Coinbase got a lot of attention — and new users — after running that Super Bowl ad of a QR code bouncing around the screen.
Yes, but: On Monday night, the cryptocurrency exchange’s marketing win lost a little luster, after CEO Brian Armstrong fumbled a Twitter thread bragging about the origins of the ad spot.
Why it matters: Twitter missteps aren’t uncommon for tech executives, but for a fintech like Coinbase — seeking to be a major player in finance — this kind of unforced error could appear amateurish.
What happened: In a 12-tweet thread, Armstrong said Coinbase was initially pitched “a bunch of standard Super Bowl ad ideas” by an outside agency and didn’t like them. They brainstormed instead.
- “No ad agency would have done this ad,” Armstrong tweeted.
The intrigue: But an agency did have the idea of using a QR code, Kristen Cavallo, CEO of The Martin Agency, said in a reply to Armstrong’s sixth tweet:
- Coinbase’s ad “was actually inspired by presentations our agency showed your team on 8/18 (pages 19-24) and 10/7 (pages 11-18) with ad concepts for the Super Bowl floating QR codes on a blank screen.” Her reply got thousands more likes than Armstrong’s initial missive.
Go deeper: Coinbase’s chief marketing officer, Kate Rouch, replied to Cavallo — with five more tweets — hours later. She said the company had indeed worked with an agency, Accenture Interactive, in creating its ad. “Our CEO actually thought we were a single team when presenting work,” she wrote.
- “Multiple agencies — including The Martin Agency — pitched us ideas that included QR codes for several different campaigns,” she added.
- Armstrong also fired off a final tweet about 12 hours after his first, acknowledging they had help from “a creative firm.”
Flashback: It’s not the first time Armstrong has come under fire for his tweets. Last fall, when the SEC effectively killed Coinbase’s proposed lending product, saying it should be regulated as a security, he tweeted that he didn’t see how a lending product could be a security.
- Then, in an apparent “subtweet,” the SEC shared a video explaining what bonds are and how they work.
The bottom line: Unless you’re Elon Musk, Twitter miscalculations can quickly turn into PR misfires.
4,315 Views
Related News
Man stabbed yards from where schoolgirl Elianne Andam died in Croydon
Jacqueline Durban, 38, an event manager and a mother of two, said: “[We feel] reeling, devastated and very disheartened. We know there is a nationwide
5,893 Views
Cambridge academic threatens to sue student paper to stop plagiarism exposé
The Financial Times originally reported on the claims of plagiarism. When students at Varsity attempted to follow up on this report, Dr O’Reilly’s lawyer told
5,905 Views
NHS trust failed to send out 23,000 letters to patients in second scandal
An NHS trust failed to send 400,000 letters and documents to patients and GPs, in the second case to emerge this week. Nottingham University Hospitals
5,891 Views