Are Super Bowl parties really worth it?
That’s not just a morning-after moment of clarity, but more a question for those footing the bill.
Staging or sponsoring a Super Bowl party is a rite of passage for many brands, akin to buying a Super Bowl ad, because it means they’ve arrived. But at a time when all marketing is being held up to harsher performance standards, when Super Bowl soirees can cost millions and sponsorships of the most celebrated big game bashes can reach well into the six figures, more of those footing the bill are starting to wonder: Is there a return-on-investment measure for Super Bowl parties?
A Super Bowl ad can be measured any number of ways, but like so much in marketing, parties are difficult to quantify.
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ESPN threw its party in 2015 at WestWorld in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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“If you have a silver-bullet answer on that, let me know,” said a laughing Justin Toman, director of sports marketing at Pepsi, which is complementing its halftime show sponsorship and Super Bowl ads with a party and Bruno Mars concert in Houston on Friday night for about 10,000. “This is one of the biggest things on our marketing calendar, and the objective is to be the most-talked-about brand at Super Bowl. So we measure retail displays and social media. Often, it just gets down to buzz and how good a reaction we are getting to the content we are pushing through social media.
“And, of course, everyone is entertaining clients,” ESPN’s mammoth Friday night shindig, now in its 13th year, will draw about 2,500 people to a 65,000-square-foot warehouse in Houston’s Arts District. Headliners are Fergie and DJ Khaled. Principal party sponsors are Alfa Romeo, launching its Giulia sports sedan, along with Dunkin’ Donuts, MillerCoors and Yeti coolers.
Construction of the party site, which includes 1,000 LED tubes, began Jan. 23 and scouting for next year’s party site in Minneapolis is already underway.
“It’s about showing commitment to sponsors and to the NFL, which is one of our largest partners,” said Carrie Brzezinski, vice president of ESPN CreativeWorks, working on her sixth ESPN The Party. “We always think it’s important to put a shine on the ‘E’ in ESPN, to show our partners that we’re a mix of entertainment and sports.”
MKTG will be working in Houston for brands including Snickers, Skittles and FedEx. Mike Reisman, president of MKTG sports and entertainment, said smaller is better when it comes to Super Bowl gatherings.
“My view is that those big parties are really good for one thing only — and that’s building whoever’s brand is on the tent,” Reisman said. “There a big difference between Maxim or a party for thousands, where everyone’s trying to crash, and private client hospitality, where you can really build relationships. The latter is relatively easy to measure.”
EA Sports is hosting a Thursday night affair at Club Nomadic with talent including Snoop Dogg, The Chainsmokers and Sam Hunt.
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Lenny Kravitz headlined the 2011 Pepsi kickoff party in Dallas.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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“We’re all working social media metrics and as we’ve all become producers, content has become almost as important as any measure,” said Randy Chase, EA Sports senior director of strategic alliance marketing. “There are things you can measure and things you can’t. In the end, we want to show we’re a lifestyle brand within the sports landscape.”
Mercedes-Benz, which also has a Super Bowl ad, is sponsoring the Wheels Up Saturday afternoon party and Rolling Stone’s 1,000-person Saturday night soiree. Brian Gordon, CEO of Engine Shop, Mercedes-Benz’s experiential agency, said intangibles can be as important as anything measurable.
“If it’s something like Rolling Stone or ESPN, where it’s rolled into an overall media sponsorship, value is a lot easier to determine,” Gordon said. “Otherwise, it’s about positioning Mercedes so it’s at or near the center of something as aspirational and luxurious as the Super Bowl, because that’s where it needs to live.”
