NerdWallet Super Bowl Campaign
An estimated 127.7 million viewers tuned in for Super Bowl LIX. As a first-time Super Bowl advertiser with a :30 spot in the 3rd quarter, NerdWallet's job was simple - cut through the noise with a breath of crisp North American sea air, and an invitation to let NerdWallet do the work for you when it comes to your finances. NBD! Thankfully we knew the perfect beluga for the job.
Client
NerdWallet
Role
Creative Director
Year
2025
Campaign Creative
Where many Super Bowl ads go big (explosions! every single celebrity!), we chose instead to tell a simple story of a man and a whale. Casting the right voice — Kieran Culkin — for our beluga was critical (and the internet had a field day trying to guess who it was before game day). Similarly critical, selecting Director Tom Kuntz and VFX/post house Untold Studios who believed as we did that the comedy and memorability would be found in the juxtaposition of the National Geographic location + hyper-realistic whale VFX against his charming performance and wry delivery, full of personality and a few choice brand RTBs.
Deliverables
:60, :30s, :15s, :06s TVC across Linear, OTT, YouTube, and Social; Campaign Toolkit; Nerd actor Photoshoot; Radio and Podcast; Social (Reddit, Meta, TikTok, Owned Channels); Influencer Content; Brand Activation; Brand Partnerships; Memes 'n GIFs.
Impact
The campaign successfully boosted unaided and total brand awareness, usage intent, and key brand attributes among our target audience. The internet also had some nice things to say:
Today Ad Meter Top 5 for 1st time Super Bowl Advertisers
Top 10 Ad (Yahoo!, Vogue, Daily Mail, and Deadline)
ADWEEK called it "Charming…appropriately bizarre and well worth the investment"
CREDITS
NerdWallet Brand: Alison McCoy, Erin Albertson
NerdWallet Brand Studio: Emily Hsiao, Charlene Tsang, Christine Okazaki, Natalie Garnett, Justin Sanders, Morgan Eidson, Meghan Proulx, Katie Booker, Max Gold
Agency: Deutsch; ECD RYAN LEHR, CD MAX POLLAK, CD CARLY BLITZ
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Tom Kuntz
DOP: Matthew Libatique
Editorial: Whitehouse Post
VFX Studio: Untold Studios
Color: CO3 NY
Sound: Lime Studios LA