With Super Bowl advertisements running at a whopping $8 million per minute, one must wonder if it's actually worth it for companies to shell out the money necessary to grab a short spot during one of the world's most watched events. The ads that are shown during the Super Bowl are often considered to be among the most noteworthy and funny ads that ever make it to air. At those prices, they better be memorable. The question is, are those seeing the ads really affected by them enough to make the price tag pay off?
One thing worth noting is that ads from the Super Bowl often get replayed endlessly on social media sites such as YouTube, thus greatly expanding the amount of views received from any given ad and certainly adding some ammunition to those who say the money is well-spent.
But if history is any guide, there is also a major downside to the ads. According to research from Horizon Media, 42% of dot-coms went bankrupt within a year of advertising during the 2000 Super Bowl. Of course, that may be more related to the crashing tech bubble and the fact that people were irrationally exuberant about such start-ups to begin with, but it's still a stark fact.
On the positive side, online brokerage firm Etrade indicated that it saw a 32% increase in new accounts the week after its 2008 Super Bowl ad. The company's stock had dropped 80% that year, so the money spent on the ad may have been well-spent indeed. Similarly, CareerBuilder.com saw a 40% year-over-year growth after its 2011 ad. So the moral of the story is probably that the ads are worth it in some instances, but the timing and content of the ad is very important.
One thing worth noting is that ads from the Super Bowl often get replayed endlessly on social media sites such as YouTube, thus greatly expanding the amount of views received from any given ad and certainly adding some ammunition to those who say the money is well-spent.
But if history is any guide, there is also a major downside to the ads. According to research from Horizon Media, 42% of dot-coms went bankrupt within a year of advertising during the 2000 Super Bowl. Of course, that may be more related to the crashing tech bubble and the fact that people were irrationally exuberant about such start-ups to begin with, but it's still a stark fact.
On the positive side, online brokerage firm Etrade indicated that it saw a 32% increase in new accounts the week after its 2008 Super Bowl ad. The company's stock had dropped 80% that year, so the money spent on the ad may have been well-spent indeed. Similarly, CareerBuilder.com saw a 40% year-over-year growth after its 2011 ad. So the moral of the story is probably that the ads are worth it in some instances, but the timing and content of the ad is very important.
