Turning Fan Love into Brand Love A Suzy Research Whitepaper
February 2022
Table of Contents 3
Introduction: Why Live Sports Win
4-6
Consumer Overview: Sizing Up the Opportunity
7-8
Ads and Sponsorships: Turning Spectators into Consumers
9-14
Industry Deep Dives
15
What Else Can We Learn? Making the Most of Suzy’s Platform
16
Conclusion: A Look Ahead
Introduction: Why Live Sports Win Live sporting events are some of the last bastions of TV viewership. Though more and more Americans are cutting the cord, sports still consistently bring in an audience of millions. This year, more than 100 million viewers tuned in to watch the LA Rams win their second Super Bowl championship, making it the most-watched TV event since the beginning of the pandemic. That means televised games are one of the few remaining options that advertisers have to reach millions of eyeballs at the same time — driving up the value of ads on big events like the Super Bowl, Final Four, NFL Opening Weekend, and March Madness. Add to this the 2022 Winter Olympic Games happening in Beijing, and there are a plethora of slots for major US and global brands to advertise this year. And the opportunities extend past the TV screen. More and more consumers are “second screening” on their phones during games, posting to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter with their reactions and opinions — not just on the game, but on the halftime shows… and, of course, the ads. Advertisers have even more opportunity to get their brand in front of people through a variety of platforms.
But of course, there’s a catch. Networks are well aware of the increasing value of sportscasting, and ad prices are rising to match it. NBC, which holds the exclusive rights for Super Bowl LVI, is said to have asked between $6.5 and $7 million for a 30 second ad, according to Variety — over $1 million more than the $5.5 million that CBS charged last year! Rising ad prices coupled with pandemic revenue losses isn’t a great combo. Even mainstay Super Bowl advertisers like Coca-Cola, Mars-Wrigley, and Tide pulled out of the bidding this year to focus on more targeted options. It’s more important than ever to reassess how valuable live sporting events are for your brand. With so many people canceling their cable subscriptions, how many people are actually still tuning in live? And how many consumers are actually persuaded to purchase from brands that advertise during games? To answer these questions, Suzy ran a survey in late January asking 1,126 Americans about their live sports viewing habits. We weighted our results to reflect the US demographics, so advertisers can get the best picture of the whole country.
Consumer Overview: Sizing Up the Opportunity To understand the value of sports advertising for your brand, we first need to understand who’s watching what — and when. So how does the opportunity size up?
How many games have you watched in the past week? N=1126 / SOURCE: Suzy
1
32%
2
24%
3 4
7% 4%
5+
7%
Who’s watching?
51%
Just over half of Americans are sports fans. 51% of our survey respondents consider themselves sports fans where as a quarter (25%) are superfans.
74%
Three quarters (74%) of Americans tune in to sports weekly. 32% are content with one game but 24% watch “a few” and some watch three (7%), four (4%) or more (7%).
15%
Of those that watch sports, 35% watched only one or two hours a week (about a single game’s worth). Around 15% watched more than five hours of sports a week.
Consumer Overview: Sizing Up the Opportunity What are they watching?
59%
Football leads the charge with 59% tuning in to at least one game in the past year. Only basketball came close with 50%, followed by soccer at 35%.
12%
According to SambaTV, viewership for the Super Bowl was up 12% from last year with 36 million households tuned in compared to 32 million in 2021.
25%
Companies spent 25% more on Super Bowl ads this year, spending $545 million compared to $435 million for Super Bowl LV in 2021.
$
Deep Dive: Super Bowl
Deep Dive: Olympics
On average, networks run about 70 commercials during the Super Bowl, about 45 minutes of its roughly six-hour runtime. In a recent Suzy poll, 57% of respondents mentioned they paid attention to the commercials, compared to nearly 75% that paid attention to the halftime show and the game as a whole.
The Olympic games air over several weeks, giving brands the chance to advertise over and over, establishing themselves in consumers’ minds. AdAge estimated that NBC had over 15,000 ad units available during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. But that also means that unlike the Super Bowl, ad slots vary in cost and value depending on the time of day and what sport is airing.
The cost is high — up to $7 million per 30-second slot — but can be worth it. In 2021, the Wall Street Journal found that Super Bowl ads increased revenue by 10% to 15% per household in the weeks following the big game.
For this year’s Beijing Olympics, the value of advertising is also complicated by relations with China. Two thirds (67%) of Americans have “cold” feelings towards China, according to Pew Research Center. That caused some advertisers to lie low or opt to sponsor individual athletes instead of basing their campaigns around the Games as a whole, per Reuters.
