Super Bowl Ad or Social Influencer Campaign?

If you are a marketer, you may be for the Falcons, or the Pats, or your indifference about the outcome of the Super Bowl may only be eclipsed by your apathy.

One matter that remains of interest is how to best communicate your brand proposition to the consumer.

You could buy a Super Bowl ad. Pretty good idea. Many watch the game for the commercials. It’s been reported that a thirty second spot for Super Bowl LI costs $5 million dollars. 112 million viewers are expected for the big game. So if every viewer sees your spot, the CPM (cost per 1000 consumers reached) is about $45. 45 cents per consumer. Assuming every viewer sees your spot.

Orrrrrrrr….

You could run a robust social media influencer campaign. There are a couple of key differences between consumers viewing a social media blog and those watching the Big Game. The blog readers are intentional: they want to be there, they are looking for ideas, and they, by and large, trust the bloggers they are reading. They are probably less distracted by making sure the beer is cold, the wings are hot, and that the chip bowl is full. And they have probably consumed not as much beer.

Oh ya, and the cost. One major social media company, Pollinate Media Group, has a network of thousands of experienced, highly followed, and vetted bloggers. Pollinate will coordinate a robust, thorough and targeted campaign that gets your message out for an OPP (opening price point) of $25,000-$30,000.

To be fair, a $30,000 campaign won’t reach a Super Bowl viewership level of 112 million. But I have seen campaigns at that OPP level reach 10 million consumers or more. And, recall, many of these are consumers who are invested, who want to learn about your brand and ideas for using it. So, for example, the cost to reach 10 million consumers is $30,000. The CPM is $3. Three pennies per consumer.

Let's review.

Super Bowl ad: Sexy, yes. Cost-efficient, not so much. Effective? Maybe, maybe not.

Pollinate social media influencer campaign: Sexy, maybe. Depends on your definition. Cost-efficient, pretty much. Effective? I have seen clear evidence of that. But you don’t have to spend $5,000,000 to find out.

Enjoy the game! Oh ya, and the Super Bowl.