Podcast Summary: The Most Expensive 30 Seconds in Advertising

The GaryVee Audio Experience
Date: February 11, 2026
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk

Episode Overview

This special Super Bowl recap brings together Gary Vaynerchuk, co-host Jim, and a panel of leading brand marketers who ran ads or activations during the 2026 Super Bowl. The conversation unfolds around the ever-increasing stakes of Super Bowl advertising, with a focus on how brands maximize value—moving beyond the 30-second spot, drawing on experiential activations, integrating social strategies, and measuring true fandom and brand impact. Honest reflections, practical advice, and bold predictions for the future make this a must-listen for anyone interested in high-impact marketing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Measuring True Fandom and Brand Engagement

• Surface Metrics Aren't Enough
  Gary sets the tone by challenging the industry's reliance on proxies (followers, newsletter signups) as a measure of true customer fandom.
  • Quote:

    “Somebody following you or signing up for your newsletter doesn't mean they're an actual fan... I will kill people for the Jets.”
    —Gary (00:00, 52:00)

• Shift to Impact Measurement
  The discussion stresses measuring the real punchline: action, engagement, and behavioral change, not just social metrics.

2. Evolution and Impact of Experiential Marketing at the Super Bowl

• Smarter Brand Activations
  • Brands are now using the week leading up to the Super Bowl as creative production days, leveraging influencers and thoughtful programming to enhance content output and genuine engagement.
  • Gary notes a significant evolution: “Brands spent five to 10 times more and got five to 10 times less out of their experiential just 10 years ago.” (01:21)
  • Standout brands included Raising Canes and Fanatics, who turned parties into major content opportunities. (02:49)
• Expanding from B2B to B2B2C
  Super Bowl experiences now actively target the general public and not just industry insiders.
• Internal Team Building Value
  • Team moments during Super Bowl week are highlighted as powerful for retention and employee engagement.
    • Quote:

      “You sitting down with a team member for five minutes and talking about their family might be the reason that person wants to stay...”
      —Gary (10:38)

3. Celebrity Use in Super Bowl Ads – Boon or Risk?

• Balancing Awareness and Brand Recall
  Gary expresses caution about celebrity-led ads overshadowing the brand itself:
  • Quote:

    “Don't let the star overshadow the brand. And if you do not use social media surround sound for Super Bowl, you're, you're not realizing it's 2026 anymore.”
    —Gary (07:38)

  • The conversation details how Raisin Bran’s team maintained brand front-and-center despite using William Shatner (05:51).
• Objective Data and Social 'Surround Sound'
  • Importance of driving buzz before, during, and after the game, using layered PR/social tactics and simple, clear value propositions.

4. Brand-Specific Perspectives: Successes, Lessons & Strategies

Ritz Crackers (Stephen, Mondelez)

• Pursued modernization and “salty” positioning, using multiple celebrities for cultural relevance but rigorously anchoring creative in product attributes (salty humor, branding cues).
• Focus on continuous year-over-year improvement, heavily integrating 360 campaigns including retail.
  • Quote:

    “For us, we go back to the objective. They [celebrities] bring cultural relevance. ... But we are very intentional about starting with the product and the brand.”
    —Stephen (24:10)

EOS (Soyoung Kang)

• Leveraged a big, creative activation around “Is It Cake?” insight—direct from social fan trends.
• Emphasized the value of multiple surround-sound activations, leading to a verified sales lift.
• Advocated for an always-on, rapid content engine tuned to social signals.
  • Quote:

    “We see very, very highly correlated when we see organic social engagement with organic search volume with actual consumption and pull through on demand, it all tracks one to one.”
    —Soyoung (56:31)

Novartis (Gail)

• Tackled challenging health behaviors (breast and prostate cancer screening) with creative, behavioral-insight-driven work, featuring relevant sports figures and leveraging the NFL partnership to drive real action (e.g., screening events).
• Built a unified, centralized marketing approach to foster strong creative.
  • Quote:

    “Behavior change at scale, there's nothing harder. ... Work like this is not possible without some of those foundations.”
    —Gail (32:32)

Tree Hut (Luis Garcia)

• Challenger brand that went bold, using Super Bowl as a mass amplifier for creator-based content and community pride, rather than relying on celebrity or traditional approaches.
  • Quote:

    “We looked at Tree Hut...and realized that the brand is behaving like a big brand. ... Scaling the belief is what we aimed to do.”
    —Luis (46:28)

• Saw deeply moving team and community reactions as the true ROI.

