Comms Leaders Turn Super Bowl Moments Into Multi-Phase Brand Narratives

The 30-second Super Bowl spot remains one of marketing’s most powerful stages, and this year’s advertising showed just how much opportunity brands have when they think beyond the broadcast. In today’s multi‑screen, real‑time media landscape, attention alone no longer guarantees impact. To win in this environment, brands must design campaigns that carry the story before, during, and after the broadcast.

That’s the assessment from Christopher Barger, a veteran strategic executive communications leader. With over 25 years of experience in corporate communications and digital strategy, Barger is known for pioneering the first corporate social media programs at giants such as IBM and General Motors, where he managed the company's online reputation through its bankruptcy crisis. His work has since guided Fortune 500 companies from Walmart to Disney Parks.

“The Super Bowl ad is the introductory chapter. It's the opening book that propels a longer‑term story. It’s the start of something enduring, not the final word,” Barger says. For brands that want lasting impact, the key is thinking in phases: build anticipation before the game, deliver a defining moment during the broadcast, and extend the story afterward to sustain engagement.

• Opening act: Pre‑game teasers can stretch a single media buy into a serialized experience, building anticipation and buzz before kickoff. Barger points to State Farm as a strong example. “They were teasing the story in the weeks leading up to the game, giving people a taste and making them curious to see the rest. You’re actively driving interest instead of assuming everyone is just watching,” he says. In a media environment where attention is divided across phones, social feeds, and live commentary, that kind of early engagement has become essential.

• Heartstring hit: Emotional storytelling still dominates Super Bowl creative, but resonance alone cannot carry a campaign. Barger highlights the Lay’s potato chip spot, which connected through a father‑daughter narrative but offered no clear continuation. “The ad hit the right emotional chords. That sense of wistfulness is relatable to any parent. I just don’t know what they’re going to do after,” he says, emphasizing that without a post‑game plan, even well‑crafted spots can lose strategic impact.

• Sequel effect: Converting attention into active engagement requires extending the story beyond the broadcast. The Rocket Mortgage and Redfin commercial demonstrated this with an interactive contest that kept audiences involved after the game. “They grabbed your attention and then asked what comes next. They made the most of the attention they earned by treating the Super Bowl as the start of the story, not the end.”

Barger emphasizes that ads should spark reactions that carry beyond the broadcast. Brands are competing not only with each other but with a constant stream of social media, live commentary, and real-time conversations. Success comes from identifying which feelings will leave a lasting impression and then pairing that emotional impact with a clear path for post‑game engagement. Without that connection to what comes next, even a brilliant emotional moment can fade as the attention economy moves on.

• Standing ovation: Brands can differentiate themselves by expanding what counts as emotional engagement. Beyond warmth or nostalgia, ads can leverage frustration, irritation, or tension to make a memorable mark. Barger points to the Anthropic AI spot, which deliberately provoked frustration to engage viewers and underline the brand’s point. “We often equate emotion with the 'awws,'” he says. “But this ad tapped into frustration and still struck a chord. The goal was to create a reaction, and I think it succeeded.”

• Comedy cue: Humor remains one of the trickiest tools for creating emotional resonance at scale. A concept that lands in a creative room may not translate to millions of viewers with varied tastes and cultural backgrounds. Barger cites Manscaped as an example of that unpredictability. “The challenge is that humor is subjective. I don't know that the ad necessarily landed with as many people as they had hoped."

• Director's cut: AI can accelerate the early stages of idea generation, but it cannot replace the human insight required to make an ad emotionally resonant. Barger frames AI as a tool that helps move from a blank page to a pool of concepts, but the ultimate decision about what will connect culturally and emotionally still falls to humans. “AI should have a seat at the table, but it shouldn't be running the meeting,” he says. “It’s great for generating ideas, but you still need humans to decide which ones will strike that emotional chord. That judgment can’t be automated.”

For Barger, the Super Bowl’s unmatched reach makes it worth the investment. What has changed is the line between a memorable moment and a meaningful campaign. The ads that succeed are the ones that treat game day as the opening chapter of a larger narrative, linking the broadcast to social engagement, experiential extensions, or product stories that continue long after the final whistle. “The Super Bowl is the ignition point," Barger concludes. "It’s not the whole thing. It’s the down payment, not the full mortgage.”