Ferrara Candy Company’s NERDS brand is leveraging its Super Bowl 2024 ad spot to capitalize on the benefits of influencer marketing. The ad, which highlights the brand’s new product and appeals to both established and potential consumers, features popular Gen Z social media influencer, Addison Rae.
The ad includes a teaser that shows Rae, who has over 88 million TikTok followers and more than 30 million Instagram followers, training the unknown star of the commercial. Her significant social media presence allows for massive exposure of the teaser. Additionally, using the 1983 movie hit “What a Feeling” provides an opportunity for a cross-generational appeal.
Magen Hanrahan, Senior Vice President of Ferrara’s Marketing Center, stated that the choice of Rae was due to the brand’s core audience being Gen Z. The aim was to connect with this demographic through a recognizable figure, active on platforms where they often engage.
The influencer strategy appears to be successful, with data showing that during the first week, the teaser received over 459,000 engagements and 605.5 million potential impressions. In addition, multiple posts on Addison Rae’s own social media platforms gathered millions of views, hundreds of thousands of likes, and hundreds of comments.
The new NERDS ad, slated to premiere during the game’s second quarter, features a new brand character, Gummy. This character is modeled after their Gummy Clusters product and represents the product’s unique combination of crunchy and gummy candy pieces.
The ad will finish with Rae visibly enjoying NERDS, further enhancing the brand’s appeal to its desired demographic. With the Super Bowl’s annual audience exceeding 100 million, this presents an excellent opportunity to build awareness of the Gummy character.
Greg Guidotti, Ferrara’s Chief Marketing Officer, noted the Super Bowl ad’s objectives as increasing household penetration, getting more people to try and love their portfolio and NERDS Gummy Clusters, and supporting NERDS’ continued growth and leadership in the Sugar Candy category.
The ad will be supplemented with a 360° marketing campaign, including PR and paid broadcasts on social media, and digital and linear TV channels. This extensive campaign demonstrates NERDS’ commitment to combining influencer marketing and high-profile event advertising. Guidotti stresses the potential for the ad to reach new consumers while also promoting repeated purchases from current buyers.
Source: Super Bowl 2024: NERDS Ad Capitalizes On Influencer Marketing.
