Radio Spots May Give More Bang for Super Bowl Ad Buck, especially Millennials 18-34

Story by Inside Radio

The average price for a 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl has doubled during the past decade to $4.8 million in 2016. So, is 30 seconds in front of 112 million TV viewers worth the price? Most first-time big-game advertisers don’t return, according to Kantar Media, suggesting the huge investment doesn’t pay off for many.

The high turnover rate implies that first-time advertisers who don’t come back either couldn’t afford the hefty price tag a second time or didn’t get the return on investment they were hoping for. “Over the past decade, more than 60% of first-timers were on the sidelines the next year,” Kantar says.

The odds are against freshman marketers returning as sophomores to the following Super Bowl, the new report finds. And first-timers account for a large chunk of the game’s advertisers. “In last year’s game, 23% of the parent companies were Super Bowl rookies,” Kantar says. In 2015 it was 28% and the year before it was 23%. During the past five years, the number of first-time advertisers has averaged 24%.

The trend is likely to continue in the Feb. 5 game on Fox. SunTrust, which ran its first Super Bowl ad last year, says it won’t be back, according to MediaLife. Amazon, Paypal, Fitbit and other 2016 advertisers haven’t said whether they will return this year.

Meanwhile, Westwood One, which will broadcast its 30th-straight Super Bowl and 44th broadcast overall this year, is stacking up the reasons why an ad during its coverage is a smart marketing move. More than 28 million tune into Westwood One’s Super Bowl coverage across AM/FM, satellite radio and digital platforms. And the majority of those listeners are out and about—away from home and without access to a TV. “Listeners are traveling or stepping out to the store—where they could buy your product after hearing your ad,” the network says in its pitch to prospective marketers. Sought-after Millennials are even more likely to be listening away from home—69% of 18-34 listening to Westwood One’s Super Bowl broadcast occurs away from home. The game reaches a desirable audience on radio; half of the listeners are in the 18-49 demo, and one-third are 18-34, which is 22% higher than the makeup of the U.S. population at large.

Last year, the radio net worked with Nielsen to test the effectiveness of audio ads during the big game and March Madness. Six out of 10 listeners found radio ads memorable, engaging and felt they would recall the brand name.