PayPal’s “PayPal everywhere”

Welcome to the AdMiration newsletter! Each week we analyze new and noteworthy ads from brands around the world to give you our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection).

This week’s ad: “PayPal everywhere”???

PayPal’s “Everywhere” campaign , created by BBH USA, is the brand’s largest ad campaign to date.?

The campaign demonstrates how users can now use their PayPay debit cards to make payments everywhere Apple Pay is accepted. The ad spot intends to break finance category norms with comedy favorite Will Ferrell and generate excitement about PayPal’s new “everywhere” features.

The ad opens to a woman checking out at a store with contactless payment through PayPal. As the “ding” of payment success sounds, Will Ferrell pops up from behind a plant and asks, “Did you just pay with…PayPal?!”?

The woman responds, “Yeah, you can use it in stores and the cash back is wild.” Will Ferrell stares at her in awe at this news and Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere” begins to play. He then turns to look at both the woman and cashier and asks, “Are you guys feeling this?” And starts to twirl around to the music.?

A montage of scenes with Will Ferrell using PayPal start to play out. Clips from these scenes flash across the screen again as he sings, “Ohhh ahhhh, I wanna pay with you everywhere.”?

The ad comes back to the original scene at the register when Will Ferrell says, “I’d really like to pay with this.” To which the woman responds, “I know right!” And he quickly says, “No, I mean like, move!”?

The ad closes with Will Ferrell continuing to dance as a voiceover says, “Every payment. Everywhere. Every time,” as the words “Don’t just pay, PayPal” appear on screen.?

3 facts

• “PayPal Everywhere” is a winner! It performs in the top 5% of US financial services ads in potential to drive both short-term sales and brand equity.

• Viewers clearly recall the key messages (“PayPal makes payments seamless, whether you’re online, in stores or on your mobile device” and “PayPal offers cashback and rewards on your purchases, giving you extra value with every transaction”) driving above average persuasion and brand appeal when compared to other US financial services ads and other US ads in general. It’s unusual for a financial services ad to drive strong short-term sales potential vs all other ads, which demonstrates the strong creative success of this spot!

• Will Ferrell, the music and the humorous storyline make this ad distinctive, highly enjoyable and emotionally engaging to viewers, eliciting humor, love/like reactions and surprise.?

2 learnings

• Humor, when used in the right way, can work effectively for financial services advertising. In fact, financial services ads in general tend to utilize more humor than a deeper emotional connection like “love” vs. other categories. In this case, strong humor makes the ad highly distinctive, enjoyable and enables PayPal to stand out from the clutter from all ads (both financial services and other categories). But it’s important to do this in a way that is highly relevant to viewers.
• Using celebrities and music to enhance the story are compelling ways to effectively convey intended brand messages in your advertising. When done well, they can improve ad efficacy, but it’s critical to not let these elements overshadow the brand or message. It’s also important to ensure a celebrity and music fit well with the brand and don’t potentially alienate a key audience.??

1 reflection

Have you thought about how you could effectively use music to deliver your message in a compelling way??

Music can be used in many ways to make stronger content, but this is one way to get a message to stick with viewers because it gets into your head like an ear worm, making the message even more memorable over time.?

If used consistently, it can also build strong linkage to your brand.

For more data & analysis

There’s a lot more to say about this ad!

Go to the Zappi blog for a more detailed look at this ad’s performance — including a look at how viewers respond emotionally to the information presented in the ad.

Don't forget to subscribe to this newsletter so you don't miss our insights next week!

Until next week,

Kim Malcolm