YouTube reveals sneak previews of the 2014 Super Bowl ads

Its pre-game teaser time, with the YouTube channel Ad Blitz currently showcasing excerpts from some of the major brands’ 2014 Super Bowl adverts.

The Super Bowl itself (number XLVII for anyone counting or able to understand Roman numerals) doesn’t happen till 2 February, but that hasn’t stopped the hype machine from kicking into gear.

Last week I revealed the top 20 Super Bowl ads of all time according to Unruly and discovered that 60% of the most shared ads of all time were launched before Super Bowl Sunday, thereby using word-of-mouth and early publicity to generate extra shares. In fact seven of the top 20 ads used teasers to build hype.

Marketers are clearly learning tactics from major film studios, where big event films can be teased a year or more before their release, even before a single piece of footage has been shot.

This ties into the notion that Super Bowl ads are much grander enterprises than merely product selling. These ads are events too, content designed to entertain, engage and hopefully be remembered for years. Get the Super Bowl advert right, and the brand could well have a ‘Terry Tate Office Linebacker’ or ‘The Force’ on its hands; adverts that transcend the very notion of being ‘just an ad’.

US audience figures for the 2013 Super Bowl reached 108m. Previous to that, 2012’s Super Bowl achieved 166.8m viewers, making it the most watched event in US television history. Take that moon landing!

This gigantic audience and the power of content based advertising means that the 2014 Super Bowl is a ticket that major brands can’t afford to ignore.

So grab a big bag of nachos, some fiery salsa, a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon, ease back the recliner and click on the image below to be transported to a world where Arnold Schwarzenegger dresses like Bjorn Borg to advertise Bud Light, Pepsi suggests it invented the concept of ‘half-time’ and Don Cheadle hangs around with a llama.

Unruly has a chart of the most popular Super Bowl ads of 2014 so far, so click on the link to see which teasers are faring the best on the run up to the big game on 2 February.

For more on the 2014 Super Bowl from the blog, read 20 best Super Bowl ads of all time and a list of eight NFL teams getting creative with Vine.