The Super Bowl? More Like the "Advertising Bowl"
On February 09, 2025, households around the world will be tuning in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs battle for the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 59.
The Super Bowl is the biggest stage for not just athletes but for advertisers. Last year, 123.4 million viewers watched the Super Bowl, making it one of the most-watched television broadcasts ever (NFL). Brands spend months (and lots of money) to produce and market clever, star-studded commercials—Super Bowl LIX will be no different.
Super Bowl commercials are an important cornerstone of American popular culture. Apple announced its Macintosh personal computer in an ad inspired by George Orwell’s 1984; Michael Bublé teamed up with Bubly for a fun sketch about name mispronunciations; even the most outlandish of commercials, Mountain Dew’s “Puppy Monkey Baby,” had viewers repeating its catchy jingle months after the commercial’s launch.
Social Media & Super Bowl Advertising
With the rise of social media and influencer marketing, brands can now strategically connect with audiences beyond the television on the night of the big game. Social media acts as an amplifier in three ways: it boosts brand engagement & awareness, increases the reach and impact of brand campaigns, and presents unique opportunities for social listening and trendspotting.
Nerds generated brand awareness and buzz for their Super Bowl ad campaign by sharing teasers of their commercial featuring TikTok star, Addison Rae. Watch below to see how Nerds tapped into nostalgia and influencer marketing to attract candy lovers of all ages.
@addisonre Guess who I’m coaching…?! 🪩🕺🕺🎶🍬 tune in to find out!! @Nerds Candy 2.11 #ad
♬ original sound - Addison Rae
Brands featured during the commercial break spend, on average, $7 million for a single, 30-second ad spot on television. For brands with a smaller advertising budget, social media opens up the playing field. Everyone now has the opportunity to participate in the global conversation, while reaching both new and existing audiences. Brands with “social-first” marketing strategies are expected to reap the most benefits.
How We Play A Role
With our creative marketing solutions, brands can be part of the Super Bowl conversation using interactive ad formats across social media platforms.
Video Editing - Lay's & Doritos Game Day Contest
In a previous blog post published to our page, we shared that about 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands they love (Hubspot). Video continues to evolve as an impactful marketing medium for companies—especially when it incorporates motion graphics.
Videos promoting sweepstakes, giveaways, and other exclusive promotional events can boost audience growth rate/participation, drive sales, and encourage user-generated content (UGC) across social media platforms.
As part of their Super Bowl 2025 campaigns, Lay’s and Doritos ran two sweepstakes on X. Users who interacted with the posts and trigger hashtags (i.e., #OnlyLays, #DoritosCrash) were eligible for cash prizes that were announced on Super Bowl Sunday. Our team of skilled video editors put together two short promotional graphics videos for Lay’s and Doritos to bring awareness to these giveaways. These videos used animation and text elements to showcase the clients’ products along with simple instructions for entry. Contest participants then received one of our videos revealing their fate!
Custom Likes & Hashmojis - DraftKings, Pepsi, & Doritos
Hashtag campaigns are a popular way for brands to generate buzz and drive post engagement. For example, according to a report by Captiv8, the hashtag #SuperBowlLVII accumulated more than 225 million views on TikTok in 2023.
Custom likes and hashmojis are custom visuals brands attach to a limited-edition hashtag campaign on X. Custom likes replace the standard heart animation (triggered when a user ‘likes’ a post) with the branded animation, while hashmojis are static emojis featured at the end of a hashtag.
For the upcoming Super Bowl, we created a custom like and hashmoji for DraftKings to promote Super Bowl parlays and sports betting. With the hashtag #LetDKCook, X users could trigger the animation and design on their posts.
As an exclusive design partner for X (formerly known as Twitter), our team partnered with Pepsi in 2022 to promote the Super Bowl LVI Halftime show featuring Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Eminem. Any user engaging with the hashtag #PepsiHalftime on the day of Super Bowl LVI triggered our custom animation—the Pepsi logo inside of a music record!
In 2023, our designers and animators also created a custom like and hashmoji for Doritos’ “Triangle Scheme” Super Bowl LVII campaign. Our design was even featured in the Super Bowl commercial. It was truly amazing to witness how many X users engaged with our branded likes throughout the game!
Augmented Reality (AR) - KIA Robo Dog
In recent years, brands have turned to Snapchat for immersive, personalized ad campaigns perfect for the night of “the big game.” According to Snapchat, Super Bowl campaigns that contain a lens result in 1.5x increased ad awareness. Through unique activations such as “Super Bowl Winner Prediction” lenses, the #TouchdownCelebration challenge, and custom Cameo stickers, Snapchatters and their favorite brands can connect with one another.
