Brands Shift Spend From X to Alternatives for Super Bowl 2024, Reassessing Deals

Historically, X (formerly Twitter) has grappled with subpar ad products. That, coupled with the lack of a closely aligned sales team, could find the platform missing out on one of its highest revenue-driving periods, the Super Bowl. X's former ability to drive real-time conversations with moments such as Brand Bowl winners—which highlighted the best-performing brands during the Big Game and emphasized the impact of brand commercials driving conversations—was a significant component of brands' media strategy and purchasing considerations until the most recent Super Bowl earlier this year. “[2024] is expected to be different,” said Jon Morgenstern, executive vice president and head of investment at VaynerMedia. “Some of the brands that historically would have been active on X during this time may continue to stay dark.” With the Big Game just months away, many brands have already solidified their media plans for the Super Bowl, which in recent years has brought in roughly $35 million in U.S. ad revenue for Twitter over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported. However, some are still hesitating to commit their media budget to X. Although the allure of substantial discounts might sway brands to invest, they are reallocating ad spend to rival platforms, like TikTok, four sources said, while others are reconsidering their future deals with X for the upcoming year. X to Double Down on SMBs Following Musk's Advertiser Attack "X is hemorrhaging users, embroiled in yet another scandal just as advertisers are finalizing their Big Game plans, and they are down over 50% in ad revenue,” said Neil Sawhney, Pereira O'Dell's director of connections. “The massive shift to TikTok that happened with last year’s Super Bowl, and continued investment in YouTube, is a trend that will continue." Up until 2023, brands continued to build media strategies that included both organic posts and paid media for preplanned content. Data from MediaRadar found that 19 of the 76 brands advertising during Super Bowl LVII in 2023 collectively spent an estimated $4.7 million with X in January and February 2023, a significant 69% year-over-year decrease from the $15 million invested during the same period in 2022. Brands such as CrowdStrike, M&M’s and General Motors chose not to advertise on X in 2023. Among the top advertisers on the platform during this timeframe were McDonald’s, The Farmer’s Dog and PopCorners, which accounted for a combined ad spend of $3.1 million on X, representing 67% of the total X ad spend. Rather than completely pulling their presence from the platform, brands will be more likely to reduce the scope of their media strategy to either just organic content or investing some dollar amount on selective ad products, such as in-stream video, to have some control over brand risk. “That is much less trollable versus a promoted tweet,” Morgenstern added. Ad spend shifts to TikTok, Snap, Reddit and Meta At VaynerMedia, X traditionally commanded up to 25% of digital advertising spending during the Super Bowl. For larger brands, this often amounted to figures in the seven-figure range. However, brands are now reallocating their ad budgets to platforms such as TikTok, Snap, Reddit and Meta. “The reality for Fortune 100 brands is that brand risk, even for three impressions, is just not worth it,” said Morgenstern. Similarly, Pereira O'Dell is advising clients to explore alternatives beyond X, such as TikTok and Instagram. “It's where most of the post-Super Bowl marketing plans and promotions spots are going to happen,” said Sawhney. “Our audiences have also left X or don't engage as much on the platform as they did in the past. There is a drop in effectiveness, and it's not serving the purpose that it used to for campaign reach.” Even as far back as last year, there was a noticeable decline in the enthusiasm to renew deals with X for 2023, despite there being fewer downsides at the time, said Morgenstern. “Any kind of upfront deals or annual sponsorships, as soon as those are expired and those contracts are no longer in place, I wouldn't expect those to be renewed,” said Sawhney.

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Brands Shift Spend From X to Alternatives for Super Bowl 2024, Reassessing Deals

X saw a 69% YoY decrease in Super Bowl ad spend in 2023

Trishla Ostwal

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Trishla Ostwal