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#SB50 Future of TV Squarespace

Why Squarespace turned to Key and Peele for their Super Bowl 50 campaign

By Benjamin Lichtman, Contributor

February 5, 2016 | 3 min read

For the casual television viewer, commercials are an unwelcome interruption to scheduled programming.

For a few hours each year, that changes.

Over the last 10 years, the Super Bowl has generated an astonishing $2.38 billion in advertisements. This year, CBS is charging $5 million for each 30 second spot, and for good reason: over 100 million people will tune in to watch them all.

One company looking to take advantage of this is Squarespace, which will be advertising during the big game for the third straight year. (one competitor, Wix, will also be advertising, while domain company, GoDaddy, will be sitting this year out).

This year, Squarespace has teamed up with the popular comedy duo of Key and Peele to bring to life two new characters: Lee and Morris, aspiring sportscasters.

As one would expect, Lee and Morris are flamboyantly dressed, with conspicuous hairdos, and robust voice inflection. The duo has set up a Squarespace website which will air a live broadcast during the Big Game, but as a result of an oversight, they don’t have the rights to talk about the actual game.

The live broadcast can be found here, and as one would expect the website is sleek and bold.

Chris Paul, vp of media & acquisition at Squarespace, told us the rationale behind the campaign: “We wanted to make sure our ad was light and entertaining, while being aligned with our brand values. Key and Peele were natural choices…” Paul also told us about the decision to create a second screen experience. “Studies have shown that nearly 90% of Americans watching TV use a second screen device….The duo’s live commentary will truly enhance the Super Bowl experience by providing a layer of entertainment that is complementary to the game itself.”

In addition to the actual content, there is the website itself. Squarespace has a great reputation and this campaign will help bring publicity to the company while also providing an example of the types of beautiful products the company can help create. And the website is terrific. As Paul explained: “‘Design is not a luxury’ is a core value here at Squarespace...We wanted to create a beautiful, unique website that would serve as the perfect backdrop.”

#SB50 Future of TV Squarespace

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