Quicken Loans rolled out its first Super Bowl commercial four years ago, but the commercial, which unveiled Rocket Mortgage and its tagline “Push Button. Get Mortgage” to the nation as a whole, was met with some serious blowback among the public.
The company was back in the Super Bowl advertising game this year, and unlike four years ago, this year the lender won big.
The company’s new ad, which stars Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet, the actress and Momoa’s wife, ranked this year as No. 5 in the highly touted USA Today’s 2020 Ad Meter.
In an interview with HousingWire, Quicken Loans Chief Marketing Officer Casey Hurbis said that ad launch was the most thrilling yet terrifying seconds of a marketer’s life.
In the ad, Momoa was featured pulling into his driveway, walking into his home, and getting comfortable – ripping off his iconic muscles and hair – revealing a more limp version of himself.
The decision to feature Momoa was because he is known for his size, strength and hair, Hurbis said.
“People are most comfortable in their home,” Hurbis said. “We wanted to demonstrate that he [Momoa] was comfortable in his own home.”
The concept was laid out six months ago, and after looking over many other ideas, this one quickly rose to the top.
The ad was shot in early January, and Hurbis said that Momoa and Bonet were very hands-on with the idea.
“We approached Jason and his team several months ago, he loved it, and we partnered with Jason and his team,” Hurbis said. “They were involved with the creative process. He’s creative, with a passion for filmmaking. He was a great collaborative partner.”
Compared to last year’s ad, Hurbis said that the goal was to let people know we will be on every step of the way of homebuying process.
Another notable change from last year’s ad was the 100% uptick in web traffic after the ad was aired.
When the ad was launched on Sunday, website traffic went into six figures, Hurbis said.
“[Last year] We enjoyed the best year ever, now the bar is raised yet again,” Hurbis said.
