Coinbase Wins Best Super Bowl Ad

Cryptocurrency company, Coinbase, made its Super Bowl advertising debut last weekend, partnering with Wavemaker and Accenture Interactive (Droga) to positively provoke audiences with the most interesting ad of the Super Bowl.  Following the spot airing, Coinbase had 20mm people hit their site in 1 minute, went from 150-200 rank in App Store to #2, and inspired multiple brand parodies and responses within hours.

In addition to the Wavemaker Sports & Live team’s activation placing Coinbase as the presenting sponsor of the Rolling Stone Live Party, the Coinbase client stood out for its simplistic Super Bowl TV spot approach that embodied the spirit of crypto culture on a mainstream platform unlike any other crypto brand in the Super Bowl. It captured America’s attention and became the talk of the Super Bowl, all this despite the ad airing among a sea of cryptocurrency competitors.

The :60 advertisement – which ran in the first quarter of the game – featured a color changing QR code bouncing around the screen, prompting viewers to scan the code which led to the Coinbase app. Coinbase followed up the ad with a post on social media, giving viewers a direct call to action to join Coinbase and begin trading cryptocurrency on the app. Despite Coinbase’s preparation for traffic spike ahead of the game, the sheer number of people who jumped on far exceeded expectations and Coinbase’s app crashed from the influx of traffic.

The Coinbase Super Bowl spot won the “Super Clio” as the Super Bowl’s best ad. Congrats to the Coinbase team!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Facts: Initial Nielsen ratings revealed that more than 100 million fans tuned into this year’s Super Bowl. These audience numbers showcase the return of event TV and further add to the success for the brands who dived headfirst into Super Bowl LVI (56).