Rocket Mortgage executives first heard the idea over the summer, during a pitch meeting over Zoom with creative agency Highdive. It was still early in the mortgage company's vetting process, which typically lasts weeks, if not months. But when the call ended, chief marketing officer Casey Hurbis recalls leaning back in his chair and thinking, "Wow, this could be it.""That generally doesn't happen that early in the process," he told USA TODAY Sports on Monday. Those early hopes for Rocket Mortgages' two 60-second Super Bowl commercials came to fruition Monday morning, as the company finished both first and second in USA TODAY's Ad Meter, which ranks commercials by consumer rating. It's the first time since 2007 that one brand has secured the top two spots in Ad Meter."I was shocked, yeah," Highdive co-founder and co-chief creative officer Mark Gross said Monday. "You just never know going in. You think you have something that’s great, but there are 60 spots you’re competing against."I really think it was just a very simple idea, and the jokes we happened to write, luckily, were funny and resonated with people."Hurbis praised the ad's message and creative direction, including Morgan's performance. But he also detailed the massive behind-the-scenes campaign that the company carried out to build buzz around its spots. Hurbis said Rocket Mortgage set up a "war room" during Super Bowl 55, with 25 socially-distanced employees in the office working to coordinate the company's social, digital, and public-relations campaigns around both its Super Bowl ads and Super Bowl Squares promotion. Another 60 employees assisted from home. Rocket Mortgage also tapped its assorted partners and asked them to help "extend and amplify" its messaging across social media, Hurbis said. Several celebrities and athletes who have business relationships with Rocket Mortgage — and two official team accounts — urged their respective Twitter followers to vote for the company's commercials on Ad Meter, reaching a combined audience of at least 14 million users."You see a lot of brands, if not all brands, do it," Hurbis said. "It pays dividends in that it takes the message wider, and probably a little bit deeper. Because the fans of Rickie Fowler may be different than the fans of Dave Bautista or Larry Fitzgerald. So it’s the ability to take the creative message wider and build advocacy."Rocket Mortgage's ads, which were directed by veteran Craig Gillespie, aired in the second and third quarters. The first spot featured a cameo from Bautista, the actor and former wrestler, and actress Liza Koshy. The second ad had Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Joey Bosa flipping a car. Gross and Hurbis both said that Morgan, of "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" fame, was heavily involved in the creative process, from working on the script to improvising some of the jokes while on set.

All data is taken from the source: http://usatoday.com
Article Link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/2021/02/08/rocket-mortgage-super-bowl-commercials-tracy-morgan/4433380001/

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