The crypto marketing blitz is here.
Super Bowl LVI featured a 30-second spot that cost $7 million. It featured advertisements for cryptocurrency companies like Coinbase and eToro. Celebrities from the A-List joined the fun: Larry David was featured in an ad to FTX, while LeBron James pitched Crypto.com.
The minimalist spot by Coinbase – a 60 second spot that featured a colorful QR code that bounced around like a logo — generated a lot of chatter online and caused the platform to crash shortly after it aired. (The matchup between victorious Los Angeles Rams & the Cincinnati Bengals were broadcast by NBCUniversal.
Fabric Media founder Jason Damata said, “Showing up in the most valuable real estate in television allows them rent that space and say, ‘We’re here and part of this American tradition.’” Jason Damata is the CEO and founder of Fabric Media, a marketing and strategy company. This is how you build brand equity and credibility. Trust, recognition and this leads to increased purchase intent.
Damata stated that “I’m certain these crypto companies will experience a tremendous rise in downloads, and sign-ups to quantify a return for their investment.”
But the crypto companies were not the only ones that spent millions to get airtime during America’s largest advertising spectacle. The sheer amount of crypto-related advertising during the game was notable, highlighting the push to increase mainstream awareness of an industry that is fast growing but not well understood.
The crypto world has seen an influx of capital over the past two years. Although the prices of major digital currencies like bitcoin and ether have steadily risen, they have been unable to keep up with inflation in recent months. Crypto has transformed from an obscure digital hobby for “tech brothers” to a well-known cultural force that attracts the wealthy elite as well as average retail investors.
Crypto’s presence at one of the most important television events of the year was an opportunity for crypto-firm bigwigs to clarify their views about the future of the global economic system. Brands are constantly in an arms race to gain market share, cultural oxygen, and new users in the highly competitive crypto marketplace.
Anindya, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said that all these brands are trying to reach a mass audience. This is a captive audience. It’s not about whether crypto will be around forever, but which of these companies will make it last.
In the eyes of skeptics, though, crypto remains a risky bet — and the brand that pulls ahead of the pack may as well be the new Pets.com, the doomed Clinton-era dot-com startup that conquered the Super Bowl 20 years ago. Some people were skeptical about the timing and purpose of the commercials after Sunday’s marketing blitz.
“Crypto is an idea that interests me,” tweeted Jeremy Littau (lehigh University professor of digital media). “But, having experienced the dotcom bubble burst in the late ’90s it has all of the trappings that lead to unsustainability. Bro culture, evangelism and groupthink.
People who were involved in the gold rushes lose their wealth and are trampled. Littau said that the public is “full of marks” right now.
There are many other doubts regarding the viability and viability of crypto beyond Twitter.
Some have asked the U.S. government to regulate the space in the last year. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (the country’s central bank, regulatory office and regulator) warned last month, that digital payment token trading was “highly dangerous and not suitable for public.”
With the launch of a glossy Crypto.com campaign, crypto marketing has been more prominent than ever. Matt Damon, an actor who plays the role of Matt Damon, told potential investors that “fortune favors those bold.” However the foray into professional sporting events did not begin on Sunday night.
Coinbase has an exclusive branding alliance with both the NBA and the WNBA. Crypto.com spent hundreds and millions of dollars to place its name on the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles. FTX also tapped Tom Brady, a retired NFL star, as a brand ambassador.
