Crypto's Super Bowl weekend

Who won the battle of crypto ads?

For the casual fans this past weekend, it was not necessarily Super Bowl VLI that captured their attention. Rather, it was the performances and ads that they were waiting for.

Crypto firms are no exception. So, let’s view the crypto ads from this weekend and see who’s the winner. 🥇

Coinbase

Coinbase enticed users to scan a QR code that bounced around their TV screens for a minute. Users who choose to sign up with Coinbase using this link will get $15 in BTC. In fact, this advertisement was so popular that it appeared to have temporarily crashed the Coinbase app.

Score: 8/10. Terribly simple to pull off, but it onboards users to the crypto ecosystem by giving them ownership. And from what we know about the endowment effect, users are likely to buy more crypto now that they got a dip into the ecosystem.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com featured LeBron James telling the high-school version of himself how we have cordless headphones, streaming movies on phones, and electric cars in 2022. Well, it’s clearly implying that crypto will similarly change the world.

Score: 5.5/10. Love the vibes of this ad, but I think Crypto.com has been very focused on leaving an impression on their audience through their ads. Which is great (because repeated exposure shapes our decisions), but I wish that they had put something that had a stronger call to action.

FTX

FTX decided to feature Larry the skeptic discounting inventions like wheel, coffee, and the light bulb. It ended with a warning- “Don’t be like Larry. Don’t miss out.”

Score: 6/10. I found this more entertaining than Crypto.com’s ad, but it stopped there. It would have been amazing if there was a clear CTA like Coinbase’s ad.

🏆 Winner 🏆

I got to give the ‘best crypto ad award 2022’ to Coinbase! A simple advertisement that probably cost the least to produce, but had the clearest upside. While entertaining advertisements are fun for consumers, ads are supposed to increase revenue at the end of the day.