On Super Bowl Sunday, expect beer brands to play the hits.

From comedy, cameos, and Clydesdales, beer execs told Marketing Brew that this year’s big-game ads are all about consistency.

So far, five beer advertisers have shared plans to run ads during the big game, one more than last year. Leading the charge is AB InBev, which, despite no longer being the Super Bowl’s exclusive alcohol advertiser, has secured time for four of its brands: Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois, and Michelob Ultra. With 30-second ads going for a reported $8 million, it’s certainly no small investment. AB InBev’s Busch Light is also running two regional ads in 11 markets, predominantly in the south.

Molson Coors has also purchased an ad for its Coors Light brand. Modelo, the most popular beer in the country and the biggest spender, is sitting out this year’s game, according to the company.

Beer commercials are a staple of the Super Bowl, but the category is facing headwinds. Younger people are drinking less, non-alcoholic beer is increasingly popular, beer consumption has been on a decades-long decline, and when consumers do drink, some have turned to alternatives like White Claw.

You wouldn’t know it when it comes to the industry’s TV ad spend. In 2024, the beer and hard-seltzer category spent $728.5 million on linear TV ads, which is only a 6% drop from the previous year, according to iSpot data.

And the big game is still a big deal for beer. “It’s a beer-drinking occasion,” Ricardo Marques, SVP of Marketing for Michelob Ultra, told Marketing Brew.

Continue reading here.—RB

Most people can’t remember what they had for breakfast yesterday, never mind the brands that advertised in the Super Bowl almost a year ago. But for marketers spending big bucks on the big game, lasting brand awareness is a major goal.

“As a CMO, you’re spending so much money on these commercials, and you’re in a highly competitive environment,” Rick Miller, a partner at marketing analytics company Big Chalk, told Marketing Brew. “You’re not just competing with other people in your category…because you want people to remember what you did to build that unaided awareness further down the line.”

With this year’s Super Bowl lineup set and the game less than a week away, Big Chalk exclusively shared with Marketing Brew its research into some of last year’s most memorable ads that could offer insights into how to measure success in 2025.

Be aware: One important metric for marketers is unaided brand awareness, aka the share of people who can remember a brand that advertised in the Super Bowl without a list to choose from.

That’s exactly what Miller asked a sample of more than 1,600 US consumers to do 36 hours after last year’s Super Bowl broadcast. Nerds, which ran its first Super Bowl ad in 2024, was among the brands that performed best by that metric, Miller said. Since the brand is a Big Chalk client, Miller said he tracks its unaided awareness all year, and the firm clocked an increase of more than 50% the Tuesday after the game.

Read more here.—AM

Each week, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Aidaly Sosa Walker is VP of marketing, US and Canada, at Tony’s Chocolonely. She was previously director of marketing and public relations at G-Star Raw.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? The CeraVe campaign featuring Michael Cera. It’s a perfect example of how a brand can leverage an unexpected celebrity pairing to create buzz and resonate with its target audience. The campaign’s success lies in its ability to blend humor, relatability, and authenticity, some key elements that stand out in today’s crowded skincare market. Michael Cera’s quirky, understated personality aligns seamlessly with CeraVe’s straightforward, no-frills approach to skincare. This creates a refreshing contrast to the overly polished, high-glam campaigns that often dominate the industry.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile: I’m deeply into political science and pottery—an unusual mix, but both fuel my creativity and strategic thinking. Political science fascinates me with its focus on human behavior, systems, and how decisions shape societies. It’s like studying the ultimate campaign strategies, which directly ties back to marketing. On the flip side, pottery is my creative escape. I love the process of shaping raw clay into something meaningful—it’s a great reminder that with the right effort, timing, and vision, we can create something impactful from scratch.

Read more here.

2025 is the year marketing gets serious about working with creators, having seen how these powerful personalities engage and delight audiences.

Join EMARKETER for their live virtual event this Friday, Feb. 7, to learn how to scale creator content across platforms, create engaging episodic content, and use AI to improve measurement. You’ll get expert advice from their top analysts and leading brand marketers from Taco Bell, Uber, LTK, and Little Chonk. Save the date.

Mergers and acquisitions, company partnerships, and more.

• Heinz announced a collab with Mustard, Kendrick Lamar’s producer, during Sunday’s Grammys.
• Athleta signed WNBA players Kate Martin and Lexie Hull to its “Power of She” platform roster.
• Lexus expanded its sponsorship deal with the World Surf League.
• NewYork-Presbyterian teamed up with ice cream chain Van Leeuwen to encourage people to donate blood last month.