Rocket Mortgage’s Super Bowl ad starring Jason Momoa finishes fifth in Ad Meter rankings

It’s rare that a lending company-albeit the largest in America-would be expected to make a huge splash in the Ad Meter rankings. They don’t sell beer, or candy, or chips, or soft drinks. And they aren’t releasing the next box-office hit. At the …

It’s rare that a lending company—albeit the largest in America—would be expected to make a huge splash in the Ad Meter rankings. They don’t sell beer, or candy, or chips, or soft drinks. And they aren’t releasing the next box-office hit. At the most, you’d expect them to cause a small ripple.

But, then again, when you have Aquaman

Rocket Mortgage will forever remember Super Bowl LIV. The Detroit-based lending company was back in the Big Game-mania this year with a spot that featured actor Jason Momoa for their campaign, “Get Comfortable.” That alone seems like a story worth remembering, but it’s merely the gameplan and the not the final drive.

Out of the 60-plus ads and trailers that were submitted, the spot ended the night as the fifth highest-rated commercial in the Ad Meter rankings.

Fifth!

You can count the number of mortgage companies that have accomplished that ranking with a closed fist. The success teetered on the unbelievable, even for an experienced Super Bowl ad veteran like Quicken Loans CMO, Casey Hurbis, who Ad Meter caught up with to talk about the big night.

“When you’ve got a lot of brands there (on Ad Meter) that are habitually in the top 10,” Hurbis noted, “to be a mortgage company—a commodity-based company and brand—that’s in the top 5 is something to be super excited about.”

When we first spoke before Super Bowl Sunday, what the actual commercial would look like was still a close secret. Instead, the company and the star of the spot had released several teasers—which did incredibly well—and as the CMO explained, “lent itself to people wondering, ‘What does it really mean for Jason Momoa to be comfortable at home? What is that going to look like?'”

The anticipation would last until the first quarter of the Super Bowl when the final product aired—a sleight of hand that took a comedic one-eighty from the teasers.

It was an epic moment for the 75 Rocket Mortgage employees gathered at the office. “It was sixty seconds of dead silence, and then an eruption of cheers,” Hubris said in awe.

But this was also a busy night, as he pointed out:

“We were activating the Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares, and about five minutes before the commercial ran, there was a score. And for the first time, we were like, ‘OK. We have to pull the name, and we have to announce it.’ Then the commercial ran, and we’re celebrating, and then there was a score shortly after that.”

“Mission Control” Photo courtesy of Quicken Loans

Zero rest isn’t uncommon on this type of night for brands. But the work and effort has been the exciting part of this particular journey for Rocket Mortgage—a “partnership”, as Hurbis describes it, and learning experience. As previously mentioned, he doesn’t always believe that Super Bowl spots should be released before the actual airtime. “You can argue the pros and cons of it,” he explained. “But what this showed us was by teasing it and doing fun, engaging, leaned-in content, you can build up a lot of that buzz and anticipation, and then you show America the spot for the first time.”

(The content is still making the rounds on social media, including these two photos of the—ahem—real Jason Momoa:)

Photo courtesy of kingmomoa (Instagram)
Photo courtesy of kingmomoa (Instagram)

When the night finally ended all that was left were the restless hours until the Ad Meter rankings were released. “It was a late night—we didn’t wrap up until well after midnight,” Hurbis recalled. “But we woke up Sunday morning with smiles on our faces, and it’s been a great week!”

A great week, indeed, one that seems to be continuing.

“People are coming up to Jason and telling him how funny it was and how much they enjoyed the commercial,” Hubris said of Momoa—who reached out to the CMO Sunday night and shared in the joy of how well the spot turned out and has since continued to post behind-the-scenes footage.

“It’s humbling,” Hurbis also added, now having a few days to let the rush of it all settle. “We had a great campaign and a great partner to bring it life, and we’re excited that America affirmed that—the amount of positive sentiment we have is overwhelming.”

It was an impressive showing for Rocket Mortgage, the excitement of the commercial’s success resonated in each answer Hurbis gave. And rightfully so. But that doesn’t mean it’s one-and-done for him or the hard-working team. We ended the conversation by chatting about the future, the “Get Comfortable” campaign, and what it means for Rocket Mortgage.

Hurbis replied: “When you’re America’s largest lender, you’re right back to work and getting ready for the next exciting project.”

With the company’s success in this year’s Ad Meter, that type of forward brand momentum would be expected.