Podcast Summary: Marketing Vanguard – "Why the Super Bowl Still Matters"

Guests:

• Gabrielle Wesley (CMO, Mars Wrigley North America)
• Stephanie Rogers (VP Marketing, San Francisco 49ers)
• Jon Gieselman (Chief Growth Officer, Comcast NBCUniversal)
• Stacy Andrade Wells (CMO, Liquid I.V.)
  Date: March 20, 2026
  Host: Adweek (substitute host for Jenny Rooney)

Episode Overview

This episode of Marketing Vanguard delves into the enduring power of the Super Bowl as a pivotal marketing moment. Four leading CMOs whose brands played significant roles around Super Bowl LVIII share inside stories, organizational wisdom, and strategic insight into how and why brands compete on advertising’s biggest stage. The panel discusses the risks and rewards of Super Bowl marketing, explains their creative processes, and reflects on measuring impact well beyond game day.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why the Super Bowl Still Matters

[00:30, 03:01, 04:32]

• Stacy Andrade Wells (Liquid I.V.): Explained the monumental decision for a fast-growing but still emerging brand to leverage the Super Bowl for national exposure. “Liquid IV has grown so immensely over the last four years, and yet the brand is still below 20% national household penetration. So the upside is incredible. And what better stage to be on than the one that gets the most eyeballs in the entire year?” (00:30)
• Gabrielle Wesley (Mars Wrigley): For established brands, the Super Bowl is about keeping content relevant and fostering experiences that engage and surprise. “It’s not always about one upping yourself every year. It's about having that pulse of relevance and experience.” (05:02)

2. Brand Roles & Game-Time Activations

[01:35–03:22]

• Each guest provided their Super Bowl connection:
  • Gabrielle: Mars Wrigley as NFL sponsor, major game-day activations, and new experiential approaches (Snickers, Skittles live ad).
  • Stephanie: The 49ers as Bay Area hosts, overseeing the fan experience and brand legacy impact with a global lens.
  • Jon: Comcast NBCU as broadcaster and with Xfinity’s in-game ad spot, focusing on longstanding local impact.
  • Stacy: Liquid I.V.’s first big game ad and immersive weekend city-wide activations.

3. Mobilizing the Entire Organization & Taking Risks

[10:26–13:45]

• Stacy: Emphasized getting buy-in for a debut, underscoring testable business rationale and a “gut” creative idea. “The upside on the kind of awareness we could drive for the brand, the trial and the behavior change that we could inspire...that opportunity had to make sense, and for us, it absolutely did.” (10:56)
• Gabrielle: Highlighted the imperative to “take risk,” noting, “If you’re going to take risk, this is it. Because it’s more than just a game. It’s a cultural moment.” (13:45)

4. Super Bowl Creative: Capturing Attention & Driving Demand

[16:21–18:35]

• Jon: Boiled down the challenge: “It’s the game within the game. You’ve got to show up with your best work...Did you create a cultural moment? Did you show up authentically?” (07:12)
• Stacy: On breakthrough ideas: “When you can find a creative idea that gets people’s attention, but then importantly, gets them to think about their behaviors differently...that is where marketing becomes more than just entertaining.” (18:07)
• Example: Liquid I.V.’s ad leverages an awkward but universal truth about hydration, aiming to incite dialogue and category growth by connecting with consumers’ daily behavior. (18:45)

5. Measuring Success: Beyond the Ad Meter

[20:13–24:29]

• Jon: Proposed taking a long view: “I personally don’t worry about measuring the moment at all. There’s a long arc to all of these things. When you start to do that, I think you just tie yourself up in knots and you’re not going to be effective.” (20:44)
• Gabrielle: For impulse categories like candy, “Our objective is to be any and everywhere. Anyone even thinks about treating themselves, they’re going to treat themselves...we have to be in those spaces and we always have to be top of mind.” (21:13)
• Stacy: Liquid I.V. will track social digital engagement, site activity, and ultimately look for behavioral impact on product trial and sales. (22:01)
• Stephanie: The 49ers measure fandom growth globally, focusing on shifting “secondary fandom” to “primary fandom” and leveraging the week’s activities for engagement and storytelling. (23:10)

