The Super Bowl is a weeklong brand battleground and increasingly, a decentralized, creator-powered cultural moment. Our Executive Director of Partnerships, Marissa Festante shares what stood out on the ground this year and what it signals for brands planning for 2027 and beyond:
The Super Bowl Is Now a Citywide Ecosystem
In many past Super Bowl’s, activity has been centered around the media center and official fan experiences. This year, the NFL expanded its footprint bringing consumer activations to multiple locations across the city. That shift appeared to create more opportunity for other brands to activate in the surrounding ecosystem as well. The volume of events and brand activations was notably high, including brands that might not have an obvious tie to football, such as Beis.
Consideration: The Super Bowl is a place to be for all levels of brand play and remember: the bigger spend doesn’t necessarily win hearts and minds. There’s significant opportunity to reach multiple audiences (not just sports fans!), as people are more open to brand experiences and messaging during that week. The flip side increased competition, with brands constantly vying for attention.
What this means: The Super Bowl has shifted from a centralized activation hub to a distributed brand ecosystem. Winning now requires surround-sound strategy centered around this iconic tentpole moment.
The Calendar is Expanding and so Should Brand Strategy
In past years, Super Bowl week typically started buzzing on Thursday. But with the NFL shifting the Pro Bowl to the Super Bowl host city, more marquee players were on the ground beginning, prompting the center to kick off earlier. This helped distribute activity beyond the typically packed Thursday and Friday, extending meaningful momentum into Wednesday as well. Celebrities were also out and about in full force, as destination cities like San Francisco naturally draw crowds.
Consideration: Understanding what makes the host city unique is an important part of brand planning. Working with earned media and experiential marketing experts who can share this local expertise is critical to activating in a way that makes the most sense and can help your brand standout.
What this means: The Super Bowl timeline has officially expanded. Brands that activate earlier gain media runway and breathing room in an increasingly saturated Thursday–Friday crush. With the Big Game next year inLA, we’ll likely see even more celebrities, not just athletes, doing interviews at the media center and beyond. Start planning now!
Healthcare Is Claiming Cultural Space
We have seen pharma companies advertise during the Big Game for the past few years and this year was no different with the spots from Novo Nordisk, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis and Hims and Hers but healthcare seems to have finally infiltrated the rest of the events leading up to Super Bowl as well. We saw many talent talking on behalf of health clients at the media center such as BMS with soccer player Kasey Keller in cancer space (branded); Qelbree and Jay Glazer for ADHD; Heart Flow with Brian Urlacher and Amgen with Barry Sanders.Outside of the media center, eye drops made a big play with Lumify, who recently partnered with Devonta Smith, sponsoring the Gallery Media House and inviting major players like Sam Hartman, Sauce Gardner and Juwan Johnson and influencers to come by and capture content (Example: here).
Consideration: The media center can be a turnkey way for health brands to lean in, but opportunities are starting to extend outside and into experiential spaces as well.
What this means: Health brands are no longer confined to awareness messaging. They’re competing in cultural arenas; using talent, experiential, and league partnerships to drive mainstream relevance.
Creators Are Super Bowl Marketing Infrastructure
While some creators have broken through to the big screen in TV ads (or even halftime performances: looking at you Alix Earle!), creators were most prevalent in surrounding efforts, but not only from afar this year. Many creators were on the ground acting more like traditional media outlets with Max Klymenko Career Ladder in the media center taking interviews or covering brand experiences like at Gatorade House or at the NFL Experience invited on behalf of brands.
Consideration: While there’s a lot of opportunity around Super Bowl, don’t forget about the surround!
What this means: Creators are amplification partners and distribution channels, as well as interviewers, talent, and brand storytellers.
Simplicity Wins in a Sea of Spectacle
The absolute best thing I saw all week? Kirk Herbstreit and his dog Peter forSpruce with a custom built car from influencer DudeDad. So simple but the love of Peter made them a huge draw at the media center, with everyone wanting to grab content, making them a viral hit.
What this means: In an environment built on over production, emotional simplicity can outperform scale.
Think Ahead: Your 2027 Super Bowl Planning Checklist
- Think beyond the 30-second spot.
- Activate across multiple city touchpoints.
- Consider creator partnerships as primary distribution.
- Explore experiential and cultural adjacency.
- Align with what makes the host city unique.
- Plan earlier than you think.
If this year proved anything, it’s that Super Bowl strategy is all about building presence across culture, creators, city footprint, and conversation. The brands that win aren’t just advertising during the game.They’re architecting ecosystems around it.
It’s never too early to start thinking about Super Bowl LXI in LosAngeles next year! Fun fact: next year’s Super Bowl also falls on Valentine’sDay, so there’s going to be a lot of fun happening here.
Reach out! Email: marissa.festante@omc.com - Let’s build something together!
