INSIGHTS TO ACTIVATE
THE SUPER BOWL'S BEST ADS
Here's what it takes for advertising to make a big breakthrough at the Super Bowl in 2025
Key Takeaways
1
Creative can work in many ways – in the Super Bowl and beyond. At Ipsos, we take a series of measures, then get underneath the scores to understand what is propelling the success of our award winners.
2
People are paying attention: 24% of Americans say they watch all the commercials, and 11% say they watch only for the ads
3
Many Super Bowl ads swing for the fences on creativity, but the best ads harness that creativity to drive tangible business results. We measure each ad’s effectiveness at delivering on a range of intended brand outcomes – not one-size-fits-all.
The Super Bowl is one of the only mass audience advertising events left, with 123 million viewers watching nationwide. And for $7 million for 30 seconds of airtime, the stakes are incredibly high.
This pushes advertisers to deliver their most innovative and impactful creative work, making the Super Bowl ads a spectacle in themselves, often generating as much buzz as the game. At Ipsos, we understand that great advertising is more than just entertainment. It's about understanding people — their lives, motivations, and the role brands play within them. We believe that creative excellence is a journey, not a destination.
It's a continuous process of discovery, insight, and refinement. That's why each year through our Super Bowl ad awards, we celebrate the ads that most effectively meet the brand’s business goals and objectives. We go beyond the simplistic ratings and star systems employed by others. We delve deeper, exploring the nuances of creative effectiveness and providing a more robust understanding of what truly works.
Remember the Tubi prank in 2023, when it appeared that someone had sat on the remote and changed the channel?
This ad didn’t even break into the top 50 on the USA Today Ad Meter, but at Ipsos we gave this spot our “Misfit” award and applauded the brand for some of the most polarizing and stand-out advertising of the night.
Remember the Tubi prank in 2023, when it appeared that someone had sat on the remote and changed the channel?
This ad didn’t even break into the top 50 on the USA Today Ad Meter, but at Ipsos we gave this spot our “Misfit” award and applauded the brand for some of the most polarizing and stand-out advertising of the night.
As a near-unknown brand at the time, Tubi needed to stand out, and Ipsos’ Creative Spark results and Synthesio social listening data demonstrated that this mission was accomplished with flair. This campaign went on to win the Grand Effie at the 2024 Effie Awards, which are focused on marketing effectiveness.
That’s the kind of nuance our unique perspective brings.
Rewatch our webinar where we unveil the winners of the Ipsos Creative Excellence Super Bowl Awards and our experts delve into the strategies that made these ads truly effective. Even if you’re not going to be a Super Bowl advertiser in the foreseeable future, there are plenty of insights to activate for all advertisers.
