Ad Effectiveness Insights from Super Bowl 2024 & How To Understand the Impact of New CTV App-Streamed Live Events

Author: Daniel Tjondronegoro - Beatgrid Co-Founder

With the live event broadcasting landscape rapidly evolving, especially in Connected TV (CTV) platforms, accurately measuring advertising impact remains a challenge. Traditional methods struggle to capture the true value of ads on these platforms, highlighting the need for precise measurement solutions. CTV apps are potent platforms for promoting live events, offering compelling avenues for advertisers to engage audiences. However, challenges persist, particularly in measurement. The absence of robust cross-media measurement tools capable of accurately gauging CTV reach and brand lift -especially during one-off live events- is a pressing concern. Analyzing data and success stories from events reveals enduring strategies for brands across traditional and CTV mediums.

With Super Bowl 2024 now a distant memory and as the rest of the world looks towards 2025 and beyond, the measurement of live events is poised for a significant transformation whether Taylor Swift turns up or not. However, with its grand spectacle and massive audience, the Super Bowl (streamed on Paramount+ and even the Wildcard game also broadcasted on a CTV app, Peacock) continues to provide invaluable insights for brands, applicable to CTV app live events, like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, or Alcaraz vs. Nadal on Netflix, among others. Analysis from the Super Bowl underscores the significant impact of advertising at the beginning of the brand funnel that can serve as valuable earrings for advertisers that want to bet their ad budget on such CTV platforms’ live events.

Our analysis from this year’s Super Bowl showed that advertising has the most effect at the beginning of the brand funnel - being exposed to the ads around the Super Bowl led to an increase in awareness (on average +4.12% for the included brands) for most of the high-reach campaigns. This emphasizes the importance of strategic ad placement and message delivery across both traditional linear mediums and CTV platforms.

Despite the challenges posed by fragmentation, the sustained allure of live TV, especially for events like the Super Bowl, cannot be underestimated. Still, the high stakes associated with securing ad inventory for such events emphasize the ongoing relevance of live TV as a powerful medium for event-based advertising. But, TV’s relevance is a double-edged sword, offering unparalleled audience engagement opportunities while also demanding more sophisticated measurement and strategy approaches to fully capitalize on its potential. However, the fact that advertisers are willing to invest heavily in Super Bowl commercials, demonstrates the reach and impact that these mega-events continue to promise. 

The Super Bowl is strangely unique in how it sits on the advertising stage, it is not only a culmination of everything learned so far, but it also serves as a critical testing ground for multichannel advertising strategies, offering insights into the future of the industry. Brands must embrace the multi-channel/cross-screen advertising approach to reach all desired audiences, including difficult-to-reach cohorts like 18 to 24s, 25 to 34s, or the Latinx community. The need for precise and reliable metrics to measure CTV app incrementality vs. linear reach on live events is more important than ever. Amidst this transformative landscape, the limitations of current measurement methodologies become evident. The reliance on CTV apps' DSPs to measure reach and aggregated channel reach data offers an incomplete picture, leaving brands to navigate these waters with fragmented insights - and let’s not even get started on the ad effectiveness and brand lift measurement side of things - the picture is even more incomplete.

In addition to advancing technologies, advertisers must recognize the critical elements for successful advertising campaigns during live events on CTV apps to elevate brand recognition and resonate with audiences effectively. It's essential to appreciate events like the Super Bowl as occasions for communal enjoyment, offering valuable insights into themselves. 

When comparing Uber Eats and DoorDash in the flash delivery service market, intriguing trends emerge. Uber Eats’ advertisement boasts higher spontaneous recall (unaided awareness: +3.4% vs +-0.2% for DoorDash), while DoorDash sees a notable increase in consumer consideration (+7.5% vs -2.4% for Uber Eats). These differing approaches underscore the importance of balancing humor with relevance to consumer needs. Analysis of various ad types, including celebrity endorsements, humor, and direct messaging, reveals Dunkin as a standout performer. Its ad achieves significant gains in both awareness (+8.4%) and consideration (+7.5%), credited to cohesive brand identity, humor, celebrity involvement, and clear product presentation. 

These insights underscore the critical elements for successful advertising campaigns during live events on CTV apps, emphasizing the importance of resonating effectively with audiences and elevating brand recognition. Understanding events like the Super Bowl as opportunities for communal enjoyment provides valuable insights, enabling advertisers to leverage data-driven strategies to enhance their impact. Additionally, the future of advertising in live events hinges on innovation, precise measurement, and personalized audience connection, ensuring messages resonate deeply. The proliferation of channels and the complexities of ad-supported CTV apps present challenges in determining where to invest ad funds. 

However, the beauty of it is that now CTV apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ and others, and their live events, can be measured, not only in terms of reach but also in terms of brand lift and the overall ad impact of such campaigns. As Linear TV fades away, leaving CTV as the main force for broadcasting shows and live events, understanding the value of investing in CTV measurement becomes paramount.