Super Bowl LIII is now in the record books, and the clear winners of the advertising game were cause-related and heartstring tugging ads. In total, there were 93 spots from 54 unique brands. Twelve ads that focused on first responders, inclusion, green energy, freedom of speech, and veteran’s issues raked in 26.3% of Digital Share of Voice (DSOV). DSOV is a scoring of all views, actions and searches for an ad, added up and weighted based on the significance of the action to a brand (a view or share).
The charge for cause-related ads was led by Verizon. The brand ran two ads during the Super Bowl, with one featuring Anthony Lynn. Both spots featured first responders and gained a strong, positive reaction on social and in the media. Other parent brands coming out on top include Microsoft, Bumble, NFL, Toyota, CBS, Anheuser-Busch, The Washington Post, and Google.
It can be easy to conclude that playing it safe with a focus on issues of the day results in more share of voice, but not every brand took the safe route or picked easy topics to address. Several advertisements tackled hot button, charged issues, and not only hit the mark, but connected with a broad audience.
iSpot will continue to cover the impact of Super Bowl 53 to the TV advertising world. You can see all the ads in the Super Bowl 2019 Ad Center, review our observations in our Super Bowl Live Blog, and review the Ad Age report for the top ten ads of Super Bowl LIII.