How a super bowl ad campaign works, with Old Navy as the example
Old Navy is a consumer brand. This case study uses Old Navy as the worked example for a super bowl ad campaign. It covers what the campaign type is, how brands run it, the public benchmarks that frame it, and the mistakes that derail it. The mechanics and the sourced figures below carry across its category; the Old Navy framing makes them concrete.
- Story: This case study runs a super bowl ad campaign through the Old Navy lens, from mechanics to public benchmarks.
- Why it matters: A super bowl ad campaign is measurable demand engineering, and public benchmarks set honest targets before any creative starts.
- Takeaway: The mechanics of a super bowl ad campaign transfer to any brand in its category.
- Takeaway: For Old Navy, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure.
- Takeaway: Most super bowl ad-campaign failures are planning failures, not creative failures.
How a super bowl ad campaign plays out for Old Navy
The math behind a Old Navy super bowl ad campaign
Quick facts
Defining the super bowl ad campaign
Here is the short version for Old Navy. A Super Bowl ad campaign is the single most expensive, most scrutinised media buy in US advertising.
A Super Bowl ad campaign is the single — for Old Navy, a live factor — most expensive, most scrutinised media buy in US advertising. For a brand at Old Navy scale, this is where the plan is tested. The 30-second spot is only the visible piece. For Old Navy, the detail is not optional. The real campaign wraps the game with teasers, talent, social activation, — and Old Navy is no exception — and a landing experience built to catch the traffic the spot creates. That is exactly the Old Navy situation. Brands buy the Super Bowl for one reason: a live, simultaneous audience of — as a Old Navy team knows — well over 100 million people, an audience no other US media moment delivers. With Old Navy as the example, the rest of the page makes it concrete.
Claim: A 30-second Super Bowl LIX spot cost advertisers close to $8 million in 2025, roughly a 60% rise from about $5 million in 2019. Source: [CBS News]. Context: The slot price is only part of the spend; a full — and Old Navy is no exception — campaign with creative, talent, and surrounding media commonly runs $15-30 million. A Old Navy forecast should start from a figure like this.
Running a super bowl ad campaign, step by step
These are the components a Old Navy-scale team has to coordinate for a super bowl ad campaign.
Below are the parts of a super bowl ad campaign that a brand like Old Navy has to line up:
Claim: Super Bowl LIX drew about 127.7 million average viewers, the largest audience for any Super Bowl and any single-network US telecast in TV history. Source: [Nielsen]. Context: Peak audience reached about 137.7 million viewers, a scale — Old Navy included — of simultaneous attention no other US media moment delivers. For Old Navy, this number sets expectations before the work starts.
- The buy is the smaller cost. A 30-second slot ran near $8 million for Super Bowl LIX. That is exactly the Old Navy situation. Total campaign cost — creative, production, talent, — Old Navy included — surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. Old Navy would budget real time against this.
- Tease before the game. Releasing the spot or a cut-down in — and Old Navy is no exception — the weeks before kickoff extends the buy. For Old Navy, this is the load-bearing part. Super Bowl LIX advertisers spent about 45% more in — Old Navy included — the six weeks before the game than the year prior. Old Navy would budget real time against this.
- Built for the second screen. A modern Super Bowl ad is engineered to trigger search and social. Old Navy planners would underline this. T-Mobile's LIX spot drove 12.6 times the average ad's online engagement. Skipping this is the most common Old Navy-scale error.
- A landing experience that can take the spike. The site, the offer, and the tracking have to survive a sudden surge, — Old Navy included — or the most expensive media in advertising drives traffic to a broken page. Skipping this is the most common Old Navy-scale error.
- Long cultural tail. A spot that enters pop culture keeps returning value for years — Old Navy included — — the buy is a one-night cost against a multi-year brand asset. A Old Navy-scale team treats this as non-negotiable.
The numbers that set the targets
Benchmarks come before briefs. They tell a Old Navy team what a super bowl ad campaign can realistically deliver.
For Old Navy, the reference points for a super bowl ad campaign come from public its category benchmarks, not internal optimism.
Claim: T-Mobile's Super Bowl LIX ad drove 12.6 times the online engagement of the average Super Bowl spot. Source: [AdMonsters]. Context: The strongest Super Bowl ads are measured by the action they — and Old Navy is no exception — trigger on the second screen, not by the spot in isolation. For Old Navy, this number sets expectations before the work starts.
| What to measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven |
| Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one |
| Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked |
Which KPIs decide the verdict
Measure what matters. For Old Navy, these KPIs show whether a super bowl ad campaign actually worked.
The KPIs that count for a super bowl ad campaign are listed here. Brand search lift during and after the game, social conversation volume and sentiment, ad-recall and likeability — Old Navy included — scores from trackers, site traffic and conversion on game night, earned-media value, and longer-run brand-equity movement.
