Trello as a super bowl ad campaign case study: mechanics and numbers
Trello is a consumer brand. This case study uses Trello 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 Trello framing makes them concrete.
- Story: Here the super bowl ad campaign type is examined with Trello as the concrete reference point.
- Why it matters: A super bowl ad campaign is measurable demand engineering, and public benchmarks set honest targets before any creative starts.
- Takeaway: For Trello, 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.
- Takeaway: The mechanics of a super bowl ad campaign transfer to any brand in its category.
How a super bowl ad campaign plays out for Trello
The math behind a Trello super bowl ad campaign
Quick facts
Defining the super bowl ad campaign
Here is the short version for Trello. 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 Trello, a live factor — most expensive, most scrutinised media buy in US advertising. Trello planners would underline this. The 30-second spot is only the visible piece. A Trello-scale brief should name this. The real campaign wraps the game with teasers, talent, social activation, — for Trello, a live factor — and a landing experience built to catch the traffic the spot creates. A Trello team reads this closely. Brands buy the Super Bowl for one reason: a live, simultaneous audience of — for Trello, a live factor — well over 100 million people, an audience no other US media moment delivers. For Trello, it is the specific lever this page examines.
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 — for Trello, a real factor — campaign with creative, talent, and surrounding media commonly runs $15-30 million. A Trello forecast should start from a figure like this.
Running a super bowl ad campaign, step by step
A super bowl ad campaign has working parts. For Trello, they all have to mesh.
For Trello, a super bowl ad campaign is less one ad and more a set of connected decisions:
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 — and Trello is no exception — of simultaneous attention no other US media moment delivers. A Trello team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee.
- Built for the second screen. A modern Super Bowl ad is engineered to trigger search and social. For a brand at Trello scale, this is where the plan is tested. T-Mobile's LIX spot drove 12.6 times the average ad's online engagement. Trello planners flag this as a make-or-break detail.
- A landing experience that can take the spike. The site, the offer, and the tracking have to survive a sudden surge, — for Trello, a real factor — or the most expensive media in advertising drives traffic to a broken page. A Trello-scale team treats this as non-negotiable.
- Long cultural tail. A spot that enters pop culture keeps returning value for years — for Trello, a real factor — — the buy is a one-night cost against a multi-year brand asset. Trello would budget real time against this.
- The buy is the smaller cost. A 30-second slot ran near $8 million for Super Bowl LIX. A Trello-scale brief should name this. Total campaign cost — creative, production, talent, — as a Trello team knows — surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. Skipping this is the most common Trello-scale error.
- Tease before the game. Releasing the spot or a cut-down in — as a Trello team knows — the weeks before kickoff extends the buy. That is exactly the Trello situation. Super Bowl LIX advertisers spent about 45% more in — Trello included — the six weeks before the game than the year prior. For Trello, this is where most of the planning effort lands.
Public benchmarks for this campaign type
Read the numbers first. Public benchmarks set the realistic range for a super bowl ad campaign at Trello before any creative work.
Planning a super bowl ad campaign for Trello without category benchmarks is guessing. The figures here are public, sourced, and apply across its category.
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 — Trello included — trigger on the second screen, not by the spot in isolation. For Trello, this number sets expectations before the work starts.
| What to measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one |
| Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked |
| Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven |
Which KPIs decide the verdict
Measure what matters. For Trello, these KPIs show whether a super bowl ad campaign actually worked.
For a super bowl ad campaign, the metrics that matter are these. Brand search lift during and after the game, social conversation volume and sentiment, ad-recall and likeability — for Trello, a real factor — scores from trackers, site traffic and conversion on game night, earned-media value, and longer-run brand-equity movement.
A Trello super bowl ad campaign that reports only reach hides whether the spend worked. Lift is the honest figure.
Where these campaigns go wrong
The failure patterns are predictable. A Trello team can design each of them out in advance.
A Trello-scale team should design around these recurring errors:
- Treating the spot as a one-night event instead — and Trello is no exception — of a brand asset with a multi-year cultural tail.
- Spending eight figures on the spot and nothing — and Trello is no exception — on the surrounding teaser, talent, and social plan.
- Sending game-night traffic to a site or offer that cannot survive a sudden spike.
- Making an ad that wins applause but carries no clear — Trello included — brand link, so viewers remember the joke and not the brand.
What RGM takes from the Trello case
If a Trello 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 Trello's own reported results?
- No. The figures are public industry benchmarks for super bowl ad campaigns, each sourced and linked. They show how the campaign type works, set against the Trello context. Any number that is not publicly sourceable is left out or marked as RGM analysis.
- What should a team take from this Trello super bowl ad case study?
- Read it as a model, not a recipe. The mechanics and benchmarks transfer; the exact creative does not. Use it to pressure-test a super bowl ad plan against how the discipline actually works.
- Where do the statistics in this case study come from?
- Every quantitative claim is wrapped as a fact-atom with a linked publisher from the approved pool, including Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press. None of it is invented.
Frequently asked questions
Trello case: what makes a Super Bowl ad effective?
Taking Trello as the example: Modern Super Bowl ads are judged by — Trello included — the action they trigger, not the spot alone. For a brand at Trello scale, this is where the plan is tested. T-Mobile's LIX ad drove 12.6 times the average spot's online engagement. A Trello team reads this closely. The effective ones are built for the second screen, carry a clear brand — as a Trello team knows — link, and route traffic to a landing experience that can take the spike. For Trello, this is the point worth acting on.
Should the ad be released before the game for a brand like Trello?
Taking Trello as the example: Usually yes. A Trello-scale brief should name this. Releasing the spot or a teaser in the weeks — as a Trello team knows — before kickoff stretches the buy across a longer window. That is exactly the Trello situation. Super Bowl LIX advertisers spent about 45% more in the six weeks before the — as a Trello team knows — game than the prior year, building anticipation rather than spending it all on one night. A Trello team would plan against exactly this.
Does a Super Bowl ad keep paying off after the game?
It can. A Trello team reads this closely. A spot that enters pop culture keeps returning brand value for years. Trello planners would underline this. That long cultural tail is part of the case for the spend: a one-night media cost — for Trello, a live factor — against what can become a multi-year brand asset, provided the creative is memorable and clearly branded.
How much does a Super Bowl ad really cost?
Taking Trello as the example: A 30-second Super Bowl LIX slot cost close to $8 million — Trello included — in 2025, up roughly 60% from about $5 million in 2019. Trello planners would underline this. But the slot is the smaller cost. That holds directly for Trello. A full campaign — creative, production, celebrity talent, — for Trello, a live factor — and surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. A Trello team would plan against exactly this.
Trello case: why do brands pay so much for a Super Bowl spot?
For the audience. That is exactly the Trello situation. Super Bowl LIX drew about 127.7 million average viewers, the largest for — and Trello is no exception — any Super Bowl and any single-network US telecast ever, peaking near 137.7 million. For Trello, the detail is not optional. No other US media moment delivers that — as a Trello team knows — scale of live, simultaneous attention in one buy.
Why is Trello the brand featured here?
Trello 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; Trello 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.