Clydesdales Must Know: Do Super Bowl Beer Commercials Impact Consumer Perception of Brands?
Ratings by Untappd users reveal what impact gameday advertisements have on consumer perception
On the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast, alcohol advertising for this weekend’s Super Bowl was the leading topic. The insightful discussion among hosts Jessica Infante, Justin Kendall, and Zoe Licata covered Anheuser-Busch ending its exclusive deal with the NFL for alcohol ads in the Super Bowl (which has been in place since 1989) and how that change will lead to ads from Molson Coors, Boston Beer, and JuneShine (a regional ad) running during this year’s game. While the Untappd app and its users are typically associated with craft beer, Bud Light (1.89 million all-time check-ins), Budweiser (1.2 million all-time check-ins), and Michelob ULTRA (524 thousand all-time check-ins) are among the beers with the most all-time ratings and reviews.
Recognizing how much data we have on each brand, the Brewbound team’s discussion prompted me to leverage our Untappd Insights tools to examine Untappd user check-ins to brands (Bud Light, Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, and Presidente) that ran ads in the last three Super Bowls to see what, if any, impact the commercials had on consumer consumption rates and preference immediately following each game.
Here are the brands analyzed and the date they were featured in ads during the game:
February 2nd, 2020: Bud Light, Presidente
February 7th, 2021: Bud Light, Michelob Ultra
February 13th, 2022: Budweiser, Michelob Ultra
Consumer Perception of Brands Improves During the Game Broadcast
In comparing check-ins between 6:00 p.m. through 11:00 p.m. ET (the time the game coverage begins shortly before kickoff through the approximate end time of coverage), it is clear that drinkers view brands more favorably during the Super Bowl. Comparing that five hour time window to the same period the prior Sunday, each brand received higher ratings during the coverage (across all brands, an average rating of 2.98 on gameday vs. an average rating of 2.94 during the same time period the prior Sunday).
The brands also received an average of 3.44x as many check-ins during the game (and 2.92x for the entire Super Bowl Sunday) when compared to the prior Sunday. Cumulatively from 2020 - 2022, we saw 13.4% more check-ins on Super Bowl Sundays than on the Sundays immediately prior to the game. And, of course, the Super Bowl is a tentpole light lager drinking occasion, but check-in increases for Miller Lite and Coors Light comparing Super Bowl Sunday to the previous Sunday were typically markedly lower than those of Bud Light, Budweiser, and Michelob Ultra. It appears based on our data that 33 years of exclusive advertising did, in fact, lead to brand association with the Super Bowl.
There is also clear consumer attachment to the Budweiser brand on Super Bowl Sunday – Budweiser received 4.17x the number of check-ins on Super Bowl Sunday in 2022 than on the average day two weeks before and two weeks after the Super Bowl. None of the other brands saw a gameday lift of even 3.0x. Consumers love the Clydesdales!
Brands Experience Lift from Ads; Changes to Consumer Perception are Inconclusive
In comparing check-ins from the 14 days leading up to each year’s game to the 14 days after the game, brands running commercials during the contest saw increased check-ins in the period following the game in five of the six total instances (Bud Light experienced a minor decrease in 2020). On average, there was a 9.6% lift in check-ins in for the brands in the 14-day post-game period vs. the 14-day pre-game window. While the post-game period in each year benefits from none of the 14 days falling in Dry January, the lift for these brands is above that of other beers. It is clear these brands experience some tailwinds from exposure to the approximately 100 million annual Super Bowl viewers.
What is less clear is whether perception of these brands by consumers is swayed by Super Bowl ads.
Three brands – Presidente in 2020, Michelob Ultra in 2021, and Budweiser in 2022 – each experienced a modest increase in average rating for the 14-day post-game period as compared to the 14 days leading up to kickoff. Michelob Ultra in 2022, Bud Light in 2021, and Bud Light in 2020 all saw small declines in average ratings in the two weeks following the game as compared to the two weeks before the Super Bowl. While it is clear that the ads impact rate of consumption among our users, it is unclear whether they change the perception of brand quality. I suspect ad quality and subsequent public reception is the key variable in driving any change in consumer perception.
That’s all for this month. Next month we will explore what impact COVID and supply chain challenges had on craft brand portfolios in 2020, 2021, and 2022!
Enjoy the game and remember to check-in those gameday beers!
Trace