Top 5 Superbowl Ads and their engagement strategy

The Rams won the game, Coinbase won the day. 

Superbowl LVI has been and gone. The internet exploded with commentary about one of the greatest halftime shows in recent history. The real show for many marketers was the advertisements that were running throughout the game. 

Companies spend big to slot into a Superbowl, with the average spend for 30 seconds totaling 6.5 million USD. So who were the real winners?

1. Coinbase

In a world full of QR codes and increased acceptance for augmented reality activations, Coinbase dominated the Superbowl this year with its understated campaign. 

The Ad

While many other companies invested heavily in celebrities, big-name studios, and directors, Coinbase offered a simple and nostalgic experience partnered with a QR code. The color-changing QR code bounced around the screen similar to the old DVD player logo. This gave the audience time to scan it on their devices. Leading them directly to Coinbase’s website.

Once at the website they offered $15 in Bitcoin if they signed up to the platform and entered them into a sweepstake to win one million dollars. 

The Engagement

Coinbase reported 20 million hits to their website in one minute, obliterating any previous traffic record they had. The influx of traffic was so powerful that the sit itself crashed. The direct strategy really won Coinbase the day. There wasn’t a detailed narrative, there wasn’t a celebrity telling them to do something, there was just a Call to Action framed in a familiar context and people scanned away.

Curiosity was piqued and the Coinbase team converted plenty of that curiosity. 

Let's see what customers saw:

The landing page was incredibly simple. IT directly toward the signup with ease and had a clear vector path toward the button. The consistent blue catches the eye and drives the user to the CTA. 

Clear value is demonstrated with the financial incentive, and the countdown timer at the top nudging the conversion along.

Despite it being fintech, the flow is quite easy to navigate. The form is quite clear, and the use of blue to magnify the signup experience is really effective. It's not a lot of data to input and is quite mobile-friendly. 

Great ad, great flow. If you're looking to optimize your flow, read this. 

Return to humanity, a return to earth. Team Earth. Matthew McConaughey's smooth southern drawl reminded us of the value of prioritizing real interaction, a love for our earth, and staying not leaving.

The Ad

Playing off his role in Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey speaks to the audience about discovering the new frontier which is our own earth, rather than Mars or the Metaverse. 

The Engagement

The ad speaks to more fundamental values that Salesforce is looking to align themselves with. Instead of reaching to these new worlds and places, the world, and therefore all businesses and players should have access to the world we’re currently on. Salesforce wants to level the playing field. The choice of spokesperson is about genuine identity and character. While the choice of values with trust, connection, and sharing speak to a company looking to reach out to all customers, not just those with the biggest budgets.  

“Not a time to escape, a time to engage”

3. FTX

A comedic look into missing the boat of great leaps forward throughout time. Highlighting the fear that comes with missing an opportunity through Larry David’s doubt is sublime.

The Ad

Larry David stars as the antagonist character throughout history denying the valuable inventions and advancements. Whether it's the wheel, the fork, the toilet, coffee, American independence, the lightbulb, the dishwasher, going to the moon, or personal music devices, Larry lampoons them all. Finally, he sees FTX, a crypto exchange platform, and once again doubts.

The Engagement

FOMO is an incredibly powerful device. The fear of missing out really hits home as people have been seen to make incredible amounts of money investing early in companies like Apple, Amazon, and more. 

The new kid on the block is Cryptocurrency. The ad perfectly aligns the new system with previous discoveries that have gone on to have major impacts on humanity. Fear has long been an emotional ploy in advertisements and this is used exceptionally well. No one wants to be late to the party, and with more crypto ads being featured this year, the momentum is building.

4. eToro

Flying your way…to the moon. A brilliant mix of narrative, connection, and music to set the scene for using the eToro platform. 

The Ad

This advert really reaches those unsure about the crypto space and tries to highlight the strong community environment on the eToro atmosphere. The community is established through the flying members of the community, the reimagined ‘Fly Me To The Moon' is a brilliant touch. This references the discourse of within crypto and investing, a high trajectory stock or currency on the rise, so much so that it's on a course for the moon. 

The Engagement

For many, the crypto and investing space is incredibly complicated. Many don’t know where to start. This confusion and lack of direction are immediately taken care of as the community comes to the rescue. The community element builds more accessibility, you can find information and help from anyone on the platform. 

You can be part of the club. You’ll belong. The early adopter stage is passed and now it's ready for everyone to jump in, join in and take their investments to the moon!   

5. ClickUp

Painpoints. We hate pain points, and we love when there is an easy solution. ClickUp provides a different context to a familiar office problem 

The Ad

Declaration follows the signing of the declaration of independence in the 1700s. Sadly for the forefathers, they’re not sure where the latest copy is. John Adams has lost it. Thomas Jefferson saves the day with a ClickUp task. With a brilliantly native tagline, “You just click, ClickUp”. 

The Engagement

Offering a solution to a problem is what every customer wants. The brilliance of this ad is they’ve perfectly set the context in a memorable way. They include references to history ahead of time, with Thomas Jefferson at Mount Rushmore, while also adding modern details. They used document naming elements in the ad of ‘Final Draft FNL FNL FNL’ speaks to the ongoing nature of the project. 

Many at home watching the Superbowl would be lamenting work the next day, thinking of all the stress they’ve got coming for them. ClickUp is positioning itself to manage all that stress with an easy-to-use and single-location application. 

Final Thoughts

The Superbowl is the highest impression event of the year. Advertisers will always pay massives sums to put their brand in front of all those eyeballs. Being in front of those eyeballs isn’t enough anymore, you need to be engaging, you need to hook people into a story, into action, into a feeling. These advertisements have channeled legitimate engagement to drive their potential customer base to an outcome. 

If you’re looking for a solution where you can provide an engaging experience, you’re going to need to reconsider the form on your website. That isn’t enough anymore. You need to engage, enthrall, and entertain people. To start engaging more people, experiment with an Upflowy flow.