjusted CPM becomes significantly lower than social's, making it a more cost-effective channel for capturing genuine viewer focus, even among Gen Z.