Commercials are synonymous with the Super Bowl, but brands are increasingly ramping up efforts and budgets to connect with customers during the peak cultural moment through experiential marketing surrounding in-person action.
Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, will host more than 65,000 fans and media from around the world for Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Feb. 8, and events have been happening around the Bay Area since Super Bowl Opening Night earlier this week.
From an exclusive five-night Rao's restaurant pop-up in San Francisco to Thomas' English muffins sampling protein-packed breakfasts at a celebrity golf tournament, Pepsi's pairings with seven local restaurants, a vineyard tasting in Napa Valley with Cîroc, or content houses that bring lifestyle magazine brands to life, there's no shortage of unique events for consumers.
"People are craving in-real-life experiences, and the Super Bowl is an amazing place to have brand integration on-site," VaynerX CMO Avery Akkineni told ABC News. "Then think about all of the people who are not as lucky to be [attending in-person], and they can experience all of that on social media. That's a huge driver of why we are investing so much in experiences."
VaynerX is activating multiple Super Bowl experiences throughout the Bay Area this week including Gallery Club House, VaynerX's Bay Area Brunch, and the Cîroc Athletic Club at vineyards in Napa Valley. Each is designed for brands and attendees to engage in new conversations and create original content around the events.
The Cîroc event for example, which Akkineni said brings the ethos of the grape-made vodka to life, gives attendees a fun way to experience the brand in a beautiful setting alongside founder Gary Vaynerchuk and celebrity guests to enjoy everything from a pickleball tournament to tastings.
Samantha Martin, an experiential marketing strategist, told ABC News that content-focused house-style events -- much like the signature Gallery Club House that activates at key cultural events from Coachella to Art Basel -- are successful because it "amplifies an experience" and creates "additional touch points in real life with creators."
The top price for a 30-second ad spot during the 2026 Super Bowl sold for a record-high $10 million, NBCUniversal ad executive Mark Marshall confirmed to ADWEEK.
Considering that hefty initial investment, which doesn't account for production costs, a departure from solely relying on traditional ads has opened the door for brands to engage with tens of thousands of in-person attendees.
"It's a lot of 'and' where companies realize the spot is a very big part of it, but there's so much more you can do to maximize the moment," Akkineni said. "They're now realizing the spot is only half the game."
Some brands like PepsiCo are doing both.
PepsiCo's new polar bear taste test TV spot was joined by a pop-up that included Martha Stewart and local restaurants serving up a mix of dishes from different cuisines, paired with Pepsi.
"There's been a growing consumer shift towards experiences, and as brands [are increasingly being] led by Gen Z ... it's a great opportunity to meet consumers where they are most engaged," Scott Finlow, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo, told ABC News. "Whether it's the Super Bowl or an activation with one of our local restaurant partners, these experiences bring together great food, people, and Pepsi, and turn short term novelty into long term loyalty."
Martin, who has analyzed the return on investment for Super Bowl creative campaigns, told ABC News that the space has grown at nearly double the pace of total ad spend, with brand-building serving as a critical component for long-term return on investment.
"There's a 10% increase year-over-year for experiential spend in America," she said, adding that in-person events deliver feedback that companies "can't get with a TV spot or any digital or social advertisement."
And with more than 85% of consumers more likely to purchase after attending a live brand experience, according to Nielsen's 2024 Annual Marketing Report, marketing experts are leaning in.
Kenny Dichter, chairman of global sports and lifestyle experiences company REAL SLX, has honed in on the in-person strategy at the Super Bowl, teaming up with Frank Pellegrino Jr. and Ron Straci's New York City institution Rao's to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience for 200 people per night that might not otherwise get a chance to dine at the East Harlem restaurant.
"Demand far exceeds our supply," he told ABC News. "There hasn't been a reservation at Rao's in New York City since 1977, and the pop-up is every bit as tough as the as the restaurant in East Harlem.”
Dichter said the power of Rao's Super Bowl pop-up is evidenced, to him, by the fact that this year, the brand saw its best opening night dinner to date with NFL Crucial Catch -- the league's initiative with the American Cancer Society -- which was hosted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and raised $35 million.
REAL SLX president Gary Spitalnik said even Pellegrino Jr. noted, "This might be our No. 1 kickoff ever" for the brands, comparing it to other high turnouts at Augusta National and the Ryder Cup, because it creates "a specialness and authenticity through the history and the tradition of Rao's."
Rao's Super Bowl guests -- who this year include San Francisco 49ers legends and NFL Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, as well as Russell Wilson and Ciara, Adam Schefter, and Stephen A. Smith to name a few -- are treated to the famed Italian dishes and the timeless hospitality of the 130-year-old establishment.
"We have a mix of people that have been to the restaurant, and then we have a lot of people who haven't. It's an exciting thing," said executive chef Dino Gatto, who said he has prepped 1,000 pounds of roasted red peppers, rolled 1,700 meatballs with love, and cooked 25 five-gallon buckets of marinara sauce since Saturday. "By bringing it on the road, we're able to give a handful of people that experience."
Dichter said REAL SLX sees the success of its investment in real time, noting, "People are in the moment, they're engaged, they're connecting. It's very difficult for a brand and a company to be both inclusive and exclusive at the same time."
Ultimately, the execution from Rao's with the team's "attention to detail and treating everyone that comes in like a regular, that's the magical piece of it," which Dichter said makes the event with Rao's real.