Consumer Overview: Sizing Up the Opportunity Where are they watching? Games are usually enjoyed at home. 83% of respondents said that’s how they prefer to watch. Big events like the Super Bowl usually lend themselves to sports bars or friends’ houses, but the ongoing pandemic has changed those plans. This year, the majority of respondents (94%) watched the game either at their home or someone else’s.
Where are people’s eyes when they watch? They’re not always glued to the TV. Unsurprisingly, engagement in live sporting events has dropped due to the advent of smartphones. According to a Suzy survey, 63% of 2022 Super Bowl viewers were on their phones during the big game. Of that group, 61% said they were browsing through social media.
On the one hand, that adds a “second screen” marketers can use to engage consumers past the TV set. However, according to a survey by Suzy, close to half of respondents do not engage with brands on social media during said games. But those that do are more likely to purchase a product that is sponsored or advocated by a sports team or individual athlete.
Ads and Sponsorships: Turning Spectators Into Consumers Both fans and non-fans tune in to major events. But do they like the commercials that play in between? And what about sponsorships — how do people feel about the energy drinks their favorite players are guzzling down? Ads A fifth (21%) of Super Bowl viewers tried a product for the first time after watching an ad. It may not seem like much, but if 95 million people are watching the big game, and 21% of those people are influenced to purchase a product due to advertising during the game, that’s a dream for any brand. Plus, keep in mind that most Super Bowl advertisers are already household names and return advertisers — it’s unlikely very many people are trying Pepsi for the first time after seeing a Super Bowl commercial. Grabbing the attention of that 21% is more important for newcomers like Planet Fitness and Crypto.com, who made their debut this year.
Keep it funny! In a Campaign US poll, 92.3% of respondents said they prefer commercials that make them laugh.
People were most likely to try new food, beer, and clothing brands. Certain industries’ products make sense with the mood and tone of sporting events. Ordering food and drinking beer is common at watch parties, which makes it unsurprising that among those that did try new products, 49% said they tried a new fast food place, and 46% said they tried a new grocery food brand. Beer was close behind at 40%. Meanwhile, sports-focused clothing and shoe brands resonate with audiences. Clothing (33%) and shoes (31%) were the most common first-time purchases after food and beer. And when we asked our respondents an open-ended question about which brands they’d like to see advertise more during sporting events, Nike and Adidas were the two most common answers. WHAT NEW PRODUCT DID YOU BUY AFTER SEEING AN AD FOR IT IN THE SUPER BOWL? FAST FOOD
49%
GROCERY FOOD
46% 40%
BEER CLOTHING SHOES
33% 31%
Ads and Sponsorships: Turning Spectators Into Consumers Sponsorships Sponsoring a sports team or player can be quite pricey -- CNBC reported that deals with the NFL can cost between $10 million and $300 million a year. But in some cases, they can be even more effective than running an ad. 39% of respondents to our survey said they were at least slightly likely to buy a product endorsed by a team, league, or individual athlete, compared to 34% who said the same about products being advertised during games. But sponsorships also present a different set of challenges and opportunities than a standard 30-second ad spot. They can run across multiple channels, for as short a time as a halftime show to as long as several years. Not to mention their success can also depend on the success of the team or player being sponsored — or even just how passionate their fanbase is! HOW LIKELY ARE YOU TO THE PURCHASE PRODUCTS BEING ADVERTISED DURING TELEVISED SPORTS? 33%
10%
VERY UNLIKELY
UNLIKELY
6%
9%
16%
SLIGHTLY UNLIKELY
SLIGHTLY LIKELY
NEUTRAL
9%
16%
LIKELY
VERY LIKELY
HOW LIKELY ARE YOU TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT THAT'S BEEN ENDORSED BY A TEAM OR AN ATHLETE? 24%
10%
VERY UNLIKELY
UNLIKELY
6% SLIGHTLY UNLIKELY
Depending on your company’s industry and goals, sponsorships may work just as well as — or even better than — a standard ad. The same industries whose commercials tend to be received well are also the most ripe for sponsorships. More than half (53%) of our respondents said food products were appropriate sponsors of sports teams and events, and beer also ranked highly (43%). However, there were some industries that didn’t drive purchases with commercials, but our respondents ranked highly as sponsors. This includes car brands (49%) and telecommunications companies (44%), which makes sense given the price of their products. For these companies, looking to drive broad awareness with sponsorships instead of immediate purchases with commercials may be the way to go.