TikTok has also become a destination for advertisers to reach Generation Z Super Bowl watchers. Brands are tapping into influencers and celebrities when delivering creative and disruptive short-form advertisements. The Addison Rae, Nerds collaboration on TikTok linked earlier in this article is a perfect example.
“Advertisers that are doing it well know that watching football isn’t just on the TV—it’s with the memes, social conversations, and opinions in real time through TikTok” – Shayne Millington, McCann New York
KIA introduced Robo Dog to the world in their 2022 Super Bowl commercial for their new electric EV6 vehicle. Bare Tree Media was thrilled and honored to have created a 3D model and TikTok AR experience to accompany KIA’s #fullycharged campaign.
Our TikTok integration invited users of the app to dance with Robo Dog, an electrically-charged dog, to Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler. This effect was launched a week before the Super Bowl in conjunction with a 60-second Super Bowl advertisement and a “dogmented reality” experience. The dogmented reality experience simulates pet adoption virtually and entices users to consider adopting an animal in need from their local shelter.
@melissabecraft #ad Kia has given to the PetFinder Foundation to help find forever homes for dogs. I’m showing my support by doing the #RoboDog #turnaround
Looking Ahead to Super Bowl LIX
Social media has and will continue to perform well in conjunction with traditional Super Bowl advertising. Ultimately, the most important play in your marketing playbook is sharing quality content that is on-brand, attention-grabbing, and influencer-driven. As we look ahead to Super Bowl LIX this Sunday, expect to see:
- Interactive content: AR lenses and gamified content will continue to skyrocket in popularity. Other interactive content such as custom likes, hashmojis, and social media challenges require engagement and participation by a viewer.
- Influencer-first campaigns: brands will partner with micro and macro influencers with highly-engaged audiences across social media platforms—particularly, TikTok and Instagram.
With the right combination of experience, skill, and guidance, your brand can use design, animation, motion graphics, and AR to better engage and captivate the attention of your customers. To learn more about how we can be a part of your Super Bowl marketing, contact us at info@baretreemedia.com or visit our website.
Interested in something unique for your brand? Reach out to our team!
Bare Tree Media is a full-service creative studio and digital publisher creating super slick, mobile-facing content! We would love to bring your brand’s ideas to life through digital animation and AR. Check out our Animation & Video page to see motion graphic experiences we’ve created for brands.
Motion Graphics Meet Marketing: Enhancing Brand Storytelling
To survive in the modern digital landscape, brands need to cut through the noise and capture the limited (very limited) attention of their audiences.
“Content is King”—the phrase followed by marketers around the world. However, most social media feeds are inundated with articles, advertisements, and social posts. While content is important, quality (over quantity) is king.
Incorporating motion graphics into marketing materials are a powerful way for brands to enhance their content strategies and reach potential customers. As a motion graphics studio, we may be a little biased, but our experiences creating super-slick promotional videos for brands (i.e., Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Interwell Health) have shown us first-hand the power of motion in marketing.
So why motion graphics? Read more below to find out.
What are Motion Graphics?
Motion design animates 2D/3D graphics using software to create a visual narrative. The technique emerged in the mid-20th century and is credited for transforming graphic design. Common examples include TV opening credits, digital adverts, news broadcasts, and explainer videos.
A Rise in Video Content
The number of digital video viewers worldwide is currently 3.3 billion (HubSpot). According to an article published by HubSpot, about 89% of consumers want to see more videos from brands they love. With video accessible on every major social media network, audiences use short-form videos (~60 seconds) to learn more about a brand, product, or service. Video marketing increases brand visibility and engagement as consumers are 52% more likely to share video content than any other type of content.
Aside from increasing engagement, motion graphics can benefit brands in three ways:
- Simplify a concept, product, or service
- Easily shareable
- Efficient & cost-effective
Explainer Videos & Motion Graphics
According to HubSpot, the most common videos that incorporate motion graphics are presentations (65%), ads (57%), and explainers (47%).
Explainer videos convey concepts, products, and services in a quick, clear, and concise way. Motion graphics used in these videos capture attention more easily than text. For example, Hank Green’s YouTube series “Crash Course” utilizes motion graphics to break down educational concepts in an entertaining, digestible way for students. The series has over 161.M subscribers on YouTube and is used in classrooms throughout the country.
Furthermore, explainer videos can introduce people to new-to-market products and services that may contain complicated features. Customers can make better-informed purchasing decisions, and in turn, conversion rates may increase. The onboarding experience for customers becomes more efficient, which can reduce customer support costs.
Motion Graphics & Virality
Motion design, like most video content, is inherently shareable. Marketers utilize video to generate organic growth across social media platforms. Videos containing motion graphics are more likely to go viral because they are visually engaging and perceived as higher quality by viewers.
