👋, I’m Kimberly. I’ve been creating obsession-worthy brands for the past fifteen years. And now, I’m giving away my secrets every week in this newsletter.
Although I own two jerseys (Drew Brees and Matt Hasselbeck), I’ll never claim to be an avid football fan.
I don’t mind watching brown ball — especially if it’s an exciting game. But given the choice, I’d rather spend my Sunday at a Russian bathhouse (if you’re ever in SF, try Archimedes Banya).
That said, given that I work in branding, everyone expects that I’ll watch the Super Bowl for the ads.
And I do.
But I’m starting to not want to anymore.
Year over year, the overall creative quality of the Superbowl Ads has trended downward.
Apart from a few bright sparkles like….
The brilliant copywriting in the Zendaya Squarespace ad
The Liquid Death ad that played right into the brand’s dissonance
Rocket Mortgage’s clever teaming of Barbie and Anna Kendrick
This year’s ads didn't get me very inspired.
But what I did find interesting was the entry of a new category of advertisers into the marketing mix: Crypto.
To many people across America, Crytpo is the New Kid in school.
New Kid Crypto has got a bit of a reputation from his old school. He’s known to be up and down and moody on occasion. But a lot of people really believe in his potential — and have had some pretty life-altering experiences with him.
Now, New Kid Crypto is trying to get to know more and more people, build up some trust, and get as many friends as possible to take a risk on him.
New Kid Crypto strutted into Superbowl 2022 to reach his broadest-ever potential audience — with four separate cryptocurrency exchanges airing their ads for the very first time.
Each brand tried to create a sense of FOMO about not befriending New Kid Crypto yet, but they all went at it very different ways.
So today, I’m breaking down the four approaches and giving you things you can learn from each ad — in order from least buzziest to most effective.
Ad #1: eToro’s “Flying Your Way”
The Ad
This one starts with a user asking for advice through the eToro app on his phone. “Crypto? Stocks? Where to start?” The user is quickly surrounded by swarms of other users who gather in the sky, seemingly drawn to him by hitting the like button on his question. The copy reads, “Imagine a community where millions share ideas, trade stocks, crypto, and beyond.” The ad ends with one user reaching out her hand to him and asking, “To the moon?”
The Message
eToro tried to focus on the human connectedness of their platform — in a somewhat overwhelming fashion. The ad showed quantity but didn’t hit on quality.
The Breakdown
The problem with this ad started with the opening question: “Crypto? Stocks? Where to start?”
This is casual phrasing — likely meant to look like a question anyone might post and relate to.
But, it is also a question that’s so generic it’s forgettable. There’s no urgency to it. Nothing bad is going to happen if no one comments on it. In essence, there are no stakes involved.
Thus, from the beginning of the ad, you’re not swept up in the plotline. You don’t care about the situation the main character is in.
It’s no surprise then that this was the least engaging of the Crypto ads, with poor recall that got dwarfed by some of the more memorable efforts.
Next Time You’re Creating An Ad
Think about how to get your audience interested by raising the stakes.
Can you make the problem seem urgent?
Can you put a character in distress?
Can you allude to an unfortunate outcome?
Sidenote on This Ad: I have always wanted to fly—but I’m not sure I want to defy gravity for the first time with a swarm of strangers, much less go on a full-blown mission to the moon.
Ad #2: Crypto.com “Fortune Favors the Brave”
The Ad
This ad takes place in the bedroom of a young LeBron James in 2003, where current LeBron James has a talk with himself about the future. After hearing about tech advancements like electric cars and watching movies on phones, young Lebron asks if the hype is too much and if he's ready for what’s coming. “I can’t tell you everything, but if you want to make history, you gotta call your own shots,” Lebron responds. the ad ends on the line “Fortune Favors the Brave.”
The Message
Crypto.com wants you to know that with great risks come great rewards. People with heroic sensibilities who control their own destinies are the ones pioneering Bitcoin. Don’t you want to be one of them?
The message here gets a bit murky when you think about the fact that 2003 LeBron James was a still highly trained athlete with years of focus and insane natural talent preparing him for his “brave” move into the league.
Comparing him and his quest to The Average American handing over his money to something he might not understand fully, like crypto, is quite a stretch.
