Sunday marks the biggest night in commercials when the Super Bowl airs on NBC. The price tag for a 30-second spot has reached $10 million this year. Artificial intelligence (AI) in advertising – from generative AI creative to AI-assisted production – could be the answer to helping brands stand out from their competition. But brands must walk a fine line as viewers are divided on the use of AI in advertising, according to Ad Age.
Boryana Dimitrova, PhD, an associate clinical professor of marketing in Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, spoke with the Drexel News Blog about how businesses can use AI in their Super Bowl ads to stand out, while maintaining brand trust.
How is AI shaping this year’s Super Bowl commercials?
In the world of advertising, there is no bigger stage than the Super Bowl. The winners gain a lot while the losers lose a lot. This effect is multiplied when we consider the hype leading up to and following the event, especially on social media.
Naturally, companies who decide to invest in a Super Bowl ad are racing against one another to stand out in the crowd. Moreover, with a 30-second spot going for between 7 and 8 million dollars, businesses are also looking for cost saving options in the ad production process and AI has presented one opportunity to do so.
AI has become an integral part of business. Companies use AI in different aspects of their business operations to save time and money on monotonous/mechanical tasks but also for creative purposes such as social media content creation and blog posts, and more recently advertisements.
The extent to which companies utilize AI for Super Bowl commercials varies. Some companies rely solely on AI for the storyboard and full production of their Super Bowl commercials while others utilize it as a collaborator. The big question that remains, however, is how consumers, including Super Bowl ad critics, will respond to AI-powered Super Bowl ads. So far, the consensus seems to be that consumers are more receptive of Super Bowl commercials when AI is used as a tool in the process rather than when commercials are fully AI generated. This means that AI use in Super Bowl advertising would work best if it’s kept invisible by enhancing creativity but not at the expense of the human insight, feel and touch consumers are looking for.
Where should brands draw the line between automation and human creative judgment?
The Super Bowl presents an amazing stage for advertising experiments. The companies who are ready to take the risk will be seen as pioneers in the advertising game. However, the extent to which AI is used in the ad production process will separate the winners from the losers. One thing to consider is whether AI use would interfere with the overall brand image or not. In the MKTG 321 Selling and Sales Management class I teach, my students and I thought of the Svedka Vodka example. Svedka Vodka is using AI for their Super Bowl ad to bring back to life its “fembot” mascot and enhancing their ads with AI is a natural progression of the brand story. However, for brands built on people, stories and authenticity that strongly align with human connection, AI should support the idea and not be the idea. When AI contradicts a brand’s core values (e.g., people-first, heritage, craftsmanship), it runs the risk of being perceived as misleading and even fake.
What risks or opportunities does AI introduce for brands, especially during the Super Bowl?
AI has permeated multiple aspects of our lives, not just the business world. As such, consumers are not opposed to AI as a tool but negatively view AI when it is used as a substitute for effort, talent and human connection. Therefore, the biggest risk is not negative brand backlash but the erosion of trust. AI-generated ads may not necessarily make consumers less likely to buy from the brand, but it may make them less likely to respect and trust the brand if the ads are perceived as lazy, inauthentic and misaligned with the overall brand image.
As generative search increasingly shapes how consumers discover and interpret brands, how should advertisers rethink measurement and visibility coming out of the game?
The stakes are high for companies that invest in Super Bowl ads. Businesses that can afford an $8-million, 30-second advertising spot are seen as high performers and expected to be leading the way and pushing the innovation envelope. The upside is that, no matter the outcome, these brands will enjoy greater visibility. The class discussion with my students acknowledged the downside is that consumer expectations are high. If a brand can afford a Super Bowl ad spot, it is also expected not to cut corners and invest in real people, showcase creativity and effort, and deliver a memorable story that consumers can connect with.
For this purpose, ADWEEK and tech startup Emberos are teaming up on the day of the Super Bowl to power the first-ever Real Time AI Influence Index. The index will distinguish the top seven Super Bowl advertisers, based on whether they appear in AI-driven search queries.
The day after the Super Bowl, ADWEEKxEmberos will also announce the top 20 most-searched brands on gen AI platforms and provide their own insights into what separated the AI winners from the rest. The analysis will also highlight what consumers were saying about these brands and what factors affected AI visibility.
This perspective will of course complement traditional consumer and critic discussion of Super Bowl ads across social media platforms and beyond.
What will separate the AI winners from the experiments that fall flat on Super Bowl Sunday?
After discussing with my students, I read a recent survey by the The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which studied the perceptions of 300 Gen-Z and Millennial consumers toward AI-generated ads showed that, surprisingly, younger consumers are increasingly skeptical of AI in advertising, contrary to what industry executives assumed.
IAB further suggests that some of the best practices that companies using AI generated ads should adopt are:
- Be transparent when gen AI is used in ads. As with influencer disclosure requirements, transparency matters because people perceive sponsored content very differently from organic content.
- Only use AI-powered ads in places where consumers would be most likely to be receptive to the ads and engage with them.
- Do not sacrifice best creative practices at the expense of cost efficiencies.
These best practices would also help distinguish AI winners from the experiments that fall flat on Super Bowl Sunday. The bottom line will be consumer perception of ad execution and brand authenticity.
Is there anything else you think is important to note about AI use in advertising and marketing?
A common theme that emerges is a growing concern about AI replacing human jobs in marketing and advertising. Despite this criticism, companies such as Svedka Vodka and Coca Cola claim that generative AI ads require more behind the scenes hand holding and rely on human story tellers. However, a recent Wall Street Journal article revealed that junior and internship positions are slowly disappearing from the advertising industry because of the adoption of AI, thus affecting employment of people in the 20-24 age bracket. In addition, Amazon and Paramount are among a number of companies who have laid off employees whose work can be replaced by AI.
These recent trends are a major driver of increasing consumer skepticism about how businesses use AI.
Media interested in speaking with Dimitrova should contact Annie Korp, associate director, News and Media Relations, at 215-571-4244 or amk522@drexel.edu.
