3

Elon Musk's Twitter Lures Super Bowl Advertisers in Welcome Boost

 1 year ago
source link: https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-lures-super-bowl-advertisers-2023-2
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.
Premium Home Chevron iconIt indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.Advertising

Twitter's ailing ad business offered a glimmer of hope as it lures big Super Bowl advertisers to the platform on gameday weekend

Feb 1, 2023, 11:38 AM
Save Article IconA bookmark
Share iconAn curved arrow pointing right.
Elon Musk in a cowboy hat and sunglasses in a celebratory pose

Twitter CEO Elon Musk is set to be buoyed by the spend of some Super Bowl advertisers on the platform during gameday weekend. Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

  • The Super Bowl could be the most lucrative day for Twitter's ad business since Elon Musk's takeover.
  • Brands including AB InBev, State Farm, and E-Trade are planning Twitter ads on game day, sources said.
  • Twitter charges premium prices for the Super Bowl in expectation of a large audience.

A handful of Super Bowl advertisers are poised to spend on Twitter on gameday weekend later this month, handing the beleaguered social media giant's ad business a much-needed boost, according to industry sources.

Alcohol giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev, insurance firm State Farm, and Morgan Stanley-owned E-Trade are all planning to run ads on the platform on game day, sources said.

AB Inbev will splurge on Twitter ads for brands including Bud Light, Busch Light, and Michelob ULTRA, according to people familiar with the matter. The beer giant's Twitter investment comes as it scales back its Super Bowl TV ad plans this year, ending a 33-year deal with the NFL to be the exclusive alcohol advertiser during the commercial breaks.

AB InBev declined to comment. E-Trade didn't respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for State Farm said it has evolved its marketing approach to prioritize "alternate" channels, such as Twitter, Twitch, and TikTok.

"As State Farm looks to engage an up-and-coming consumer demographic of younger Millennials and Gen Z, you can expect to see continued innovation on these channels and in these spaces. In fact, they might just have something up their sleeve for the Big Game... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯" 

(The ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ shruggie was included in the statement.)

This year's game on February 12 could be the most lucrative day for Twitter under its new ownership as the platform typically charges premium prices to reach the large audiences expected to follow the action in their feeds. A promoted trend costs $700,000 during the Super Bowl, compared to $100,000 on an ordinary day, Ad Age first reported.

Some of Twitter's recent efforts to woo advertisers back to the platform have won over "a few" brands who now plan to head back to Twitter for the Super Bowl, said a major media agency executive who declined to be identified while discussing client's marketing plans and didn't mention specific advertisers. 

Twitter's depleted advertising team, which shrank due to layoffs and resignations, has offered marketers "value adds," matching their ad spend by up to 100% if they placed ad bookings of $500,000 by the end of last year, Marketing Brew reported. Similar incentives have continued into 2023, though at lower levels, according to agency sources.

The company also recently inked deals with the ad verification firms DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science in a bid to reassure advertisers that their ads appeared next to "brand safe" content on users' timelines.

"The discounts were a big incentive, but Twitter is also making progress in the brand safety space, which has been encouraging across the board," the media agency executive said. "The tide is slowly turning, but we're still nowhere near figures from years past."

Twitter's ad revenue dropped in December by 71% from last year, according to the research company Standard Media Index, which tracks ad spending by large agencies. Half of Twitter's top 100 advertisers pulled their spending in the days after Elon Musk took over Twitter, according to a November report from the research center Media Matters.

Twitter didn't respond to a request for comment.

Upfront Super Bowl bookings on Twitter are still lower than in previous years, according to people familiar with the matter. Many advertisers continue to pause their spending on the platform, following Musk's October takeover and concerns about the platform's commitment to content moderation. Sources said most of the advertisers planning to buy ads on Twitter during the Super Bowl either never pulled off the platform or had already returned after brief pauses. 

For instance Apple, which Musk said had "fully resumed" advertising on Twitter in December after a short pause, is expected to use the platform on game day. Apple Music is the official sponsor of the Halftime Show for the first time this year, with Rihanna set to perform. 

Apple was Twitter's second biggest-spending US advertiser in the week to January 28, behind NBC Universal, according to data from Sensor Tower. Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

To be sure, many big Super Bowl advertisers have no plans to appear on Twitter this time around. Ad Age reported last month that some marquee Super Bowl advertisers, at least one of which would typically spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the platform during the big game, have no plans to advertise on Twitter this year.

Other advertisers plan to post on Twitter and make use of hashtags but not to purchase advertising, agency insiders said.

"We're seeing varied approaches from our clients, some preparing to activate Twitter wholly for the Super Bowl, while others are staying away, either from paid promotion or from both paid and organic," said a creative agency executive.


About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK