ByCharles Taylor
ByCharles Taylor,
Senior Contributor.
With the growth of digital advertising over the past few decades, opportunities for brands to reach a mass audience have become increasingly scarce. In an era of media fragmentation, many advertisers use data management platforms and artificial intelligence programs to deliver highly targeted messages to consumers. However, for many well-known brands with strong attribute associations and high equity, reach still matters—and the cost of microtargeting can be offset by the ability to be seen by a large number of consumers. For these brands, mega-events such as the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics offer considerable opportunity not only because of their reach, but also because they can link themselves to critical cultural moments.
There are very few options where tens of millions of U.S. viewers see an ad at once. This February is a notable exception as the Super Bowl is set for the 8th of the month and the Winter Olympics in Milan run from the 6th to the 22nd. The Super Bowl alone is projected to be watched by more than 127 million viewers, while 56 million U.S. viewers report that they will watch one or more nights of the Olympics.
