How to Activate at the Super Bowl

💙 The Branded Moment 💙

First off, if you’ve never been on the ground Super Bowl weekend in the host city, it’s NUTS.

I’ve never seen so many brands activating in one place at one time.

NATURALLY I had to breakdown my experience as a first-timer.

And if you wait til the end, I’ll share just how I’d do it next year…

Activation Types

Hotel Takeovers

Who does this? Talent agencies & management companies

• Agencies rent out entire hotels for the weekend, turning them into hubs for client meetings, private events, and parties

• 3-in-1 value: a place to stay, a place to host, and a place to throw a party

• The Range Sports hotel takeover? Great vibes

House Takeovers

Who does this? Talent agencies & influencer management companies

• A management company rents out a high-end content house for the weekend and brands pay to be featured inside (covering the cost of the house)

• In return, influencers create organic content featuring the products

• Smart, scalable, and highly visible

Restaurant Takeovers

Who does this? Brands, entrepreneurs, hospitality companies

• Example: an entrepreneur rented out a restaurant, got Rao’s to pay to be the house name, and then media companies bought full tables at the restaurant for them to host guests over the weekend

• Smart because the table owners don’t have to create their own activation or curate any guest list besides their own

• What happened? All weekend, people talked about “going to Rao’s” (even though it wasn’t their actual restaurant)

• Genius earned media play and Rao’s wasn’t even serving their own sauce

Branded Cars & Trucks

Quintessentially, we saw plenty of branded trucks and truck media. But the Grüns one was my favorite 💚 

Private Concerts

Pandora threw an invite-only Chris Stapleton concert, and Cardi B also had one on Friday.

I’m sure there were manyyyy more than what I even knew about, but this offered guests an exclusive experience.

And given the amount of parties/events going on, you need to do something WOW to get people to show up.

Street Giveaways

Goldfish popped up outside of Radio Row handing out multiple bags of snacks to anyone and everyone who walked by.

I also saw many drink brands giving out samples along the streets.

Sometimes, the simplest activations can make the biggest impact.

Branded Parties

EA Sports, Sports Illustrated, and so many more threw crazy branded parties at different venues inviting their entire talent network.

This is the creme de la creme of Super Bowl week.

But if you aren’t on the list, you (sadly) aren’t getting in.

OOH

There were a ton of large scale OOH installations all over the city, especially by the beer brands.

B2B vs. B2C (Or both?)

Here’s what surprised me the most:

Most of these events weren’t built for the average consumer.

They were built for high-profile guests, clients, and influencers, making the entire week feel more like B2B marketing than B2C.

The real consumer play? Digital amplification.

• Influencers & celebs were posting from allll the events

• The goal wasn’t direct consumer engagement, it was the social proof that anyone who’s anyone was there.

One new product I tried this week 👉 Craize Everything Chips — I love the corn was but these were… everything.

One new campaign I’m loving 👉 Duracell was shockingly one of my favorite commercials. I love smart humor.

One new account to follow 👉 Bon Voyage Barry - Two best friends trying to go to 100 events in a year… while becoming a brand’s mascot. Check it out.