Super Bowl Surround Strategy Turns Cultural Tentpole Into Conversion Machine

A fresh strategic framework is redefining the Super Bowl for advertisers, challenging the long-standing perception of the game as merely a one-night brand showcase. The driver for this change is simple: for many, awareness alone no longer justifies the price tag. The approach reframes the year's biggest media event not as a momentary spike, but as the trigger for a measurable, full funnel performance engine. Used as a rich data source, the game is the perfect stage to turn cultural heat into trackable business outcomes.

Rachel Costanzo is the Senior Director of Media Investment at Tinuiti, the largest independent full-funnel performance marketing agency in the US. A seasoned advertising professional with deep expertise in cross-channel media strategy, Costanzo has a long track record of leading investment teams, including multiple director-level roles at Rain the Growth Agency. From her perspective, the thinking behind Super Bowl advertising is being reframed, viewing the game as the starting point for a data-driven customer journey.

“The Super Bowl is a data signal now in addition to this cultural juggernaut tentpole. You can capture that audience and retarget with different messaging, move them down the funnel, and lean into performance KPIs." Costanzo’s philosophy is a response to a simple observation: the conversation around the game is no longer contained to the office the next day. It's now a continuous discussion, fueled by constant chatter and second-screen behavior.

• Raising the bar: The new dynamic requires brands to engage with audiences across a variety of platforms before, during, and after the event to capture its full value. "We kind of had this unofficial surround as the new standard when it comes to Super Bowl," Costanzo notes. "It's definitely a bigger, broader opportunity for brands to meet their audience and make connections across a variety of platforms in and outside the game."

• Water cooler collective: Costanzo says the rationale behind this always-on strategy can be found in everyday, "water cooler" moments. "The water cooler is everywhere. It's this dynamic, living, breathing thing, and you need to be present across the entire experience. That's why this surround strategy ensures that our brands can tap in and meet audiences where they are, whenever they are, wherever they are."

• Rule of three: Executing this strategy is a three-phase mission designed to convert awareness into action. The campaign begins weeks out with teasers and social activations, moves to real-time engagement during the game, and then focuses on post-game retargeting. "You can't treat the Super Bowl as one big awareness moment and simply hope and pray that it will carry the brand," Costanzo explains. "The real strategy is staying top of mind by using that momentum to tell a deeper story about your brand through subsequent activations."

Costanzo’s mindset tackles the high price tag of a Super Bowl buy head-on. The ripple effect has been a broader playing field, with more brands now able to claim a spot in what was once an exclusive arena. Her team has orchestrated strategies for clients ranging from national linear advertisers like Liquid I.V. and e.l.f. Beauty to digital-only players like Instacart and Ramp. "I'm a performance marketer at heart, that's where I started my career. I always have that lens, even when considering brand campaigns and higher-awareness tactics. It is a test-and-learn process where there are so many lower-risk ways into the content that give you the ability to see what a placement does for your brand on a measurable scale."

• Inside the lab: The "test-and-learn" process uses a "stair-step" approach, where lower-cost activations like local linear placements, Peacock-only ads, or streaming platform takeovers act as scalable entry points. These tactics allow brands to enter the conversation, prove the value of the investment, and build confidence that they are ready before going all-in. "It's a way to stair-step into that larger conversation where not only are we ready from a business standpoint to do the Super Bowl," Costanzo notes, "but we know that we should and that it is going to be beneficial for us against our objectives."

Momentum doesn’t end when the game does. In the 24 hours after Bad Bunny’s halftime show, his Spotify streams climbed 470%, illustrating how quickly cultural moments can drive action. For brands, that surge presents a powerful opening: an opportunity to convert attention into engagement and move consumers further along the journey. A core part of Costanzo's strategy involves giving the creative a life beyond the game, extending the campaign's story across other high-profile media moments like the Olympics or the NBA to maximize the initial investment.

Despite initial skepticism about demand, the game delivered decisively, ranking as the second-most-watched Super Bowl in history. The numbers reinforce the event’s enduring strength as a media tentpole in a fragmented landscape. Still, performance on that stage now requires coordinated cross-channel strategy, strong conversion mechanics, and a focus on sustained impact. "Live sports has been a place where everyone is continuing to lean in. Arguably, it's the last appointment television that exists, and the Super Bowl is the pinnacle of that. This is the singular tentpole. It's the tentpole," Costanzo concludes.