Last February, Elf Beauty made its first foray into Super Bowl advertising, airing a regional spot featuring “White Lotus” star Jennifer Coolidge. This year, the beauty brand not only has a longtime favorite (Judge Judy), but also current stars (Suits cast members Gina Torres, Rick Hoffman, Sarah Rafferty, and Juror Ronald Gladden), and is launching a national We're raising the stakes to win that spot. Especially (influencers like Benny Drama).
The regional approach served as a way for Elf Beauty to add television to its marketing mix while also “testing and learning” what the Super Bowl could do for the brand, said vice president of integrated marketing communications. Patrick O'Keeffe explained, adding: The brand's spot last year appealed to an “underrepresented audience” in big game advertising. “Therefore, this [year] This is an opportunity for us to show up loud and proud and provide entertainment for them. Because that's our job. We love to entertain and sell some products along the way,” O’Keefe said. O'Keefe explained that his initial efforts also helped the brand understand the scarcity of Super Bowl viewers, with his 75% of viewers excited about the ads.
Elf Beauty isn't the only one recognizing the Super Bowl's potential for beauty brands. Last year, Fenty Beauty also joined in reaching the big game audience. Meanwhile, L'Oréal's NYX Cosmetics will debut with a spot featuring Cardi B this year. Skincare brand CeraVe is hitting the big stage for the first time with its own ad starring Michael Cera. Meanwhile, Dove is returning for the first time in 18 years. Beauty as a category is starting to appear more at the Super Bowl to cater to the audience that uses the products.
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The Super Bowl remains one of the few monoculture events that draws large crowds. Last year's game drew a record 115 million viewers. For marketers desperate to reach people, issues like social fragmentation, continued declines in live TV viewership, and the collapse of third-party cookies are only making things worse, and the Super Bowl Its appeal is growing.
“There's no doubt about the power of the Super Bowl and the crowd it brings,” said Dan Lucey, chief creative officer at Havas New York. “We continue to look at the Super Bowl like it's a big, important game for football fans, but I think it's a bigger game than that, even though it's not recognized as a holiday. , we treat it like a holiday. There are gatherings, rituals, food, and customs. Even if you're not a big fan, you probably have plans on Sunday.”
Viewers, of course, aren't the only ones with beauty brands shelling out at least $7 million for 30-second spots this year. This football season has seen an increase in female viewers, especially young female viewers, and the Taylor Swift effect is certainly a factor, with beauty brands targeting that demographic spending big on ads for the big game. It's getting easier.
“The reality is that women have always been a part of the Super Bowl audience,” said Laura Jones, chief strategy officer at BAV Group, who runs VML's brand analytics practice. “But I think what Taylor has done is actually created space for people and given brands permission to create space for people who aren't generally acknowledged.”
Previously, when they were recognized, it was either done in a purpose-driven way (remember Audi's 2017 equal pay spot, where the brand championed advertising), or in a way that still targeted men. It was held in “Typically, Super Bowl ads feature women, but they're either portrayed a certain way or they're the butt of jokes,” said McCann's chief creative, who is running NYX's first Super Bowl spot. Director Shane Millington says: “We are flipping the script and women have the last laugh.”
Millington continued: “We expect a lot of meme moments, a lot of talk value, and a lot of light-hearted, humorous discussion about this film that flips the script and the ideas it's central to.” Women in positions of power. More content will come after that. ”
Speaking to existing and growing female audiences is just one reason beauty brands will be in the big game more this year. According to a report from McKinsey & Company, beauty brands have grown significantly in recent years, generating $430 billion in revenue in 2022, and beauty brand revenue will soar to $580 billion by 2027. It is predicted.
“Beauty brands have grown exponentially over the past few years and are not only well-funded, but now part of popular culture,” said Trusha Bhatt, head of strategy at Mother New York. He added that many of the brands are very good. Popular on TikTok. “So not only do they have cash flow, but they also understand lower funnel advertising. Now they can move to the top of the funnel, which is interesting because… Because most brands do the opposite.”
For popular beauty brands on TikTok, brand awareness, not conversions, is the goal, and the Super Bowl is an easy way to make brand awareness stick.
“They know conversion,” Bhatt said, adding that the proliferation of beauty brands is making it difficult for brands to stand out. “They can make a very specific lip plumper go viral, but people don't really know the brand behind it. When you walk into Sephora or Macy's or any other beauty store, There are 7 million brands lined up right now. They don't have a bottom-of-funnel problem. They have an awareness problem. And they have massive funding to fix it. That's wonderful in a way.”