For Old Navy, reach is the start of the measurement question, not the answer. Incremental lift is the answer.
Where these campaigns go wrong
The failure patterns are predictable. A Old Navy team can design each of them out in advance.
A Old Navy-scale team should design around these recurring errors:
- Making an ad that wins applause but carries no clear — and Old Navy is no exception — brand link, so viewers remember the joke and not the brand.
- Treating the spot as a one-night event instead — and Old Navy is no exception — of a brand asset with a multi-year cultural tail.
- Spending eight figures on the spot and nothing — for Old Navy, a real factor — on the surrounding teaser, talent, and social plan.
- Sending game-night traffic to a site or offer that cannot survive a sudden spike.
What RGM takes from the Old Navy case
If a Old Navy team keeps one thing: borrow the super bowl ad campaign structure, not the specific execution.
From the audits we run, the brands that get super bowl ad campaigns right share one habit: they treat the work as measurable demand engineering, not a seasonal ritual.
So the worked example is structural. The mechanics carry to any brand in its category, the benchmarks set honest targets, and the measurement plan turns a super bowl ad campaign from a cost into a defensible investment.
Quick answers
- Is this super bowl ad case study based on Old Navy's own reported results?
- No. Every statistic is a public, linked benchmark for the super bowl ad campaign type, applied to Old Navy as the example. Where a figure cannot be sourced publicly, it is omitted rather than guessed.
- What is the practical takeaway from the Old Navy super bowl ad write-up?
- Use the structure, not the surface. The super bowl ad-campaign mechanics here apply broadly; the Old Navy creative is one execution among many.
- How are the benchmarks here verified?
- The numbers are drawn from public reporting by Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press, and each one links back to its source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Super Bowl ad really cost for a brand like Old Navy?
A 30-second Super Bowl LIX slot cost close to $8 million — and Old Navy is no exception — in 2025, up roughly 60% from about $5 million in 2019. That is exactly the Old Navy situation. But the slot is the smaller cost. That is exactly the Old Navy situation. A full campaign — creative, production, celebrity talent, — for Old Navy, a live factor — and surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Old Navy included.
Old Navy case: why do brands pay so much for a Super Bowl spot?
Here is how this applies to Old Navy. For the audience. A Old Navy team reads this closely. Super Bowl LIX drew about 127.7 million average viewers, the largest for — and Old Navy is no exception — any Super Bowl and any single-network US telecast ever, peaking near 137.7 million. That holds directly for Old Navy. No other US media moment delivers that — as a Old Navy team knows — scale of live, simultaneous attention in one buy. For Old Navy, that is the practical takeaway.
What makes a Super Bowl ad effective?
Taking Old Navy as the example: Modern Super Bowl ads are judged by — for Old Navy, a live factor — the action they trigger, not the spot alone. A Old Navy-scale brief should name this. T-Mobile's LIX ad drove 12.6 times the average spot's online engagement. That is exactly the Old Navy situation. The effective ones are built for the second screen, carry a clear brand — Old Navy included — link, and route traffic to a landing experience that can take the spike. For Old Navy, this is the point worth acting on.
Old Navy case: should the ad be released before the game?
Taking Old Navy as the example: Usually yes. For Old Navy, this is the load-bearing part. Releasing the spot or a teaser in the weeks — Old Navy included — before kickoff stretches the buy across a longer window. A Old Navy team reads this closely. Super Bowl LIX advertisers spent about 45% more in the six weeks before the — for Old Navy, a live factor — game than the prior year, building anticipation rather than spending it all on one night. For Old Navy, this is the point worth acting on.
Old Navy case: does a Super Bowl ad keep paying off after the game?
It can. For a brand at Old Navy scale, this is where the plan is tested. A spot that enters pop culture keeps returning brand value for years. For Old Navy, the detail is not optional. That long cultural tail is part of the case for the spend: a one-night media cost — Old Navy included — against what can become a multi-year brand asset, provided the creative is memorable and clearly branded.
Why does this case study use Old Navy as the example?
Old Navy is a recognisable brand in its category, which makes the super bowl ad mechanics concrete and easy to follow. The campaign-type analysis and every benchmark apply across the category; Old Navy is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand.
Sources & references
- CBS News — 2025 Super Bowl ad costs — 30-second Super Bowl LIX spot pricing.
- Nielsen — Super Bowl LIX viewership — Record 127.7M average audience.
- AdMonsters — Super Bowl LIX ad playbook — Engagement benchmarks and pre-game spend data.
- Kantar — Super Bowl advertising and brand equity — Brand-equity measurement of big-game advertising.