For the past two decades influencer marketing has been on the rise, with an expected generated revenue of $21.2 billion in 2023. Many different agencies and mega events have started to recognize this trend and have started investing their own money into influencers.
A major mega sporting event that happened just two weeks ago, can confirm that companies are turning to influencers for marketing purposes to optimize their investments into advertising their brand the most efficient way possible. Yes, the main event of the Super Bowl is the actual game, but according to James Nord, it is the Super Bowl of Advertising. Nord expresses that the traditional commercials and advertisements that companies are spending $7 million dollars on for 30 seconds are less valuable and effective than if they spent that much money on a year-long partnership with an influencer.
Social media has eclipsed traditional television viewership, establishing itself as the primary platform for capturing audience attention and shaping consumer behavior. According to Breakaway Public Relations, Super Bowl LVIII brought in 113 million television viewers. However, TikTok the hashtag #SuperbowlLVIII on TikTok had more than 225 million views. Brands that have repeatedly spent millions of dollars on a Super Bowl 30 second commercial, decided it was in their best interest to engage in social media influencer marketing campaigns.
Some of the most popular influencer marketing campaigns that were activated revolving around the Super Bowl were Maybelline and CeraVe. Neither of these campaigns were shown just a couple of times in a 30 second commercial during the Super Bowl, but were live for an extended period of time before, during, and after the Super Bowl. The Maybelline campaign partnered with former Dance Mom legends. They paid for the girls to go to the game in return they posted GRWM videos in their hotel room, transformation videos, and post skincare routine, using maybelline products in each clip. CeraVe partnered with Michael Cera and their campaign consisted of month-long unboxing videos with other influencers and creating a buzz around the brand.
The involvement of influencer marketing surrounding the Super Bowl LVIII is going to cause an increase in influencer investments and a decrease in traditional commercial investments for years to come.