Pop Music is a Crucial Component of Super Bowl Ads, According to Haub Professor
Some people look forward to seeing Super Bowl advertisements as much as they look forward to watching the game itself. However, marketers disagree about what makes ads most effective. Is it humor or individuality? Is it the ad with the most famous celebrity? Or, could it be that popular music adds to the effectiveness of a super bowl commercial, as a professor at Saint Joseph’s University’s Haub School of Business suggests?
David Allan, a popular culture expert and a chair and associate professor of marketing at Haub, is finishing a ten-year study of Super Bowl commercials and popular music this year. While Allan has been studying Super Bowl commercials, the use of popular music in the ads has increased. During the 2005 Super Bowl, popular songs were part of 34.6 percent of commercials, while popular music was present in 38 percent of ads in 2013.
“Popular music and advertising have much in common,” Allan observes. “Both share a similar path to acceptance and notoriety.”
Super bowl advertisers hope that popular music in their ads will elicit an emotional response from viewers that will help viewers feel a connection to their brand. This marketing strategy relies on the meanings and values people find in music. Allan explains: “Marketing is all about people. People are stimulated by music and oftentimes use music to craft their identities. If an advertiser hits the right note, he or she has a strong chance of making their ad memorable.”
In addition to his pop culture experience, Allan has extensive experience in ethics and the media. He was appointed to a National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Subcommittee on Indecency after the notorious Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident.
