The 30 second slot will reportedly set the young professionals platform back by around $5m, approximately 20% of its annual budget. SoFi specialises in student loan refinancing, personal loans and first-time mortgages for millennials. The Super Bowl debut is part of a broader $20m advertising push through which the platform hopes to propel itself into the mainstream. SoFi is one of the youngest companies in history to have taken on a primetime advertising slot at the Super Bowl. Joanne Bradford, Chief Operating Officer at SoFi, weighed in:
"We felt it was the right time to make the investment to tell who we are and what the brand stands for. The Super Bowl is the most effective buy that exists out there.”
The timing feels right for SoFi to be making a major marketing splash. The platform crossed the $6bn mark in cumulative lending in mid-December, just a few months after having raised $1bn in a funding round that was led by Japanese Internet giant SoftBank. SoFi also caused quite the stir a few weeks back by cutting ties with FICO, which more firmly than ever entrenched its positioning as an alternative lender even amongst alternative lenders.
The advertisement itself (posted below) further cements SoFi’s positioning. The platform is, by design, not for everyone. That indeed is why the hallowed FICO score has been deemed surplus to requirements. As we explored in a recent column, FICOis best suited to those lenders that cater to a broad spread of the population. SoFi is not only targeted specifically at millennial borrowers, it is targeted at high potential, cream-of-the-crop millennials. The advertisement encapsulates that specialism.
