Super Bowl on Univision—why some advertisers are skipping CBS for the simulcast

TelevisaUnivision will air Super Bowl LVIII’s Spanish-language broadcast for the first time, and multiple brands are using it as an opportunity to go all-in on Hispanic viewers. Brands including Nissan, Audi and Metro by T-Mobile have announced campaigns that will air only on Univision’s Feb.11 broadcast (also streaming on TelevisaUnivision’s Vix) as marketers seek to engage the growing Hispanic population, while also taking a more budget-friendly approach to Super Bowl Sunday. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs In past years, ad inventory in the Spanish-language broadcast of the Super Bowl was packaged along with commercials in the English-language broadcast. However, this year, TelevisaUnivision struck a deal with CBS Sports and the NFL to take control of the Spanish-language game and sell the inventory for it. And brands have taken the opportunity to revamp their Big Game strategies. “If you look at the broader culture, we’re at this really interesting inflection point where Latin culture is mainstream culture,” said Clint Patterson, prepaid chief marketing officer at T-Mobile. “What has been a very segmented approach to Hispanic marketing—for a lot of companies, it was always an afterthought translating their English-language content to reach Spanish-speakers,” has now become an integral piece of brands’ “marketing engine.” TelevisaUnivision has a handful of in-game units remaining and expects to sell out by the end of this week or next, said John Kozack, executive VP, multimedia sales at TelevisaUnivision. Additionally, Kozack said sponsorships for halftime, post-game and pregame coverage have sold out. Taking a Univision-only approach Metro by T-Mobile announced last week that it would air Super Bowl advertising only on Univision’s broadcast rather than on CBS. Parent company T-Mobile has advertised previously during the Super Bowl, and Patterson declined to specify the larger company’s Super Bowl plans, which have not been announced yet. The upcoming game will feature the Metro by T-Mobile brand’s first Big Game spot, on Univision. The 60-second ad—made with OKRP, Metro by T-Mobile’s agency of record—will air during the second quarter and continue the brand’s “Nada Yada Yada” campaign. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Metro by T-Mobile (@metrobytmobile) Metro by T-Mobile “over-indexes and has a significant portion of the Hispanic community as customers,” said Patterson. He added that the brand views its Univision strategy as “a brand statement” and “a way to demonstrate our commitment to that community” as much as it is a way to drive “social pickup and buzz and earned media.” Audi of America and Nissan U.S. are also taking a Univision-only approach to Super Bowl LVIII. “The Hispanic community is the fastest growing luxury segment in the U.S.,” said Maggie Mohiuddin, director of brand channel marketing at Audi of America, in an email. Univision’s Super Bowl will mark the debut of Audi’s first campaign created for Spanish-language consumers, called “What Drives Us.” “Audi has not advertised in the Super Bowl broadcast since 2020 and we don’t see this strategy as an alternative to Super Bowl,” said Mohiuddin. “Instead, the partnership with Univision provides us with a unique launchpad for our ‘What Drives Us’ campaign. That creative will continue throughout the year on linear, streaming, and digital platforms.” Viewership of broadcast TV is 8.2% higher for U.S. Hispanics whose primary language is Spanish than the total U.S. population, particularly because broadcast TV offered the highest percentage of Hispanic representation among titles in the first half of 2023, according to research from Nielsen. And Hispanics represent more than 19% of the total U.S. population, with a purchasing power of more than $2 trillion, per sources cited in the study. As such, Nissan U.S. is putting its full Super Bowl energy into its Univision spot, which will be “a highly entertaining commercial spot featuring top-level talent with some fun twists and turns,” said Marisstella Marinkovic, VP and chief marketing officer at Nissan U.S., via email. Marinkovic said Nissan approached the ad similarly to how it would any Super Bowl campaign, and that the automaker will return to the English-language broadcast in the future. Nearly 40% of Nissan’s consumers identify as multicultural, with “the Latino audience representing the largest portion of that group,” according to Marinkovic, so Univision’s broadcast offered an opportunity to connect with that audience at a large, aggregated volume. Nissan will also advertise during Univision’s coverage surrounding the Super Bowl. Recent news: Nissan North America names new senior VP Aside from reaching the Hispanic audience, Univision’s Super Bowl broadcast also presents a more affordable way for brands to reach Big Game audiences. Marketing spending by the top auto brands has declined 12% from pre-pandemic levels, according to the Ad Age World’s Largest Advertisers report, due to both supply shortages as well as the transition to electric vehicles. However, while last year’s Super Bowl saw a notable decline in auto advertisers, BMW, Volkswagen and Kia, along with Big Game newcomer Kawasaki, have confirmed spots in the CBS broadcast as of writing. While the CBS broadcast costs some marketers north of $7 million for a 30-second spot, Univision’s inventory was priced around the low- to mid-$200,000 range per unit, according to at least three media buyers. One media buyer told Ad Age that given the uncertain state of the economy, extravagant marketing events such as the Super Bowl have become increasingly difficult for CMOs to justify. TelevisaUnivision’s Kozack said categories particularly strong among Univision’s Super Bowl sales were telecommunications, beer and auto, as well as some consumer packaged goods and sportsbook advertisers. “There’s only a couple of ways to grow a brand: sell more to your existing customer or reach new people,” said Kozack. “We help advertisers do both. And Hispanic culture is just hot right now. Some of them still don’t get it, but every brand should be reaching this consumer to grow their business.”

Super Bowl on Univision—why some advertisers are skipping CBS for the simulcast

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