What does the Squarespace Super Bowl ad suggest?
Creativity (and luxurious production) equal business success.
The Super Bowl is always an occasion to savour...even from afar.
There's the game (congrats Seahawks), the Half Time Show (wow!) and of course...the ads.
One that we'd like to single out however was for Squarespace (yes, the website builder brand) who hired Emma Stone (that's right...the Hollywood star) and Yorgos Lanthimos (yeah we had to look him up too...the filmmaker) to make what can best be described as a purely indulgent, luxury commercial.
Amidst all of the cheap AI stuff, this ad was instead shot on 35mm Kodak 2302 black and white film stock with Panavision lenses.
The dramatic use of 35mm film gives the ad an air of luxuriant sophistication that also positions Spuarespace as far more than just another cheap and cheerful website builder company.
Along with an amusing creative idea (which Squarespace has used before), the ad stands out because of the brand's bold and expensive production choices.
And what's smart about that is that you don't need to know anything about filmmaking to clearly see that the makers of this ad took their $8 million investment into the Super Bowl media dogfight very, very seriously.
Squarespace's Chief Brand and Creative Office is David Lee - whose long career has included time at Sid Lee, AKQA, Wieden+Kennedy and TBWA Worldwide - clearly understands that the number of chances available to create a big impact with a mass audience are limited.
And taking their chances when it counts is paying off. Creativity certainly does equal business success.
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Jeremy Gray