Brands Ditch Tweets for TikTok and Instagram for Super Bowl 58

Brands—including those that don’t have a TV ad during the Big Game—are graduating from real-time conversations on X (formerly Twitter). Instead, they're spending Super Bowl-level digital budgets as early as two weeks before the game to drive sales, indicating how strategies have shifted since Elon Musk took ownership. Other platforms, including TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram, are gaining a share of ad dollars previously reserved for X this year. Brands are also trying to drive people to their channels like mobile apps, websites or email marketing, according to execs. “It's going to be much more of a 'Moneyball' strategy,” said an industry exec who requested anonymity to maintain business relations. “[Brands] will try to build engagement in half a dozen tactics that previously they would all do on Twitter.” Brands securing TV spots for the 2024 Super Bowl—including Dove skin care, Drumstick, M&M's and Pringles—invested over $1 million on X in 2022. However, according to MediaRadar, there's been no recorded ad spend on X in 2023 from these brands. Reese's, which has a TV spot this year, has not made a public post on X since April 2022. Viral tweets and paid ad spend dwindle In previous years, major brands like Verizon, Bank of America and Anheuser-Busch InBev would gather in Twitter’s Manhattan office—their creative teams, data scientist and legal team included—to brainstorm and amplify their real-time marketing messages to drive relevant tweets with the hope to go viral, imitating Oreo's 2013 iconic "You can still dunk in the dark" tweet. Oreo is one brand still advertising on X, teasing its upcoming spot on the platform on Jan. 14. “That’s gone. I don't think marketers are going to do it like that anymore,” said the exec. It's going to be much more of a 'Moneyball' strategy. [Brands] will try to build engagement in half a dozen tactics that previously they would all do on Twitter. An industry exec who requested anonymity Beyond organic activity, the Super Bowl is X’s best revenue event of the year by far, generating $35 million over the Super Bowl weekend in recent years, per Wall Street Journal. The 76 brands—including NFL Enterprises, McDonald's and YouTube—that advertised during the 2023 Super Bowl spent $48.4 million on X across the whole year, according to exclusive MediaRadar data. That's a 16% year-over-year increase for these brands compared to 2022. In contrast, throughout all of 2023, the 30 brands that announced they are advertising in Super Bowl 2024 allocated $21.1 million to advertise on X, a 55% year-over-year decrease from these brands compared to 2022. Notably, sport-betting firm BetMGM contributed to this decline with an 87% year-over-year reduction on X spending in 2023, but the brand remains one of the top spenders on X, per MediaRadar. The sports audience is still strong X, despite being plagued with controversies, is still appealing to people looking for in-the-moment conversations, especially around major sporting events. At VaynerMedia, nearly 80-90% of the agency’s spend on Super Bowl—including for brands like PepsiCo and Starry—is expected to go toward X on the day of the Big Game, said Nick Miaritis, chief client officer at VaynerMedia. “Last year it was that, and I believe this year it will be around the same,” he said. "The vast majority are executing on X during the Super Bowl.” Platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are offering more sophisticated algorithms to feed people relevant content, sources said. Meta-owned Threads still lacks the maturity to rival X, particularly around sports. “[X] may get the lion's share of the day of, which is pretty significant,” said Miaritis. “But that’s only one day. … You have 16 other days of spending for ads that are more evergreen, post-Super Bowl. Still, [X] will not compare to the money that gets placed all around it.” TikTok vies for the second screen Brands looking to drum up noise before and after the Super Bowl are turning to TikTok, which has run different sessions with marketers since last November to help create Super Bowl content. "It signals to me [TikTok is] looking for customers from an investment perspective and spend," said Matt Belanger, Momentum Worldwide vice president, group director, digital comms strategy. Belanger expects clients such as Mondelēz to create content like snackable recipe videos on TikTok to integrate their products into people's planning behaviors for a Super Bowl party. The platform has released new products too, keeping it top of mind. Seasonal Lineups, which features the top trending TikTok content, lets advertisers capitalize on large-scale moments, while Pulse Premiere lets brands place their ads alongside trending videos. The 2024 TikTok Tailgate, a pregame party that features performances from Gwen Stefani, special guests and creators, gives incentives for people to "second screen" during the event, offering opportunities for brands to advertise. “The introduction of new ad formats [on TikTok] makes the platform even more attractive to advertisers as they're looking to diversify campaigns outside of what we have seen in the past on platforms like X,” Belanger said. Super Bowl 58 Ad Tracker: Complete List of 2024 Super Bowl Commercials

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Brands Swap Viral Tweets for TikTok and Instagram This Super Bowl

The top 30 brands spent 55% less on X in 2023 compared with the year prior

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