Since Bruno Mars has just released his highly anticipated 24K Magic album, we decided to throwback to one of our most treasured Super Bowl performance of all time – his one, from 2014.

Thinking back on iconic Super Bowl halftime shows, not many would put Bruno Mars' performance at the top of the list. Not because it wasn't good, just because it's competing with Beyoncé, Prince and U2.

But the story of Bruno Mars is actually quite extraordinary.

His debut single, 'Just The Way You Are', came out in 2011. It won a Grammy and was the best selling digital single that year.

After a pretty standard tour in 2011 through Europe and the US (T4 scale - around 1000 tickets per show), he goes to Asia for the first time.

His first show there is in Jakarta, Indonesia. Within the first 20 seconds of the performance, 15 thousand people are shouting out every single word of the lyrics (see video).

That's a T2 sized venue btw. 15 thousand people. After a couple of dozen gigs in his entire career.

Fast forward three years, and Bruno Mars is announced as the headliner of the 2014 Super Bowl. Unsurprisingly, many were sceptical.

Since Michael Jackson turned the halftime show into the spectacle it is, the halftime performers have literally been living legends in their own right, consistently performing in stadiums for many years.

Mars? Sure he did have a few solid singles, and a pretty successful tour under his belt – but he's no Mick Jagger, right? At the time, Bruno Mars had been around as an artist for 3 years. Billboard even said outright that Bruno Mars is not a "hip" pop act.

His ability to hold a crowd, the way his predecessors had, was questioned.

His performance broke the record for the most ever watched Super Bowl halftime show, with impressive 115.3 million views. The NFL seems satisfied with his performance since he was asked back again last year with other halftime superstar of recent years, Beyoncé.

The 2014 performance was more of a concert than a spectacle. Banging tunes, moves that would make MJ and Presley proud, and of course a feature from topless Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Lest not forget the army shoutout, a guaranteed hit for the American audience.

What does this leave in the minds of the 115.3 million Americans watching?

"That Bruno Mars kid is pretty good, right? Maybe we should go see his show the next time he's in town."

Genius Strategy

The genius strategic move was to schedule the onsale for his tour the following day.

It's a classic move in business and marketing that's used to increase sales – i.e. putting out a product that people can buy (in this case tickets), while they are still acting on impulse (wow, that performance was amazing!!).

Demand Went Through The Roof

Scheduling the tickets to go on sale the next day proved extremely effective. His average ticket price more than tripled due to demand.

This made Mars' tour the most expensive one of the season, ahead of One Direction and Jason Aldean's tickets who were the highest before Mars' performance.

The Best Execution We've Seen

While this isn't unheard of, i.e. announcing a tour right after a high profile performance such as this one; Mars' execution goes unparalleled as far as we know.

Miley Cyrus' provocative performance at the VMAs served her well, but saw nowhere near Mars' success. Even Beyoncé's tour onsale in 2013 after her Super Bowl performance didn't see such roaring figures.

Maybe it's how his timeless tunes appeal to a wide variety of people.

Maybe it's because he has a cross-generational appeal so people go with their families.

Maybe it's because this performance was more of a breakthrough moment than it was for the more established acts. It was the moment people realised he's a world class songwriter and a top performer.

Everyone already knows that Beyoncé and Madonna are going to deliver. Many doubted Bruno Mars, so when he didn't try to compete on spectacle and did his own thing he simply won the nation over.

Or maybe it was because within seconds of the performance you realise there's a smile on your face, and your foot is tapping to the beat.

This performance made a huge difference for Mars and the point could be made is what brought him to superstardom.

The average attendance of said tour was 15 thousand people per event, which places him firmly as a K2 climber (Tier 2 artist, 10k+ tickets per event) and placed his tour as the seventh highest grossing of the year.

There's obviously an accompanying tour for 24K Magic, that's already been announced. We wouldn't be shocked if he'd snag the Tier 1 status (20k+ tickets per event) within the year. 4 shows back to back at The Forum?

That should do it.