In this 30 second advertisement, Porsche takes viewers through the evolution of the automobile and how their vehicles are integral to the automotive industry. Brands like Porsche use motion graphics not just to sell a product but to invoke a feeling and share an aspirational lifestyle.
Efficiency & Cost-Effectiveness
While engagement is important, the success of a marketing campaign is measured against return on investment (ROI). Traditional, live-action film shoots are expensive and carry greater risk than animated video. Because motion designers work in programs with highly-flexible capabilities, adjusting animations is a fairly simple, low-cost process.
Future of Motion Graphics
Video content will continue to evolve to fit new consumer needs, platforms, and trends. It is important to note that social media algorithms largely control what’s shown on a given platform. Short-form, motion graphic and explainer videos may be capturing the attention of millions now but algorithm shifts may change what kind of content becomes popular in the future.
How We Play a Role
Our experienced designers, animators, and editors work with brands to leverage motion graphics in their marketing and advertising campaigns. We’ve created campaigns for IFAW, BetMGM, and Samsung.
- To promote the new messaging stickers and Samsung Themes we created for “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” we teamed up with WimpyKid Inc. in 2024 to create a digital offerings promotional video. The “Hot Mess” book tour kicked off in October and our video was featured before the show at every stop and on their social media account.
- At Bare Tree Media, we love using our design and animation skills to raise awareness for important causes. We collaborated with the Healthy Ocean Coalition (HOC) to create an animated explainer video that outlined the importance of protecting our oceans, mitigating climate change, and improving access and distribution to nature around the United States.
Interested in something unique for your brand? Reach out to our team!
Bare Tree Media is a full-service creative studio and digital publisher creating super slick, mobile-facing content! We would love to bring your brand’s ideas to life through digital animation and AR. Check out our Animation & Video page to see motion graphic experiences we’ve created for brands.
Fall 2022 Newsletter
The weather is getting warmer and our projects are heating up! In this issue of our newsletter, we would like to share what our incredible team has been up to this past fall. We had the opportunity to work with some amazing clients this quarter and have a lot of great work to showcase. As always, we would like to thank our business partners for their endless support and flexibility.
Team Spotlight - Wendy Jia
Meet Wendy, our summer illustration and animation sprout! Wendy worked closely with our senior illustrator and AR/animation teams to create her own personal sticker pack for GIPHY, Tenor, and iMessage. We will miss Wendy and look forward to seeing all her future creations! Please scroll down to learn more about the personal project she worked on while interning at the studio.
“Through Tea for Teaspoon, I got to explore so many of my interests, like character design, complex rigging, and 3D animation. With the help of my coworkers, I was finally able to accomplish my dream of designing my own personal sticker pack, while also challenging myself to learn new skills.”
Nothing is more rewarding than seeing our summer interns’ projects come to life. O.M.Tea! Meet Teaspoon—a mighty, fearsome matcha-thief brewing with mischief. Keep an eye out on your own cup, for you never know where he’ll pop up next…maybe even in your messages?! For Wendy’s personal project, she used Maya to create animated 3D stickers inspired by some of her favorite things!
“I thought about the things I love and wouldn’t mind working on for 6 months. I settled on matcha, hamsters, and deer. I also drew inspiration from the sticker packs I personally use. Taking all of this into account, I designed 21 silhouettes, narrowed it down to 8 thumbnails, and finally iterated on 1 design. That’s how I ended up with Teaspoon!”
As an animation student at Northeastern University, Wendy was able to explore the entire pipeline—character concept, color, modeling, rigging, texturing, lighting, and animating. She was able to develop marketable skills across multiple disciplines. Her favorite part was getting to design all of Teaspoon’s expressions! These 3D animated stickers are sure to last you an oolong time.
Disenchanted Animated Stickers
Raise your hand if you are an OG Enchanted fan (all of our hands are raised *very* high)! Our team had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Disney to design eight animated stickers for the release of Enchanted’s sequel, Disenchanted. We loved seeing our favorite characters—Giselle, Robert, and Prince Edward—come to life. Click the link to see them all on Walt Disney Studios’ official GIPHY page and be sure to catch Disenchanted on Disney+.
Samsung Themes & Season's Greetings
What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with some Samsung Themes? We collaborated with a number of brands to bring some holiday cheer to Samsung Galaxy users’ devices. See them below.
The Smurfs Christmas Cheer
Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and crew are bringing the Christmas spirit to your Samsung devices. This theme is perfect Christmas customization. Click here to download the latest Smurf theme from Galaxy Store.
Betty Boop Loves Christmas
We love the holidays almost as much as Betty does! Betty invites Galaxy users to get into the holiday spirit with her latest Samsung Theme. Click here to download “Betty Boop: Loves Christmas” from the Galaxy Store.
