- Facebook is running its first Super Bowl ad this year, and its CMO Antonio Lucio and its agency Wieden and Kennedy revealed how the $11.2 million, 1-minute commercial came to life.
- The spot shows a montage of "rock-themed" activities inspired by interests shared by actual Facebook Group members.
- Facebook - which hasn't traditionally been a big advertiser - has increased its ad spending lately amid regulatory scrutiny and criticism of its platform.
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A retro blue-grey minivan with the license plate "ROCK3R" screeches to a halt on a curbside and three men determinedly hop out. The scene cuts to them skipping stones on the edge of a lake with six others while the song "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister plays.
The camera then pans to scenes of people mixing craft cocktails, rock-climbing and building amateur rocket ships, before landing on the famous Rocky steps in Philadelphia, where Chris Rock and Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone join with hundreds of Rocky fans.
What's the common denominator? The montage of activities are all "rock-themed," inspired by interests shared by members of real Facebook Groups, the subject of the company's first Super Bowl commercial.
"What we've done here, rather cleverly, is feature 12 different groups that all share an interest in 'rocks' in some shape, way, or form," Antonio Lucio, Facebook's CMO, told Business Insider. "The ad ends with, 'Whatever you rock, there is a group for you.'"
Lucio and Colleen DeCourcy, the president of Facebook's ad agency Wieden and Kennedy, gave Business Insider a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Facebook's first Super Bowl ad.
The spot comes as Facebook - which traditionally hasn't been a big advertiser - has increased its marketing amid regulatory scrutiny and criticism of the platform.
The commercial was an epic undertaking spanning several months and locations
The process spanned several months and geographical locations. It started when Lucio quipped that Facebook should be in the Super Bowl during a routine visit to the agency's Portland headquarters last August.
"Our first reaction was, 'We're not ready!'" DeCourcy said. "But when you are trying to build the global face of a brand, you can do months of prep and strategy, or you can just start and tweak as you go and try to hit the right note."
Wieden and Kennedy presented its ideas in September, got the greenlight in October, signed on the dotted line in November, and started production in December. The spot was shot over nine days in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Utah.
The agency knew it had to advance "More Together," the campaign that Facebook launched in summer 2019 to show how Facebook Groups bring together people from different walks of life. But it had to have a different tone than the film "Dads," where two men from different backgrounds bond over fatherhood, DeCourcy said.
The team decided the rock theme would let it cover more ground. The spot features a variety of groups that spans the literal, like the Moab Rock Climbers, and metaphorical, such as the Table Rock Lake group. It also satisfies Lucio's goal of promoting diversity through casting choices, stories, and points of view.
"The Super Bowl is a specific kind of work, that's usually lighter, louder and brighter - it's less plot-driven," DeCourcy said. "The idea of the rock became the fulcrum for pulling all these groups together built around an amazing track, which regardless of your age, you know."
Most creatives tend to come up with ideas and generate the ad themselves, but Wieden took a different approach, bringing in real groups and members from all over the country to collaborate on and appear in the ad. The goal, DeCourcy said, was "to celebrate these people, not necessarily to celebrate Facebook."
The administrators of the Craft Cocktail Club group, for example, brought along their own barware to the set, some of which was used in the final commercial. They also taught the creative team some of the techniques that made it into the final cut, and gave feedback while it was being shot.
Facebook is trying to push community on its platform through groups
It's no coincidence that Facebook is trying to capitalize on the year's biggest TV advertising stage, spending $11.2 million for 1 minute of airtime.
Facebook hasn't been a major advertiser, given its already big brand recognition and consumer penetration. But the company has increased its ad spending to rebuild consumer trust after a spate of controversies regarding privacy and misinformation on the platform in recent years. The company spent $9.8 billion on marketing and sales in 2019 versus $7.8 billion in 2018, per its most recent earnings report.
Facebook has been promoting groups as a way to promote meaningful interactions on its platforms. But groups have had their problems, too, being used to promoted unlicensed medicines and access people's personal data.
Chris Allieri, principal at public relations firm Mulberry and Astor, said a better route for Facebook would be to take steps to actually fix its platforms' problems.
"Bringing people of diverse backgrounds and interests together around community and shared passions is Facebook on its best day," he said. "But you don't build trust with a Super Bowl ad, you build it with real, demonstrated action."
Lucio insisted that Facebook is also doing that, taking stances on election interference, misinformation, privacy, and data management. But he said the Super Bowl isn't the place to talk about that.
"There is a frame of mind for the Super Bowl, and if you want to connect with your consumers, you have to be respectful of the context," he said. "Otherwise, you're wasting their time."
Facebook released the commercial on Feb.1 and the video had racked up 3.6 million views in 12 hours on YouTube. The ad will also run on other platforms including Twitter and YouTube, where Facebook will run a homepage, or masthead, takeover during the game. A digital outdoor campaign will run in New York the day after the game.
Like every other Super Bowl advertiser, DeCourcy and Lucio will track the public's reaction to the ad. But if they are feeling the pressure, they're not saying it.
"You always feel the pressure, but creativity is a funny animal," said DeCourcy. "Too much pressure or weight kind of kills the free flow of ideas."