Reviewing Super Bowl Food Ads: Who Scored?

TV advertising has evolved to meet the 21st-century consumer, but
how do brands really know if they’re effective? Breaking down
this question and giving a replay on how food ads did during the
Super Bowl, host Barbara Castiglia spoke with Bob Kraut and Kevin
Krim of EDO. EDO works with advertisers, agencies, and
TV networks to drive better value for media investments.


On the company’s origins, Krim said, “The idea was a realization
that consumers are interacting with TV ads in the same way as
digital ones; it was just harder to know the response.”


The secret to EDO’s data-driven insights is that they monitor
advertising and what happens on search engines immediately
following them to develop a response rate. This data then helps
brands understand which creative and programs deliver the best
ROI.


Krim, the company’s CEO, and Kraut, a strategic advisor, and
former CMO at Papa Johns, talked about how the big game's food
brand ads performed.


Krim shared some insights on Super Bowl ads. “The competitiveness
of the game does impact engagement. A competitive one gets better
results. It’s the best single event on TV for engagement. So much
so, a company would have to buy 140 primetime spots to get the
same results.”


There six food brands with ads—Door Dash, Uber Eats, Jimmy Johns,
Chipotle, Pizza Hut, and McDonald's. The winner? Door Dash.


Krim explained its success. “It was early in the first quarter so
good placement. It had the elements that matter. It was relevant,
creative, and authentic.”


Uber Eats had less success, ranking at the bottom. The creative
was a little off and didn’t resonate.


Next was Jimmy Johns, new to the Super Bowl. Kraut said, “It was
strategically smart with the message of we are your neighbors.
They expanded from their fast delivery messaging.”


Chipotle was third with the only purpose-driven ad. Following
were Pizza Hut and McDonald's, which both had pre-kick ads.


Kraut, a former Pizza Hut leader, noted, “Pizza Hut has always
been pre-kick. Even though they are the official pizza of the
NFL, the ad didn’t feature any content relating to football.”


The full assessment of Super Bowl LV ads is available on the
EDO website.