Super Bowl success isn’t about novelty, it’s about recognition at scale
Thinkerbell’s executive head brand thinker Gerry Cyron unpacks the most successful Super Bowl commercials and finds they all lean into familiarity bias.
Budweiser relied upon brand familiarity in its Super Bowl commercial
Yesterday’s Super Bowl did not only divide the nation into Bad Bunny lovers and Clan-chella MAGA fans, it also divided marketers: those on a mission to extend their own brand platforms, and others who went for borrowed interest in favour of novelty.
And the jury is officially out. USA Today has published its ranking of all 54 Super Bowl ads, and the results are… telling.
The top three brands all did something remarkably unremarkable (in the best possible way). They didn’t chase novelty. They extended long-term brand platforms and leaned hard into their distinctive brand assets (DBA) and brand worlds.