20% NEUTRAL
11% SLIGHTLY LIKELY
10%
18%
LIKELY
VERY LIKELY
Take advantage of the multichannel nature of sponsorships. Social media was the most common channel our respondents noticed brand sponsorships, with 42% saying they had seen a sponsorship on a social site. Sports websites (35%), events (34%), and physical spaces like the stadium (34%) were also common spots to see sponsorships. Running campaigns across all these channels can broaden reach significantly. Marketers can also look outside traditional channels and target niche fandom spaces. For many sports fans, being a fan doesn’t just mean watching the games. It also means engaging with the sport in other ways, like listening to the radio or podcasts and chatting with other fans online. Sponsoring something like a sports podcast means your brand can reach a dedicated audience of fans. Plus, unlike sponsoring a team or player, you don’t have to pick sides!
Industry Deep Dive: Alcohol & Spirits Over the decades, beer has become nearly synonymous with the Super Bowl, along with chicken wings and nachos. In 2019, Americans spent $1.2 billion in the two weeks before the Super Bowl and another $1 billion day-of, according to Nielsen. But outside the big game, beer has declined from 78% of the US alcohol market in 2017 to an estimated 68% in 2021, according to industry tracker IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. That just means that the Super Bowl and other big sporting events are a way for beer brands to reach an audience that’s especially receptive to their products. Among consumers that had purchased a product for the first time after seeing a Super Bowl commercial, 40% had purchased a beer brand, ranking it third on the list. More broadly, 43% of respondents to our survey said beer brands were appropriate sponsors for sporting events or athletes. Hard liquor has its place, too: 30% of Americans said Spirits brands were appropriate sports sponsors, and 19% of those who purchased something due to a Super Bowl ad had purchased a new kind of hard liquor.
The Olympics are a bit trickier. For one, the past two haven’t been the hottest for alcohol brands. Last year, Tokyo Olympics organizers banned alcohol sales in the venue despite sponsorship from local brands like Asahi, and this year, advertisers of all kinds have stayed away due to the human rights crisis in China. Even aside from that, some brands are just finding that the Olympics don’t reach as desirable an audience as the Super Bowl does. In 2016, Budweiser ended its sponsorship of Team USA after a whopping 32 years. An AB InBev exec told Ad Age that the winter games just didn’t line up with the “key consumption period” of beer, and the summer games’ older and more female-leaning viewership didn’t line up with its male target audience.
40% of Americans who bought something after seeing an ad for it in the Super Bowl bought beer
So, what does this mean for the alcohol industry? Beer and spirit brands are some of the biggest shoe-ins for Super Bowl ads and sponsorships -- fans respond well to them, and they’re likely to get a lot out of ad spots despite rising costs. For events with larger demographic spreads, the opportunity changes a bit -- but it’s still there. For example, beer is more than twice as popular among men versus women, according to Statista. But that just means that events with more female viewership, like the Olympics, have more opportunities for other alcohol categories like hard seltzers, pre-made cocktails, or canned wines -- all categories that grew strongly in 2021.
Industry Deep Dive: Food & Beverage Forbes prefaced it best in a recent article when they said, “The Super Bowl is to the food industry what Christmas is to retailers.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest U.S. food consumption day, surpassed only by Thanksgiving. Unsurprisingly, when we asked consumers which industries were the most appropriate sponsors of the Super Bowl, more than half (53%) of respondents named food products, putting it at the top of the list. And 46% of our respondents had tried a grocery food product for the first time because of a Super Bowl ad, beaten out only by fast-food companies.
53% of Americans think food products make sense as sponsors for teams, athletes, and games
But that hasn’t stopped some of the biggest food & beverage advertisers, like Mars-Wrigley and Coca-Cola, from sitting out this year’s Super Bowl. The companies have opted to allocate their budgets towards more targeted marketing or towards digital alternatives, like interactive social media campaigns. On the other hand, the longer timeframe and the more diverse audience of the Olympics games can be appealing to some food and beverage advertisers -- it depends on whether a brand is angling more for performance or building awareness.
The National Chicken Council estimated Americans consumed
1.42 billion chicken wings during the Super Bowl this year
What does this mean for food & beverage advertisers? In general, sports advertisements are a good investment for food & beverage brands. They have the potential to be hard-hitters for the food industry, especially during games where people are gathering to eat and drink. Still, it may not be worth it for everyone -- brands still need to think carefully about their goals. The Super Bowl has a massive audience, and while that can be appealing to brands that want to see broad reach, sometimes a more targeted approach is warranted. If even the largest Super Bowl advertisers are stepping back and reassessing, it’s probably a good idea for everyone to do so. If that assessment turns out positive -- great! There are tons of options, and marketers should also research how their ads would perform with audiences of different sporting events, like basketball, soccer, or at the Olympics.
