There are two types of people come the second Sunday in February – those who care about football and those who watch the Super Bowl for everything that comes with it. For those paying more attention to the nachos than the game, there was a lot to keep track of: Taylor Swift and Donald Trump in the stands; Kendrick's Americana performance; rumors of a Travis Kelce proposal; and, of course, the ads.
The biggest television advertising day of the year, the Super Bowl is a known brand event and the companies that buy air time tend to be a mix of consumer favorites (Hellmann's did a play on the "When Harry Met Sally"
"Super Bowl ads offer massive visibility," said Lincoln Parks, founder of WebMobileFusion. "Even if viewers aren't immediately in the market for their services, the exposure helps build brand recognition and associate their name with a sense of scale and prestige. This is particularly important in the crowded fintech space."
The average advertising spot for Super Bowl LIX was upward of $8 million.
"As the fintech market becomes increasingly competitive, these companies need to differentiate themselves," Parks said. "A memorable Super Bowl ad can be a powerful tool to stand out from the crowd and capture attention, but one thing they must not lack is a call to action while you have the audience's attention."
Ramp, NerdWallet and Rocket all released ads this year. Ramp, a business expenses platform, featured Eagles' star running back Saquon Barkley drowning in paperwork before discovering the app; NerdWallet played on beluga whales' intellect (the IQ of a human genius) in helping a whale watcher decide what card was best for him; and Rocket, an online mortgage company, pulled at viewers' heartstrings with an ad about home.
Ron Shevlin, chief research officer at Cornerstone Advisors, noted the unique predicament financial service ads have compared to beverage and candy companies.
"Generally speaking, consumers aren't as 'into' — or have an affinity for — their checking account, credit card, brokerage account or insurance policy as they are other consumer products. We probably spend more time choosing which cereal to buy each week than we do choosing a checking account," Shevlin said. "As a result, a financial services ad during the Super Bowl must either be absolutely brilliant (and sometimes they are — the E*Trade baby was a great example) if they're going to try to be funny. The NerdWallet [ad] tries to be funny and just isn't. Saquon Barkley doing his expenses? Meh."
Parks agreed that just buying the air time isn't enough. If companies want to break through, then they need to do something memorable.
"The success of these campaigns does ultimately depend on several factors, including the creativity, call to action and effectiveness of the ads themselves, the overall market sentiment, and the companies' ability to capitalize on the increased attention by providing a seamless and valuable customer experience," Parks said. "It's truly a high-stakes game, and the payoff can be huge for those who get it right."
He pointed to Coinbase's 2022 ad as an example of when a company hit the right balance. Coinbase's 60-second bouncing QR code – which when scanned, gave new users $15 worth of bitcoin – was so popular that it crashed the app shortly after airing. OpenAI gave a nod to the success in its ad featuring
That same year, a little-too-on-the-nose FTX ad featured comedian Larry David in his signature wry sarcasm tamping down on the hype around various world-altering inventions from the wheel to the fork to coffee with, "Eh, I don't think so." It ends with him deriding FTX and cryptocurrencies followed by the text "DON'T BE LIKE LARRY." Months later, FTX shuttered and a year later Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted, jailed and ordered to repay more than $11 billion.
Celebrities including David, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry and Kevin O'Leary were named in a class action lawsuit for promoting the company in ads. David himself told the Associated Press last year in an interview he was paid partly in FTX crypto so he ultimately lost "a lot of money" from the deal.
But for companies not embroiled in scandal, expensive Super Bowl ads can pay off, experts say.
"The Super Bowl platform will show audiences that you are legit since your budget just for this commercial is in excess of $7 million," Parks said. "For fintech companies, particularly those dealing with finances, building trust is crucial. A Super Bowl ad can signal that a company is established, financially sound, and a serious player in the industry. This is especially important after the FTX debacle, which likely made consumers more wary of less established players."