The Breakdown
This ad ticks a lot of the “what makes a good ad” boxes:
Celebrity athlete? Check!
Nostalgic song? Check!
Clever premise? Check!
Where it really wins is the emotional core. You know that the people behind this ad had a singular purpose: to make people feel a certain way. And that way was inspired and brave.
As told by an inspirational figure, in an inspirational way to his young self — the ad gets the viewer on board with emotion… regardless of whether the analogy holds up to scrutiny.
Next Time You’re Creating An Ad
Try centering it not on a sales message, but an emotion.
Ask yourself “How do I want the viewer of this ad to feel?”
Then, go forth and concept — and let your creative juices go with the flow.
Ad #3: FTX’s “Don’t Miss Out”
The Ad
This ad features comedic legend Larry David in a romp through time. In his characteristically skeptical manner, Larry encounters various inventions (the wheel! a fork! a toilet! a lightbulb!) and scoffs at them as not being good. The commercial concludes with Larry being shown the FTX app, to which he says, “Ehhh, I don’t think so. And I’m never wrong about this stuff. Never.”
The Message
If the skeptic who missed out on all of the best things in the world doesn’t like the FTX app, then the FTX app must be just another thing he’s wrong about… right?
FTX took on the crypto skeptics by bringing on one of the world’s best-known skeptics. And not necessarily getting him to endorse the product (which would be very off-brand for Larry) — but to scoff at it, too… making him an “Anti-Endorser” of sorts.
The Breakdown
In creating this ad, the FTX team backed off and let Larry do his Larry thing.
They didn’t try to script him. In fact, they left all of the scripting to Larry and Jeff Schaffer, David’s longtime creative collaborator on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
According to Larry, he and Schaffer have been approached by hundreds of brands over the years. But when they tried to “punch up” the concepts, the negotiations always stalled.
In the case of FTX, the ad people gave Larry and Schaffer complete control.
And the hard part became cutting so many good ideas for historical situations to show Larry in during the actual ad.
Next Time You’re Creating An Ad
Give the talent you're working with the space to shine.
Whether the person creating your ad is a seventy-four-year-old comedian or a seventeen-year-old TikTok influencer, that person got famous for a reason.
Rather than focusing on creative control or the exact idea you brought to them, see what kind of magic they can work in a truly collaborative collaboration.
Ad #4: Coinbase’s “Less Talk. More Bitcoin.”
The Ad
This ad started with a Coinbase “C” bouncing around the screen — reminiscent of a DVD logo or a pong game. The “C” then got replaced with a QR code that also bounced around the screen silently, changing colors as it moved. The code led people to a landing page with a straightforward Bitcoin giveaway and signup promotion.
The Message
Stop talking and start doing.
The eerily silent ad and simple message on the landing page that gave users $15 in free Bitcoin and a chance to win $3 million in prizes was startlingly simple… and make becoming a Bitcoin-er as easy as a click with zero risk.
The Breakdown
With this creative choice, Coinbase pulled off the ultimate zag when they zig.
Superbowl Commercials are known for their crazy high production values, huge talent, and big spending. But here, Coinbase spent $13 million for an ad that looked like it could have been created for $13.
Surojit Chatterjee, chief product officer at Coinbase wrote on Twitter that reaction to the ad was was "historic and unprecedented."
The ad was so popular, it crashed the app.
And the app rose from 186th place to 2nd on Apple's App Store.
Next Time You’re Creating An Ad
Look at what your direct and indirect competition is doing — and veer crazily hard in the opposite direction.
If everyone else is showing product… show no product!
If everyone else is neutral… be super bright!
If everyone else is spending money on big productions… go low-fi!
Think about how you can be a horse (or a QR code) of a different color.
Post Game Analysis
Based on the numbers, the winner for marketing effectiveness was definitely the Coinbase ad.
Although my personal favorite was Larry David because…. Larry David.
With that, I’ve packed away my Saints and Seahawks jerseys for another year. And you can find me at the Russian spa.
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About Me
I help early-stage founders create the kind of brands that get customers so obsessed, they’ll do your advertising for you.
Based on my experience founding my own consumer brand, I developed The Branding Sprint—a uniquely collaborative, streamlined, and agile approach to brand creation.
Click here to learn more about The Branding Sprint, or schedule a call with me.