With much-anticipated commercials and a half-time performance by Katy Perry, the Super Bowl attracts more than just football fans.
Lisa Troy, clinical associate professor of marketing, said the Super Bowl is an opportunity for companies and artists to increase their brand exposure, but it’s rare to see an up-and-coming brand label.
“You’ll see really established companies and they have very large ads,” Troy said. “People have come to look forward to it and expect their ads. For most companies, it’s less about increasing sales as much as it is about brand exposure.”
However, for previous musical artists, the Super Bowl has led to a sharp increase in sales. Bruno Mars, last year’s halftime performer, saw a 180 percent sales increase in his album “Jukebox” in the week following his 2014 Super Bowl performance.
Troy said after exposure to such a large audience, follow-up is important.
“A good thing an artist could do after such an event would be to release an album, or announce a tour,” Troy said.
Aaron Glover, instructional assistant professor in theatre arts, however, stressed the importance of an artist’s focus on the performance itself. The venue’s Super Bowl status and 21st-century technology ensure an artist’s performance will be closely scrutinized from every angle — factors that make a flawless performance a necessity.
Glover referenced Beyonce’s 2013 halftime performance and the Internet media’s response to an image that surfaced of the singer “hulking out,” or an unflattering picture of the singer while intensely dancing.
“With this technology, even a half of a second of your performance can be scrutinized,” Glover said. “On the whole, Beyonce’s performance was one of the best Super Bowl halftimes I’ve seen.”
Glover said Katy Perry is a great fit for the Super Bowl.
“I think in the context of the Super Bowl, it’s very much about aesthetics,” Glover said. “I think she’s a performer, she knows how to put on a show and really work in that space, to play to that kind of a crowd.”
Glover said Perry’s appeal is very marketable to the large audience that the Super Bowl attracts.
“I think it’s easy to project yourself onto Katy Perry, as opposed to Lady Gaga or Rihanna, for a lot of people,” Glover said. “I think she’s easily digestible for a wide audience. I think she is good for the Super Bowl because the Super Bowl is trying to offer all things to every person.”
Wendi Bellar, telecommunication media studies graduate student, said the Super Bowl is a culture of its own.
“So you don’t have to be a football fan to watch the Super Bowl, you don’t have to be a music fan to watch the halftime show,” Bellar said. “It’s really a place and an event where all these different sub-cultures of pop culture come together into one big viewing.”
Rumya Putcha, assistant professor of music and performance studies, said the Super Bowl uses the halftime show to further establish its own brand as “quintessentially American.”
“It always has to be seen as a spectacle,” Putcha said. “I think that Katy Perry on one hand is seen as this all-American girl, but then also tests the provocative. She really fits the brand of what the Super Bowl is, which is to appeal to the broad American audience.”