Category: In the News

Brands turned in-person activations into a new playground for creators at this year’s Super Bowl, giving wider talent exposure while finding more cost-efficient ways than previous years to scale creator participation.

There were more activations from a wider variety of brands, two creators (and their corresponding agencies) told Digiday anecdotally. They said a bevy of last-minute deals this year confirmed the Super Bowl has become a massive, in-person moment for the creator economy.

Part of it was this year’s unique timing: The NFL moved the Pro Bowl closer to the Super Bowl for the first time, extending the week even further and increasing the number of opportunities for creators to get brand deals. “The creator activations and IRL experiences have deeply evolved,” Jason Tartick, founder and CEO of Rewired Talent Management (and, himself, a creator) told Digiday.

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At this point in the Super Bowl ad post-mortem, a pattern has emerged: AI — both the companies selling it and the brands leaning on it — did not resonate as strongly as more familiar creative territory. Viewers gravitated toward the tried and tested, from nostalgia plays to celebrities in deliberately oddball scenarios, while many AI-centered spots struggled to make an emotional connection. 

That leaves a sizable cohort of marketers on the wrong side of the night’s cultural verdict. Nearly a quarter of the commercials — 15 of the 66 ads, or 23%– either promoted AI directly or relied on it in their creation, underscoring how heavily the industry is betting on a theme audiences have yet to fully embrace. 

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