Industry Deep Dive: Tech/Consumer Electronics Tech companies like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft are becoming a familiar sight for those watching live sporting events, especially the Super Bowl. More recently, tech companies like Hulu, DraftKings, and even cryptocurrency companies will take some ad time as well. But is advertising during the Super Bowl advantageous for these companies?
Tech shines especially well when combining TV ads with digital ads, a practice that’s growing more common with the rise in second-screening. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy Tokyo 2020 Media Center consolidated highlights from last year’s Olympics games for fans to watch on their devices later.
In our survey, 40% of respondents said that tech companies were appropriate sponsors for sporting events, teams, or athletes.But among consumers that had purchased a product for the first time after seeing a Super Bowl commercial, only 19% of respondents had bought a new tech product. Of course, that discrepancy could be explained by the high cost of tech products compared to more popular categories like food or beer. As Americans continue dealing with financial hardships from the pandemic, tech companies need to tread especially carefully to make sure they are setting the right tone when it comes to their ads.
40% of Americans think tech companies make sense as sponsors for teams, athletes, and games
What should tech take away from all of this? Many tech companies are mainstay sports advertisers, and for good reason. Though their ads may drive fewer purchases than other categories, those purchases go a longer way. And tech platforms are especially primed to capture the attention of the many who engage on social media and other digital platforms while they watch games. That might even entail not advertising during TV events at all, and instead opting to reach a sports audience through digital means, like sports podcasts or online discussion communities. Regardless of the approach, there are clear opportunities for tech companies in sports advertising in all its forms, from splash-worthy Super Bowl ad slots to experiential digital campaigns.
Industry Deep Dive: Retail The sheer size of the retail category makes it difficult to make any broad-stroke claims about the industry’s sports advertising opportunities as a whole, but there are some clear standouts. Clothing and shoe brands, in particular, are among the most successful Super Bowl advertisers. Among consumers that had purchased a product for the first time after seeing a Super Bowl commercial, 33% purchased a new clothing product, and 31% purchased a new pair of shoes, according to our survey. Meanwhile, brands like Nike, Adidas, and Puma made up half of the brands mentioned when we asked an open-ended question about which brands respondents wanted to see advertise more during sports games. Nike was also the brand most heavily associated with the Olympics, according to a Morning Consult poll.
So why don’t they give consumers what they want and advertise more? It’s not that simple. According to RetailWire, the boost in sales after airing a Super Bowl ad is minimal -- rather, the biggest benefit may be the boost in brand awareness. A study from the University of Minnesota Carlson School found that advertisers generally saw a 68% increase in online word-of-mouth the day of the Super Bowl and a 22% increase in online and offline word-of-mouth the week after the Super Bowl.
33% of Americans who bought something after seeing an ad for it in the Super Bowl bought clothing
What should retail companies do? Activewear clothing and shoe brands and sports ads seem like a match made in heaven, and on the consumer side, they certainly make sense together. For the largest clothing and shoe brands, advertising during big sporting events may make sense just for the buzz. But if long-term brand awareness is the goal, sponsorships or extended campaigns for longer events like the Olympics may be a better match than one-off ads. As for other retailer categories, the success of a campaign is far less guaranteed. That’s not to say there are no opportunities there -- but sports ads may require more research and consideration before deciding if they’re right for your brand.
Industry Deep Dive: Quick Service Restaurants QSRs like McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s are some of the most consistent advertisers during the Super Bowl and other live sporting events. It makes sense -- fast food was a clear winner in our survey. Among consumers that had purchased a product for the first time after seeing a Super Bowl commercial, 49% said they tried a new fast food product, the highest of any category we asked about. Is it worth it? Hard to say. Cuebiq foot traffic data from 2018 showed that in-store traffic bumps ranged from Wendy’s 3.3% bump to Jack in the Box’s barely-there 0.5% increase. But we live in a different world now, where delivery apps have become so much a part of our daily lives and eating habits that the apps themselves are running their own Super Bowl ads! Game-day delivery promotions have been popular since 2019 and have only risen through the ranks during the pandemic as delivery has become a need, not a want.
Though the Super Bowl has a reputation for indulgence in greasy foods, the sentiment doesn’t carry over to all sporting events. For example, as part of McDonald's’ sponsorship of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the chain offered free meals for athletes in the Olympic Village -- but some public health campaigners criticized their presence, calling them irresponsible. However, there are other ways to go about it. Chipotle’s TikTok Timeout campaign leading up to the 2020 Super Bowl offered free delivery on orders greater than $10 every Sunday in February, inviting fans to lean back and pig out on burritos while watching the games. On the flip side, it began running its first-ever athlete-sponsored ads in the lead-up to last year’s Tokyo Olympics, emphasizing the healthy qualities of its food.