Garfield Christmas With Friends
Gather by the fireside and around the tree with Garfield and friends this holiday season. Make messaging the ones you love this holiday season even more festive with the “Garfield: Christmas With Friends” Samsung Theme, available now in the Galaxy Store.
Bare Tree Media and TikTok Expand AR Partnership
Boston, MA — September 3, 2020 — Bare Tree Media, a leader in the design and creation of branded augmented reality (AR) experiences, has expanded its partnership with TikTok. The two companies will work together under the company’s recently announced TikTok for Business Marketing Partner Program to connect advertisers with trusted creative and technology providers who can help scale success on the TikTok platform.
“With the launch of the TikTok For Business Marketing Partner Program, we’re building new opportunities for marketers to be creative storytellers and meaningfully engage with the TikTok community. We’re thrilled to collaborate with some of the most strategic and trusted leaders in the advertising industry and continue giving marketers access to more tools to successfully create, measure, and optimize ad campaigns on TikTok. We can’t wait to collaborate with partners to bring a creative and joyful experience to our brand partners and the broader TikTok community.” — Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, Global Business Solutions at TikTok
Bare Tree Media will be creating branded 2D and 3D AR effects for clients of TikTok, as well as introducing new clients to the TikTok platform.
“Bare Tree Media has been strongly positioned to leverage its leadership position of helping brands engage consumers through creative and interactive experiences. We are excited to broaden our partnership with TikTok and to bring our clients added value through marketing opportunities within the TikTok platform.” — Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
About Bare Tree Media
As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage, and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs, digital collectibles, metaverse virtual goods, and augmented reality experiences within popular messaging platforms. Interested brands can learn more at www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, Mountain View, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tiktok.com.
Bare Tree Media Partners with TikTok to Bring AR to Brands
Boston, MA — June 25, 2020 — Bare Tree Media has been selected by TikTok as a preferred AR (Augmented Reality) design agency partner. As part of the TikTok Branded Effects Partner Program, Bare Tree Media will be assigned to strategize and design TikTok AR effects for brand campaigns.
“With the digital landscape always evolving, we are consistently investing in our interactive competencies such as augmented reality. We are honored to be selected into this partnership to create branded AR experiences to engage audiences within the popular TikTok platform.” — Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
Through TikTok’s technology and Bare Tree Media’s in-depth expertise in 2D and 3D AR design, this partnership will help to scale creativity and production of AR effects for brands. This partnership builds on TikTok’s newly launched Branded Scan, which activates certain visual effects after recognizing a flat image as a branded product.
“Branded Effects give brands the opportunity to interact with TikTok users in a way that’s engaging and fun. We’re thrilled to partner with the most creative leaders in 2D and 3D development to bring this playful, immersive experience to our brand partners and the broader TikTok community.” — Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, Global Business Solutions at TikTok
About Bare Tree Media
As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage, and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs, digital collectibles, metaverse virtual goods, and augmented reality experiences within popular messaging platforms. Interested brands can learn more at www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, Mountain View, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tiktok.com.
Garfield Celebrates His 40th with Augmented Reality and Mobile Messaging Stickers
Boston, MA — June 19, 2018 — Today marks a major milestone for the world’s most beloved and lazy cat, Garfield. He turns 40 and still looks great whether napping, snacking, or driving Odie and Jon crazy. To celebrate, Bare Tree Media collaborated with Paws Inc to create a special 40th anniversary series of mobile messaging stickers and augmented reality effects.
“We are excited to be part of Garfield’s 40th celebration and offer fans our digital options to join the party.” — Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
iOS fans can find the 40th sticker series on iTunes for use within iMessage and as a new sticker pack added to the Garfield StickerTap app. Android fans can find the stickers in the emojiTap app and the Garfield StickerTap app on the Google Play store.
Fans active within Snapchat and Facebook can add Garfield augmented reality effects altering their identity and sharing 40th greetings using the Garfield Snapchat Lens and Garfield Facebook AR Camera Filter.
“This is a special milestone for Garfield and I am thrilled fans can have fun celebrating all month and all year long with stickers and AR.” — Jim Davis, Creator of Garfield
About Bare Tree Media
As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage, and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs, digital collectibles, metaverse virtual goods, and augmented reality experiences within popular messaging platforms. Interested brands can learn more at www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About GARFIELD
GARFIELD was born on the comics pages on June 19, 1978. The creation of cartoonist Jim Davis, GARFIELD is a humorous strip centered on the lives of a quick-witted orange cat who loves lasagna, coffee, and his remote control; Jon Arbuckle, his owner; and Odie, a sweet but dumb dog. Follow Garfield and Odie, along with nearly 19 million other fans, on Facebook and Twitter, and Instagram.