Super Bowl Ads Offer ROI Measurement Challenges

Super Bowl commercials largely serve branding purposes, but there is ample opportunity for metrics-focused marketers. While the big game may not offer the same ease in calculating financial-based ROI metrics a direct marketing campaign does, there are measurements marketers can generate that validate the investment.

"The astonishing thing about Super Bowl advertising is that the demand for it keeps going up despite the fact that we are in a world of online marketing and media fragmentation," says Tim Calkins, clinical professor of marketing within the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. "I think one of the things that is happening is that marketers are better able to measure what they get for a Super Bowl ad." 

Calkins admits it is still difficult to tie sales directly to a Super Bowl commercial, but notes that the ads can be linked to shifts in web traffic, or bumps in friends or likes on Facebook. "All of this now makes it easier for marketers to justify the cost of the spot and the activities around it," he says. "So marketers use other metrics to think about the steps they might use to take a customer from being aware of a brand to a purchase."

These metrics can vary, depending on the purpose of the ad and the marketer's needs. If a new product is getting its first major advertising push during the Super Bowl, a marketer might rely on pre- and post-game brand awareness measurement. Similarly, products facing significant competitive threats could focus on trial metrics among new customers.

One obvious way of measuring a Super Bowl ad's effectiveness is through changes in traffic to designated web sites.

"The way companies are using URLs and online efforts has really changed during the past three to four years," says Calkins. "Companies used to run a Super Bowl ad and put the ULR at the bottom, or near the end. I suspect it did very little for them. Few people in the middle of watching the Super Bowl are going to leap up and put in a web site address," he adds, although the advent of mobile devices and tablets may change that dynamic in years to come.