Not A 30-Second Spot: The Super Bowl Is About Owning The Moment.
By Aaron Kovan | EVP Create, US
I’ve been in this business long enough to remember when a Super Bowl ad was the finish line. You made the spot, you guarded it like gold, it aired, and you hoped it landed. But the game changed.
Every year someone asks, “Is the Super Bowl still worth it?”.
And that’s the wrong question.
The Super Bowl isn’t just a TV buy. It’s the last true mass cultural moment we have. In a world where audiences are scattered across platforms, algorithms, and infinite scroll, this is one of the few times everyone is in the same place at the same time – and that’s power.
But let’s be clear: the 30 or 60-second spot is no longer the main event. It’s the spark. If you’re still thinking in terms of “we made a Super Bowl ad,” you’re already behind.
The brands that win treat the game like a launchpad. The spot ignites it, the ecosystem carries it.
From ad to architecture
There was a time when Super Bowl creative lived and died in that broadcast window. Now the playbook looks different.
Teasers drop weeks in advance, social audiences begin speculating, and influencers help fuel the momentum before a single frame hits TV. Alternate cuts roll out online to keep the conversation moving, real-time content reacts in the moment, and commerce links close the loop instantly.
It’s not a commercial. It’s a content system – a system that shifts fundamentally how we approach content production. We moved from building a single hero film to engineering a narrative architecture – with atomic assets designed to flex across formats, platforms, and audience behaviours. Broadcast cut. Social cutdowns. Vertical. Creator edits. Interactive assets. Dynamic versions. Paid. Earned. Owned.
All built with intention from day one, in an ecosystem that replaces adapting content for designing for impact.
Multichannel is baseline. Integration is the real game.
Multichannel once felt impressive; today, it’s simply expected.
What actually differentiates modern Super Bowl work is the level of integration behind it – creative, production, media, PR, and technology operating as a one single system rather than parallel pillars. When those disciplines are aligned from the outset, brands are building a platform that can respond to culture in real time. They move from moment to momentum.
And here’s the part people don’t always say out loud: this kind of orchestration also demands a different approach to production – not only to creative. Speed in non-negotiable. Flexibility is mandatory. Collaboration must start earlier. AI (I couldn’t leave without mentioning it) should be incorporated to accelerate previsualization, inform testing, and help teams anticipate the variations and formats a campaign will need. This means building workflows that evolve as audience behaviour changes.
Because once the game begins, the conversation doesn’t wait.
The economics of attention (no fluff)
Yes, the media cost is massive – everyone knows that. But the real value lies in cultural velocity.
Let’s talk power again. The marketing scenario has changed a lot but a smart Super Bowl activation can still make waves, trigger repositioning and shift how a brand is perceived almost instantly. It can introduce a product at scale, spark conversation, and generate earned media that amplifies the initial investment many times over. In an era where attention is fragmented and loyalty is increasingly fragile, moments with that level of shared focus hit different.
In other words: the game delivers cultural legitimacy; the ecosystem delivers longevity.
Where this is headed
Looking forward, I see three inevitable shifts:
- AI-driven extension: We’re going to see campaigns that personalize themselves post-broadcast – dynamic content streams shaped by audience behaviour.
- Creator-native ideation: Creators won’t just amplify campaigns. They’ll co-build them from the jump – and this will become the new norm.
- Commerce compression: The distance between awareness and purchase will keep shrinking. If someone’s inspired during the game, the path to action needs to be seamless.
Back to the hard truths, here goes another one: safe creative won’t cut it anymore. The Super Bowl is too expensive to play it cautious. So who wins? Distinctive brands. Clear point of view. Culture-forward thinking.
You can’t show up vanilla and expect fireworks.
Own the moment
To answer the initial question: the Super Bowl is still relevant, not because it’s nostalgic, but because it has evolved.
It’s no longer about making an ad people might remember; it’s about creating a moment people actively participate in. An intentional participation, designed for the full ecosystem so the work has room to expand far beyond the broadcast.
Brands that win understand this amplified impact is built through the choices made around those 30 seconds: how the idea travels, how it is brought to life, how the audience engages, and how the story adapts once culture starts pushing back. For teams willing to think this way – integrated, at the speed of culture – the opportunity is massive.
Super Bowl is a moment to own, not just to appear in. The game is the kick-off, not the finish line.
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