The smell of buffalo chicken dip bubbling in the slow cooker meets the sweet crackle of your partner opening a White Claw and a Bud heavy as you flip on the TV. The back of your jersey creases as you lean back on the couch and smile – it’s here.
67% of American adults tune in to watch the Big Game.
To most, it’s a pretty special Sunday steeped in tradition. To advertisers, it’s a downright holiday. We make bingo cards with squares like “I pitched that concept and it got killed” and “Made me wish I work at W+K for the 3rd time tonight.” Slack is at the ready for live critiquing with coworkers. And for those of us who are also football fans, we’re in for a long night of deciding which two minutes we can sacrifice for a bathroom break.
Ad inventory was slower to sell than years past, but still virtually sold out, with many spots going to first-timers. This small sign of positivity is something the ad industry wasn’t sure would materialize after everything that’s happened since LIV. But, while the still-high price tags make 2021 look like a normal year for Big Game advertising, it by no means is. Brands always try to craft ads that will resonate with something deep in the psyche of American consumers, but that’s easier said than done following 2020.
Consumers are wearing their emotions on their sleeves (and their internet behavior). Their habits, behaviors, and opinions have moved like tectonic plates since March, on a scale from slight murmurs to major social earthquakes. The line between an authentic and a tone-deaf ad will be thinner than the blades of grass on the field. Now more than ever, advertisers must deeply understand the 150 million Americans who are likely to tune in.
Meet Your Audience
Big Game watchers are 52% male, and their ages and household incomes are both evenly spread across the board.
As many will be watching with just their household this year, who does that involve? 58% of these fans are married and 31% are single. 58% have no children under 18, while 39% have 1-3 kids running around and asking to stay up for the halftime show.
The personal values driving this group’s everyday decisions and purchases are:
- Pleasure – enjoying life’s pleasures
- Stimulation – living a life full of excitement, novelties, and challenges
- Dependability – being reliable and trustworthy
As for the products they buy, the Resonate Ignite Platform™ shows these consumers have the following purchase drivers:
Source: Resonate Ignite Platform™
Insight 1: They’re itching to return to their active lifestyles
As vaccines become widely available (and PSA campaigns work to get vaccine-resistant Americans on board), this group will be among the first buying tickets to events.
In their free time, compared to the average American, these folks are:
- 68% more likely to enjoy going to the movies – cinematic style ads with a rich plot could hit the spot
- 63% more likely to attend professional sporting events
- 62% more likely to cite Asics as one of their top brands, 38% for Patagonia
- 41% more likely to go to theme parks
- 36% more likely to travel internationally, 25% domestically
- 35% more likely to compete on a sports team
- 33% more likely to enjoy going to museums
- 31% more likely to gamble/go to casinos
Sports fan are active? Groundbreaking, we know, but still a good reminder for brands in this category to play up the perks of an active lifestyle.
Insight 2: They’re politically perceptive
With the rise of consumer activism and demand for corporate civic responsibility, more brands have used their multi-million-dollar media space to make a statement to a captivated audience. While pleasing everyone is a moot endeavor, brands looking to make a politically charged statement should keep in mind where this audience stands.
Politically, these fans are:
- 14% more likely to fall into the Left-Wing Loyalists voter segment
- 7% more likely to be Persuadable Progressives
- 4% more likely to be Absolute Activists
- 2% more likely to be America-First Populists
And they prefer companies that:
- Provide safe products
- Support the community
- Have truthful ads
After a tumultuous election year, political messaging will surely make it into this game’s ads. This audience will likely be perceptive to this as they’re active in politics – they’re 11% more likely to frequently vote in non-presidential elections.
Insight 3: Their media preferences outside of football are varied
Outside of the Big Game, here’s a peek at the media this audience likes to consume, compared to the average American adult.
Source: the Resonate Ignite Platform™
Will the heartstring-pull work after a year like 2020?
Following the slew of “we’re in these unprecedented times together” ads of spring 2020, will ads that strike a similar tone be met with diverted, rolling, or welling eyes? Questions like these can be answered when you have access to fresh data that goes deep into the values, habits, motivations, and aspirations that make them who they are.
The Resonate Ignite Platform™ has 13,000+ of these insights scaled with AI to over 200 million consumer profiles, ready for you to analyze for the audience you’d like to reach. Request a demo to see it in action.