Cadillac F1 (Mehdi)

• Innovated the Formula 1 livery reveal: ran a 30-second Super Bowl spot in tandem with a Times Square physical activation and a global social push.
• Sought to balance disruption with respect for the sport’s traditions, aiming for accessibility and depth for both diehard and new fans.
  • Quote:

    “It was a lot of work. ... To your point, I think we're really, really happy with the outcome thus far. We actually have more to come.”
    —Mehdi (40:24)

• Announced a partnership with Apple for “shot on iPhone” social content tied to F1’s Bahrain testing.

5. The Future of Social, Fandom, and Measurement

• From Social Graph to Interest Graph
  • Brands need relevance-driven content for segmented, diverse audiences—measured by behavior, not just follows.
  • “Fandom is only executed in the end... it's going to be all those pebbles that you do across here.” (Gary, 54:23)
  • Gary predicts: within 5 years, a brand will air a verbatim, viral social post as its Super Bowl spot (55:57).
• Volume in Content Isn’t “Spray and Pray”
  • High-content output is critical, especially when production costs are low and quant/qual data can rapidly iterate for creative hits.
  • Quote:

    “This concept that has been completely grounded in companies that can't deliver on creative day to day demonizing it...We must stop demonizing volume.”
    —Gary (57:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jim (on celebrity dangers):

  “A lot of brands are going to be upset this Monday morning—their brand recall, you know, because they play second. They pay a lot of money to individuals to play second or third fiddle.” (05:49)

• Gail (on activating at scale):

  “We did something with the 49ers, with Claire Kittle, George Kittle's wife, did a coffee. And so we really surrounded the campaign, the Super Bowl activation.” (14:40)

• Mehdi (Cadillac F1, on livery disruption and social):

  “The purpose in the North Star will always be...How can we make something more modern? How can we make something better as a consumer experience and a fan experience and how can we make things more accessible?” (50:16)

• Gary (on Super Bowl’s real value):

  “Super Bowl is the awareness supernova. But for all of you, how you post game from now to win on relevance...that's the game.” (54:23)

• Luis (on taking risks):

  “Some people actually didn't understand the ad...And that's exactly what we wanted. The people that know these brands love the brand so much that it amplifies and grows and they take to social to speak for us.” (48:08)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:00–02:00 — Debating the meaning of fandom—v. superficial metrics
• 01:21 — Brands getting smarter with activations
• 05:41–08:50 — Deconstructing the Raisin Bran/William Shatner ad, tactics for 'surround sound'
• 09:51–16:09 — Roundtable introductions and reflections on team-building, experience, and campaign goals
• 21:41–26:53 — Deep-dive: Ritz Crackers’ Super Bowl journey, lessons, and celebrity-calibration debate
• 28:19–31:51 — EOS’ data-driven surround-sound strategy and retail activation
• 32:32–39:34 — Novartis’ behavioral-change campaigns, creative philosophies, and NFL partnership leverage
• 40:03–45:00 — Cadillac F1’s experiential multi-platform approach, future of fan engagement
• 46:28–49:38 — Tree Hut’s challenger brand leap and the power of creator-first activations
• 49:58–56:27 — Open Q&A: Disrupting F1, fandom metrics, interest graph, the future of social-driven creative
• 59:02–60:20 — Rapid-fire advice for future Super Bowl marketers

Closing Advice for Marketers (59:19–60:25)

• Gail: “Build an experience...not a one moment. It's a debut.”
• Stephen: “Be bold. Fortune favors the bold.”
• Soyoung: “Be remembered. Make sure it's your brand that's remembered.”
• Mehdi: “Radical clarity internally...know what you want out of it.”
• Luis: “Remain true to your brand.”
• Gary: “Connect with these marketers and extract the secrets.”

Tone and Takeaways

The episode delivers honest, energetic debate and real-world case studies. Gary’s provocative, encouraging style brings both critique and vision. The guests’ open sharing demonstrates the blend of data, creativity, boldness, and teamwork that define successful modern Super Bowl marketing.

If you’re thinking of making waves with a “most expensive 30 seconds,” this roundtable will inspire you to think beyond the slot—toward year-long, audience-driven, brand-defining impact.