Fenty Beauty steals Super Bowl spotlight with zero dollars spent on advertising

Rihanna’s attempt to hijack her Super Bowl performance to plug in a moment for Fenty Beauty did not go unnoticed as the world celebrated the singer’s comeback to live performance after nearly seven years. The video snippet lasts from 8.19 to 8.22 seconds.

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According to data from Meltwater, since the performance, tweets detailing that searches for "Fenty Beauty" increased by 883% after her performance, with more positive sentiments airing than negative ones (29% positive vs 5% negative). Data also indicated that given the star wasn’t paid for the show, she was praised for making the most out of it.

According to Weldon Fung, area director of SEA said her product placement was elaborately planned and not a simple product placement. Moreover, thee were a large group of Fenty ambassadors and influencers that were also invited to the Super Bowl helping create a large chatter online in support of the brand.

“Particularly for a performance she wasn't going to be paid for, she executed an opportunity to build brand equity masterfully using content creators, worldwide stage placement, and her own electrifying performance,” said Fung.

According to CARMA, sentiments are largely positive as the brand is a favourite and has huge support from consumers (94.9% of which are millennials and Gen-Z’s: digital natives who tend to share favourable reviews and content about brands they love online).

“People are impressed that she smartly promoted her own brand in the middle of her performance without paying an additional cent for advertising,” said the spokesperson. CARMA added that the keywords associated with Fenty link directly to Rihanna whose persona and public profile is very closely tied to the brand. “Social conversations reference her pregnancy, make comparisons to previous Super Bowl performers such as Shakira, and discuss her previous stance to not perform at the Super Bowl in support of Colin Kaepernick,” the spokesperson added.

According to Nielsen, the 2023 Super Bowl brought in an average of 113 million viewers. The snappy act by the star allowed her to meander around the multi-million-dollar commercial fees other brands pay for Super Bowl ad break features. WSJ reports that thirty seconds of ad time during Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs sold for as much as US$7 million. Of course, rates also vary depending on when the ad time was bought and the number of spots bought – along with of course relationship with the brand.

It is no secret that Rihanna has also been hyping up her performance for the Super Bowl. Last week she pushed out a TikTok video showcasing Fenty Beauty’s foundations including a collection of footballs. The video was viewed over 13 million times and 1.7 million likes.

After her halftime show, another TikTok video of Rihanna blotting her face was posted with the caption “Bitch betta have my #INVISIMATTE” which is a reference to one of the singer’s hit songs, “Bitch better have my money”. This video has been viewed over 18 million times, with over 2 million likes. Additionally, Fenty Beauty’s Instagram account posted a breakdown of Rihanna’s makeup look from the Super Bowl, highlighting all the products she used.

According to Weldon Fung, area director of SEA said her product placement was elaborately planned and not a simple product placement. Moreover, thee were a large group of Fenty ambassadors and influencers that were also invited to the Super Bowl helping create a large chatter online in support of the brand. “Particularly for a performance she wasn't going to be paid for, she executed an opportunity to build brand equity masterfully using content creators, worldwide stage placement, and her own electrifying performance,” said Fung.

Data from Meltwater indicated that the most engaged content on the Fenty Beauty plug was a TikTok post by Mikayla Nogueira with over 14 million reach and 883k+ engagements alone. Fentybowl also became a trending hashtag during the bowl. “Working with creators presents a significant opportunity for brands to leverage the influence and credibility of influencers, with technology playing a key role in identifying the right influencers and streamlining the activation process,” Fung added.

Pepsi passed the baton to Apple Music as the official sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show last year. According to a statement by NFL, the streaming platform has signed a multi-year partnership beginning 2023. When the deal was signed, Apple's VP of Apple Music and Beats, Oliver Schusser said that music and sports are important to the streaming platform.   Apple Music has also been showing greater interest in sports as it struck a deal with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, making Apple TV the exclusive app to watch these matches beginning 2023. 

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