Resources

Crypto.com Focuses Q4 Marketing Blitz on Live Sports

Written by Jackie Cavedon | January 4, 2022

Crypto.com is generating well-earned buzz after a recent marketing blitz that saw the cryptocurrency platform delve further into live sports than it ever has before. In the last four months alone, Crypto.com made headlines for:

  1. Launching its first TV ad during live NFL games. Crypto.com aired its first ad during Thursday Night Football on FOX back in October. The company has spent an estimated $29.5 million on TV advertising since then, which has generated 1.24 billion impressions.
  2. Becoming a patch sponsor for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers and Crypto.com also announced the development of the team’s first NFT that will be sold through Crypto.com.
  3. Partnering with the Angel City Football Club, a professional women’s sports team, to increase awareness and access to crypto among Angelenos, soccer fans, and athletes themselves. 
  4. Purchasing the naming rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for $700 million. AEG, the owner and operator of the defunct Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena), stated that the deal “places the Crypto.com brand at the center of some of the biggest and most important sports and live entertainment moments set to take place over the course of the next two decades.”
    That’s exactly what Crypto.com is aiming for as it continues to invest TV ad spend across live sporting events.

Bowl game airings pay off

Crypto.com found an excellent opportunity to reach collegiate football fans during their most exciting time of the year: NCAA Football bowl season.

EDO captured 116 Crypto.com airings across the recent college football bowl programming, from the end of December through early January, including the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the Capital One Orange Bowl, The Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl, and more.

Crypto.com’s best performing ad during college football aired on October 30 during the Michigan vs. Michigan State game on FOX. The spot received 929,000 impressions and generated 27,000 additional online searches for the brand in the moments after it aired. 

At the time, the 60-second spot featuring Matt Damon had just launched. This ad only recently caused a stir on Twitter after viewers caught another airing on Sunday Night Football on NBC this past weekend. While some have called it “cringeworthy,” it’s certainly getting viewers talking about the crypto platform.

Crypto.com in the NFL

The platform has advertised in 27 different NFL games since late October to the tune of $13.1 million in estimated spend and 354.5 million impressions. An airing during the Buffalo Bills vs. New Orleans Saints game on NBC on Thanksgiving night generated 63,000 additional online searches for the brand, which is the most search engagement for any Crypto.com ad during NFL games. Crypto.com has had six unique ads during NFL games this season thus far that generated more than 20,000 online searches for the brand in the moments after the spots aired.

With Crypto.com announcing its upcoming first-ever Super Bowl ad in February, there’s no doubt the platform will continue its heavy investment in live sports throughout 2022.

Other sports programming Crypto.com has invested in

In addition to a host of ads across professional and collegiate football games since October, Crypto.com has also invested in ads across:

Why Crypto.com’s ad blitz in live sports works

Simply put, live sports offer the most engaging environment on television to maximize impressions and engagement.

We’ve previously reported how live sports are a boon for TV advertisers, and football in particular – at the professional level especially, but also at the collegiate level – are incredibly powerful from the engagement and viewership perspectives. 

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said that executives want the company to become one of the top 20 consumer brands in the next three to five years, among the likes of Nike and Apple.

With boosted awareness thanks to its focused investments in live sports, Crypto.com is well positioned to make this a reality.

Interested in learning more? Find what works for your brand and what your competitors are up to. Contact us today to learn how EDO can help you generate more consumer engagement.