Fiverr CMO on its first Super Bowl spot: ‘we’re aspiring to be one of the biggest brands’

“Fiverr has been at the forefront of the future of work and digital transformation,” says Fiverr CMO Gail Arnon.“ What happened with the pandemic is everything we’ve been preaching for the last 10 years accelerated tremendously…people working remotely, working flexible hours, flexible locations...After seeing this transformation, this shift, it felt like the right time for us to tell the Fiverr story to a larger audience and that’s what we’re trying to do by joining the Super Bowl this year.”

At its core, Fiverr sees itself as an altruistic avenue for global talent to find work and businesses to, often inexpensively, find the freelance help they need. The model has hit its stride. Now a year-and-half after a successful IPO, its shares have grown 730% making it a must-buy on Wall Street.

Unlike other business-to-business brands that often target specific categories and decision makers, “our target audience can be so wide,” says Arnon. “We obviously want to be, and are aspiring to be, one of the biggest brands out there so the Super Bowl is the stage for us.”

The move to the Big Game is reminiscent of other digital business-focused platforms that looked to go to the next level like GoDaddy, Squarespace and Wix, says Robert Passikoff, president, the brand consultancy Brand Keys. “The timing couldn’t be better for Fiverr. They seem to be the right solution for the problems folks are facing now. It reminds me of GoDaddy back in 2004 with a different raison d’retre, and a very different target audience. Different and timely companies betting their dollars on the Super Bowl is interesting. Why not take a shot?”

Fiverr tests and learns it likes TV

In many ways, the third quarter of Super Bowl LV on February 7, is the right place at the right time for Fiverr.

Prior to the pandemic, large out-of-home campaigns in the US, UK, Germany, Australia and other countries played a big role in Fiverr’s efforts. While digital and influencer marketing has always been a big part of its mix, Fiverr also began testing TV in the US during the summer to see if it could help fill the void left by the evaporation of outdoor advertising. “We found TV worked very well. We are very data-driven. We were able to measure everything and see great signals.”

Fiverr officially rolled out its first TV campaign into key global markets in September with the launch of “It Starts Here.”

The campaign centers around the success of three actual customers that leveraged Fiverr’s freelancers to transform their businesses specifically, hydroponic farm Greener Roots, antique furniture store Patina & Co., and pizzeria Slim & Husky’s—which is also a community center.

Community as a North Star

Dialing up the value of its community among businesses and freelancers will continue to be the focus of Fiverr's marketing message. In the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2020, more than 3 million of its customers worked with digital freelancers among 500 categories across more than 160 countries, per the company. “The community is at the center of everything we do,” says Arnon.

Repeat business drove 58% of its revenue while new buyers grew 37%. Fiverr is looking to grow the latter number by courting large business with Fiverr Business which also launched in September. This subscription service for larger businesses offers collaboration and administration tools designed to make it easier to work with freelancers.

Still, small businesses will continue to serve as the brand’s sweet spot. “We’ve celebrated, and tried to empower, small businesses,” says Arnon. “Over the past year, we have seen amazing stories and testimonials of people who were able to adjust and change and shift, really quickly. These were the stories of businesses that were actually able to flourish through this rough time.”

These proof points served as the foundation of Fiverr’s initial “It starts here” TV campaign. Arnon is keeping the Super Bowl spot creative under wraps but says the ad will be an evolution of the existing campaign. “This is a really big opportunity to show the world who we are and what we stand for.”

Based on her exposure to so many businesses in flux, what is Arnon’s guidance for business owners? “My main advice for them would be to understand that you really need to adjust quickly and adapt to the new reality.”

For Fiverr this meant radically changing its media mix to include a Super Bowl buy. Now it’s going for the win for all the right reasons, per Arnon. “We are a very ambitious team. We want to succeed, but fundamentally we believe we’re doing something good for the world.”