49% of Americans who bought something after seeing an ad for it in the Super Bowl bought fast food
What does this mean for QSRs? Consider your brand’s goals -- do you want people associating eating your food with big sporting events, or do you care more about getting consumers through the door later down the line? Do you want to create immediate value with game-day promotions or run a broader brand awareness campaign? Then, consider the audience: Indulgence-seeking partygoers or health-conscious sports fans? Younger digital natives, like Chipotle aimed for with its TikTok campaign, or tried and true TV viewers? Because of the breadth of sports advertising and sponsorship opportunities, all of these are possible -it’s just a matter of narrowing down what would best serve your brand. Partnering with delivery apps can boost sales immediately on big game days, while sponsorships with individual athletes or teams avoid creating an association with a single event and can lend themselves to longer-term brand-building.
Industry Deep Dive: Automotive Auto companies like BMW, General Motors, Kia, Toyota, and Lexus featured heavily in this year’s Super Bowl, and for good reason. In our survey, we asked which industries were the most appropriate sponsors of athletes, teams, or sports leagues. Car brands ranked just under food brands, with 49% of respondents agreeing they made sense as sponsors. But just 15% of respondents who had purchased something for the first time due to a Super Bowl ad had purchased a car. Of course, that makes sense -- cars are huge commitments. But it does beg the question of just how much value auto companies are gaining from sports ads and whether more value can be had elsewhere.
Still, for car companies that are still struggling with revenue loss during the pandemic, it can be hard to justify spending $7 million -- or likely more in the future -- on a Super Bowl Ad. And Evans’ sentiment can ring true for other sporting events, where prices are elevated (not as high as the Super Bowl, though!) but return on investment may be lower due to the smaller audience.
49% of Americans think automotive companies make sense as sponsors for teams, athletes, and games
Ex-Hyundai CMO Dean Evans told Ad Age that TV ads can sometimes be too broad to reach the small percentage of Americans that are shopping for a car at any given time, though he did call out that the Super Bowl was an outlier.
What does this mean for car companies? Sporting events can be useful tools to reach massive numbers of Americans, and the Super Bowl audience, in particular, has an enthusiasm for auto brands that makes it a good fit. That’s great news for auto companies with big budgets to spend looking to make a splash, but not so great for those still reeling from the pandemic. For those companies, putting that money toward other sales like President’s Day might make more sense.
What Else Can We Learn? At Suzy, we know that needs of every brand are different. Maybe your consumers are more or less likely to watch sports than the average American. Or maybe your goals are better served with a sponsorship instead of a 30-second commercial. Whatever you need to know, we can help you find out. Our mix of qualitative and quantitative data in one integrated system delivers fine-tuned insights to help you understand every facet of your consumer. Need results fast? Our live surveys can get you answers in less than 48 hours. Want in-depth insights? With Suzy Live, you can speak to consumers one on one. Need to test drive your product? Suzy Home will send your product to a consumer so they can give you feedback. When it comes to how consumers respond to live sports advertising, there’s a lot more to learn! Here are just a few examples of other questions you can ask with Suzy:
What tone of an advertisement would make you more likely to purchase?
Does a celebrity endorsement make you more likely to purchase a product?
The funniest Super Bowl ads tend to be the ones discussed the most at the water cooler the next day. But humor may not be the right tone to strike for every brand or for every sporting event.
Celebrity endorsements can help when it comes to advertising during sporting events, but it depends on who the celebrity is — and who their fans are.
Which sporting event is the best for your advertising goals? If you advertise during the Super Bowl, you get one shot in front of millions. With the Olympics, you may not get as many viewers, but you have the ability to run many commercials over that week or two that tell your brand story.
A Look Ahead Ads during the biggest games like the Super Bowl or the Olympics and sponsorships of teams and players, have the ability to speak to millions of consumers at once and get people excited to support your brand. With TV audiences continuing to wane, major sporting events like these will continue to grow in importance for marketers looking to achieve broad reach. As a result, commercials during big games are likely to keep climbing in price — but that’s because networks know they can drive meaningful results for the brands that make use of them. Of course, while ads have the potential to drive great results, it’s not a guarantee. Rising prices means it will only become more important for marketers to keep a close eye on consumers: their level of interest in sports, what brands they want to hear from during games, what tone they want to see in commercials. That’s why at Suzy, we’re committed to helping your brand keep your finger on the pulse. Our research can get you insights on all of the above and even more, so you can be sure you’re getting the best return on investment — whether you’re running a 30-second spot or sponsoring the Super Bowl halftime show.
Want to learn more about Suzy? Reach out to us at suzy@suzy.com