The Super Bowl naturally attracts dollars from traditional brands that want to stay in front of consumers, but it’s also a great opportunity for those out of the spotlight to make dramatic returns.
That, at least, is the plan for PayPal.
Several months removed from a separation from partner corporation eBay, the payments platform announced that Super Bowl 50 will serve as its coming-out party of sorts, headlined by a 45-second TV spot airing during the game’s first quarter. Titled “New Money,” the campaign seeks to juxtapose PayPal’s flexible and modern payments processing compared to traditional banking — a message that PayPal CEO Dan Schulman is confident will resonate with consumers.
“We are in a period of transformation – how people shop; how merchants sell; how people interact with the financial system; the very nature of money itself is changing,” Schulman said in a statement. “New Money is a celebration about the ways technology can help expand and improve financial participation and financial health for billions of people worldwide. We want to reimagine money — enabling new ways for people to securely and affordably manage, move and spend their money.”
To capitalize on their Super Bowl 50 ad, Schulman also told The Wall Street Journal that PayPal will be extending its New Money campaign across video streaming sites like Hulu as well. Super Bowl ads are increasingly popping up on new channels, as the TV is no longer the only center of attention for today’s digital consumers. Instead of rote commercials, though, the online ads will give viewers the option of watching a 30-second “old money” ad or an 8-second New Money-inspired one that reinforces PayPal’s faster and more flexible payment options.
“This is the first time we’re really focusing on building our brand and making sure that people understand who we are and what we’re doing to help transform money,” Greg Fisher, vice president of global brand marketing at PayPal, told The WSJ.
For their first major independent ad campaign, PayPal couldn’t have picked a better stage than Super Bowl 50.