Brand lessons from Super Bowl 2026

Super Bowl 2026 proved why awareness spikes won’t fix a broken brand funnel, writes Tracksuit head of brand Sam Brough.

The Super Bowl remains one of the few cultural moments where attention concentrates at scale. For brands, that kind of spotlight is powerful, but attention alone does not build brand strength. 

During this year’s Super Bowl, some brands thrived under the bright lights, airing carefully curated and distinctive ads that will be remembered for years to come. For others the goal was short-term disruption — a gamble that often sacrifices consistent brand building for a single day of noise.

Reviving the Cola Wars

Pepsi’s ‘taste challenge’ certainly put the brand back in the headlines, but not necessarily for the right reasons. I’m saying this was a misstep. The ad chose borrowed interest over brand authenticity, effectively diluting Pepsi’s identity to chase a fleeting association with its competitor.

By hijacking Coke’s polar bear, Pepsi leaned on memory structures that Coke has spent decades building. It’s a classic branding trap. You think you’re being disruptive, but you’re actually just reminding the consumer of who the true market leader is. The margin gap tells you everything. Coke operates at about a 25% profit margin while Pepsi is at 10%. This isn’t a fluke, it’s a direct result of the brand equity they’ve built. 

When we look at the data across the US soft drinks category, Coca-Cola leads every major funnel metric. We’re talking about a 32% vs 15% lead in pure consumer preference. Why? Because Coke owns the psychological triggers that actually secure a purchase: trust (52% vs 44%), lifestyle relevance (46% vs 35%) and premium feel (47% vs 36%).

In Pepsi’s case, they need to bridge these gaps in trust and relevance before they lean so heavily on borrowed interest. Otherwise, broadcasting ads like these will continue to be an expensive reminder of why the world continues to default to Coke. 

Borrowing coolness (carefully)

One of the standout advertisements from game day belonged to Pringles. Its partnership with Sabrina Carpenter allowed the brand to borrow cultural capital from an ‘it girl’ of the moment, while avoiding the usual Super Bowl trap of celebrity overload.

Dusting off the legendary ‘Once you pop, you can’t stop’ mantra and pairing it with the cultural magnetism of Carpenter wasn’t just a random punt. It was a strategic play to capture a declining younger market.

Between February 2025 and January 2026, Pringles’ awareness among 18-to-34-year-olds slipped from 88% to 79%, with consideration trailing by six percentage points. By restoring the product to its rightful place as the hero, they used Carpenter not as a distraction, but as a muse to reawaken the sensory cravings of taste and indulgence, proving that you can evolve with the times without abandoning your soul.

Verizon took a similar approach using Kevin Hart’s signature no-BS delivery to pivot their brand tone – exactly what a telco needs when they’re trying to cut through the noise of competitors’ confusing claims. This high level synergy ensures the talent actually moves the needle on brand salience and for Verizon, Hart is a shortcut to trust in a category that usually feels like a total minefield.

Solving brand fractures

We also saw brands use the Super Bowl’s gravity to heal the fractures in their own brand stories. Going into its third consecutive Super Bowl, US candy company Nerds boasted a 67% awareness rate (significantly outperforming the 54% competitor average).

Despite this, only 21% of Americans aged 55 or older convert from being aware of the brand to considering purchasing its products. Noticing this generational gap, Nerds centred its campaign around Andy Cohen – a mainstream cultural fixture with rare cross-generational appeal. 

Rather than giving into the temptation of targeting the over-55 demographic in a vacuum, Nerds leveraged Cohen’s unique ability to resonate with diverse audiences to pull the brand into the mainstream for all ages. This approach allowed Nerds to speak to younger fans while simultaneously mending the conversion gap with mature consumers, evolving general brand awareness into universal household consideration.

For Apple Music, the challenge is exclusivity. In the audio world, being ‘for people like me’ is the heartbeat of consideration – it makes a consumer nearly five times more likely to lean in. Yet, Apple Music’s data reveals quite a disconnect. Among those aware of Apple Music, only 31% think the brand is ‘for people like me’, compared to Spotify’s 45% and YouTube’s 57%. By weaving a narrative of inclusivity through their Bad Bunny-led trailer, Apple Music attempted to soften its ‘premium’ armour, trading its reputation for being ‘exclusive’ for the more enduring power of being ‘universal’.

Brands live in memories, not campaigns

When the stadium lights dim, it becomes clear that while awareness spikes are easily bought, resonance must be earned. While the temptation of big cultural moments like the Super Bowl is to chase novelty, the most successful brands know that growth isn’t a flash in the pan moment — it’s the result of being trusted, relevant, and preferred every day.

Moments like the Super Bowl should act as multipliers of long-term strategy, not departures from it. In a world of fleeting distractions, clarity, consistency, and a distinctive core are the only things that truly endure.

References:

• Tracksuit | Soft Drinks Category | US | Feb ’25–Jan ’26 |
• Tracksuit | Audio Content Category| US | Aug ’25-Jan ’26 |
• Tracksuit | Chocolate & Confectionery Category | US | Feb ’25-Jan ’26 |
• Tracksuit | Chips Category | US | Feb ‘25-Jan’26 |

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