Why the Coinbase ad in the Super Bowl strike Gold?!

So, many of you would have read about the Coinbase ad in the Super Bowl and how amazingly successful it was!?

I wanted to share my thoughts on what made it such a smart move and how it worked so well for the brand.?

Like every other advertiser, Coinbase was also going to spend what, some $14 mn for a 60 second spot in the Super Bowl. Those were numbers they could not do anything about, and like everyone else, they had to shell that out.

However, everything else they did around this advertising was clearly smarter and more disruptive.?

Usually, Super Bowl advertising is like a showcase of creative brilliance and so, besides spending the massive media amount that everyone does, the brands also go out and spend a humungous sum on the creative production, perhaps with fancy locations, celebrity stars, special effects, animation and what not. Could easily end up as a few more million or expenditure.?

And the whole aim of the exercise is to create a massive impact with that spend! Since the ad will be seen by upwards of 100 mn people, after all (estimated audience for Super Bowl 2022 was around 117 mn!).

And in these days of digital engagement, what the brand may also want is to create a level of actual interaction with the consumer. Which means that there is perhaps, some kind of call-to-action (CTA) suggested in the ad (“Call this toll free number NOW; our operators are waiting” or words to that effect!).?

So, you might have a toll free number or a website URL to go to, say. Still, it takes some effort for the user to call or to put the URL on the browser and visit your website. So, the conversion rates on such CTAs would be nominal.?

Within all these benchmarks, Coinbase set out to do things differently and create a much higher extent of impact for their brand.

So, at the outset, instead of spending millions on production costs of a TVC, they kept it barebones and simple, with just a simple QR code moving around in a box, on the screen. Could have not cost too much to get that done.?

Now visualise the Super Bowl viewer, glued to his seat to enjoy the game, well-equipped with his beers and chips around him, and besides enjoying the game, also intrigued to see what new and interesting ads are being shown on air this time around. And more than a 100 mn of such folks. It would not be incorrect to assume that more than 99% of these viewers would have also had their smart phones handy on them, while watching, and probably doing some second screen activities, while viewing the game.

Now this user, suddenly sees an ad on his screen, where for 60 seconds, nothing but a QR code is moving around on the screen! Maybe they don’t know what to do or choose not to do anything for the first 5 or 10 or maybe, 15 seconds, but when the code refuses to leave their screen for a whole 60 seconds, that’s about enough time to lure many of those viewers to impulsively point their phones to it, scan and head off to the connected URL!?And that's how, within ONE MINUTE of the ad being shown on TV, there were 20 mn hits to the Coinbase website! They saw more traffic on their website than they have done ever before!

There you go! A huge conversion rate achieved!?

But wait, what else do they do?? On the website where the viewer lands up, there is an unbelievable offer, so new users sign up rapidly!?

And then, just to let everyone be clear that they had more than enough budgets and that the simple QR creative was a strategic choice and not because they ran out of money (!!), they offer $3 mn worth of promotions for returning users on the website. So, perhaps, they also end up spending total moneys of the same order that other advertisers do, but the money is spent in the most creative way, ensuring fabulous ROI.

They go low cost on the ad creative.?

They go smart with the 60 second QR code on screen.

Thereby they ensure highest levels of click through, that no message like “visit www… now” can ever achieve.

And then they put some great offers and promotions on the website to generate huge number of signups, and transactions!?

Could have not been planned and executed better.?

Oh, and if some of you are concerned that the server could not take the load and the website crashed, that’s all good. Makes for a bigger story and great copy to share ultimately!!?

Clearly, the winner of this Super Bowl was Coinbase!