Alright you data nerds, you asked for it. One person asked for it if we’re honest—and it was a different idea, looking back. We’ll get to it, but credit Simone Mandel of NBZ for piquing our curiosity. So we decided to break down indies vs. holdco vs. in-house for this year’s Super Bowl (editorial note—Go Birds!).
We’re using data from the USA Today Ad Meter and Ad Age’s Super Bowl coverage to help tell the Big Game indie story.
Indies created the most Super Bowl ads
Out of the 57 ads that ran, 25 were by indies. 22 came from holdco agencies, and 10 were exclusively in-house.
Of those indies, Erich & Kallman, Highdive, Quality Meats and Special Group U.S. are Indie Agency News Members.
The other indies:
- Artists Equity
- Biite
- Lerma/
- McKinney
- Mirimar
- Mischief @ No Fixed Address
- nice&frank
- Panay Films
- Pinnacle Advertising
- Rosewood Creative
- RPA
- VaynerMedia
- Virtue Worldwide
- Wieden+Kennedy New York
- Wieden+Kennedy Portland
- Zulu Alpha Kilo
Holdcos won the average Ad Meter game while in-house lagged
Holdcos have a rich history of performing well in the Super Bowl (call it the Budweiser bump?), and this year was no different. Of all the ads, holdco spots averaged north of 22 on the USA Today Ad Meter. Indies came in at 31, and in-house averaged almost 39.
Holdcos took the top spot in the Ad Meter rankings, with FCB New York’s Bud spot (horses always win). Indie Agency News members Highdive landed in the second spot with the Taika Waititi-led heartstringer for Lay’s.
The best that in-house did? 12th, for Jeep’s Harrison Ford tome.
The lowest holcdo Ad Meter score went to Accenture Song (53) for OpenAI, Fetch ambled into the bottom two (56) for its in-house efforts and Mischief @ No Fixed Address surprsingly landed at the bottom (57) for Tubi’s Gen Z spot (but we love fleshy cowboy hats).
Do celebs matter?
There is a whole debate over whether or not shelling out a ton of money for celebs makes a difference. This is a discussion for another time (we think story is better than celeb), and the Ad Meter data bore out that it’s unclear, nor is there a runaway winner (unlike my beloved Eagles).
Of the 57 ads run, 27 had celebrities, and 30 did not.
The average Ad Meter score of ads without celebs was around 28, while ads with celebs clocked in just north of 30.
So what does it all mean?
Listen, the Eagles won. It’s a miracle you’re getting anything out of me today. But let’s say we’ll keep having this debate—and the subjective side of us thinks there were some bright spots. However, it’s worth talking about ad quality (or lack thereof) and where creative investments should go when hitting the Big Game.
Take a peek at all the indie ads below (Indie Agency News members get priority). And see all the coverage over at Ad Age (fleshy cowboy hat tip to Tim Nudd) and the full Ad Meter list.
Note: Nike and Tubi’s other ads were not included in the USA Today Ad Meter. We include them below, and if they were on the meter, they’d land on spots 3 and 4, respectively. At least, that’s what we think.
Highdive
Lay’s
The Little Farmer
Special Group U.S.
Uber Eats
Century of Cravings
Erich & Kallman
Reese’s
Don’t Eat Lava
Highdive
MSC Cruises
Let’s Holiday
Quality Meats
GoDaddy
Act Like You Know
Other Indies
Wieden+Kennedy New York
Michelob Ultra
The Ultra Hustle
Artists Equity
Stella Artois
David and Dave
Mischief @ No Fixed Address
Coors Light
Slow Monday
Pinnacle Advertising
WeatherTech
Whatever Comes Your Way
McKinney
Little Caesars
Whoa
Mirimar
Rocket Cos.
Own the Dream
Zulu Alpha Kilo
Booking.com
Get Your Stay Ridiculously Right
Lerma
Come Near
What Is Greatness?
nice&frank
Häagen-Dazs
Not So Fast, Not So Serious
VaynerMedia
Duracell
Brady Reboost
Artists Equity
Dunkin’
DunKings 2
Rosewood Creative
HexClad
Unidentified Frying Object
RPA
Homes.com
Not Saying We’re the Best + Still Not Saying We’re the Best
Biite
Taco Bell
The Fans
Virtue Worldwide
Poppi
Soda Thoughts
Wieden+Kennedy Portland
DoorDash
DashPass Math
Panay Films
T-Mobile
A New Era in Connectivity
Wieden+Kennedy New York
Coffee Mate
Foam Diva
Mischief @ No Fixed Address
Tubi
The Z-Suite
Mischief @ No Fixed Address
Tubi
Cowboy Head
Wieden + Kennedy Portland
Nike
So Win
Did your indie have a locally-run ad during the Super Bowl? Hit us up here so that we can take a peek.
Doug Zanger is the founder and editor-in-chief of Indie Agency News. He is also the founder of the Creative Bohemian consultancy, lives in the Pacific Northwest and is insufferable about it.