6. Handling External Feedback & ‘Ad Meter’ Rankings

[24:29–26:37]

• Jon: “I pay attention to it. I don’t get worried about this one said two, this one said seven...the cum [cumulative result] of it typically will give you some sense of how it’s going to work with consumers during the game.” (25:14)
• Stacy: “Whether you ended up in the top or you ended up in the bottom, at least you’re not in the murky middle where no one remembers anything you did...I would much rather inspire dialogue and debate and see the business pick up as a result of it than get the number one spot on the list.” (25:30)
• Gabrielle: “It’s less about what they say, but it’s more the advocacy that happens afterwards because you want to be remembered, you want to be understood, and you want to be enjoyed.” (26:05)

7. Most Anticipated Super Bowl Moments

[26:37–28:23]

• Stephanie: Looking forward to creative ad recaps for inspiration; specifically curious about the Clydesdales and animal-led ads: “I just love animals so much and beer. Let's be real.” (26:50)
• Gabrielle: Most excited (and nervous) for the execution of Skittles’ live-on-a-lawn ad.
• Stacy: Eager not just for the ad but “National Rehydration Day” (the Monday after), where Liquid I.V. will activate post-game partnerships and deliver product for those calling out sick. (27:36)
• Jon: Jokingly anticipates a legendary Patriots win: “[I’m] looking forward to the Patriots crushing the souls of Seattle fans on the final play of the game. Again.” (28:23)

Notable Quotes

• “It’s not always about one-upping yourself every year. It’s about having that pulse of relevance and experience.”
  – Gabrielle Wesley (Mars Wrigley), [05:02]

• “You have to capture attention in a moment where there’s so much going on...But the other piece is then, okay, how do you drive demand?”
  – Stacy Andrade Wells (Liquid I.V.), [17:02]

• “As marketers, our job is to generate demand. Regardless of whether you’re selling candy, whether you sell an experience, whether you’re B2B—it is to generate demand.”
  – Gabrielle Wesley (Mars Wrigley), [13:45]

• “It’s a moment in time, and you gotta continue it. But I think the task is the same for all the brands that participate in the game.”
  – Jon Gieselman (Comcast NBCU), [07:12]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:30 – Liquid I.V.’s business case for jumping into the Super Bowl
• 01:35–03:22 – Intros: Brand roles in the Super Bowl ecosystem
• 05:02 – Mars Wrigley’s Super Bowl strategy and keeping it fresh
• 10:26–13:45 – Organizational requirements & taking creative risks
• 16:21–18:35 – The battle for attention & brand-driven change
• 20:13–24:29 – Measuring brand impact before and after the game
• 24:29–26:37 – “Ad Meter,” external feedback & post-game evaluation
• 26:37–28:23 – Most anticipated Super Bowl moments from each guest

Tone & Takeaways

• The podcast maintains a collegial, insightful, and lightly competitive tone with a focus on practical marketer wisdom.
• All guests reinforce the Super Bowl as an unparalleled platform for brand storytelling, creative risk-taking, and wide cultural resonance.
• Success is defined more by sparking dialogue, shifting behaviors, and building long-term brand equity—and less by fleeting rankings or immediate sales spikes.
• Whether for a heritage brand, a new challenger, a local institution, or a media titan, the Super Bowl forces teams to find new ways to rise above the noise.

Memorable Closing

• Jon Gieselman jokingly closes with:
  “I’m looking forward to the Patriots crushing the souls of Seattle fans on the final play of the game. Again.” [28:23]

• Host:
  “These are four incredibly all-pro marketers, and I hope you’ve learned a lot from them. Thank you all for sharing and I wish you the very best of demand creation after Sunday.” [28:32]

This episode is an inside look at the courage, creativity, and coordination behind the Super Bowl’s biggest moments—and why, even in a fragmented media era, “the big game” is still the marketers’ ultimate stage.