Binance launches major campaign following FTX's collapse—and it stars Ronaldo

While the fallout from last week’s collapse of crypto exchange FTX has halted activity across much of the crypto ecosystem, Binance is stepping on the gas. The world’s largest crypto exchange today launched a global marketing campaign—the first in the brand’s five-year history. The push is headlined by a 60-second spot featuring soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom Binance announced an NFT collection earlier this week. The ad follows Ronaldo through a chapel-like hall as he narrates a spiel on overcoming adversity and fulfilling one’s dreams. The star is surrounded by colossal statues of himself at various stages of his life. Binance is running the spot in various lengths across TV, digital and social channels, in 74 countries and 28 languages. The campaign’s scope and choice of star power will seek to attract attention during the FIFA World Cup, which begins this weekend and lasts through Dec. 18—although the ad will not air on Fox’s broadcast. Agency 72andSunny created the campaign alongside the brand. He Yi, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Binance, made no explicit mention of FTX or Bankman-Fried when explaining the campaign to Ad Age on Thursday, although she appeared to lodge a subtle dig at the embattled competitor. “There are bad players in our industry, but it’s important to know that there are also creators and innovators, who are working hard to build valuable products and services in Web3,” she said. Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao has a well-documented rivalry with the disgraced former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. Earlier this month, Zhao publicly announced that Binance was liquidating its cache of FTX’s FTT token, which directly instigated the run on FTX that eventually brought down the exchange. While Bankman-Fried’s alleged fraud carries the core blame for FTX’s collapse, some lawmakers have accused Zhao of deliberately sinking the company, according to CoinDesk. Zhao has denied these allegations. Web3 marketing trailblazers Entries are open for our first official Web3 honorific Enter here Flexing on a global stage could help Binance gain market share from the ruins of FTX, said Chris Dixon, senior director of client partnerships for ad agency Goodway Group (which was not involved in the campaign). “But it is right on the eve of the World Cup,” he added. “And so there is some benefit from Binance’s perspective to have a soccer-related message going public.” Long live crypto marketing Binance’s global campaign marks a departure from the brand’s lowkey marketing strategy. Zhao has previously stated that marketing is not a priority for the exchange, which Yi reiterated to Ad Age. Unlike its top competitors, Binance did not appear in the 2022 Super Bowl but instead rolled out a social-only campaign that criticized crypto brands for tapping celebrities. Nonetheless, the dramatic messaging of its new Ronaldo ad is reminiscent of Crypto.com’s “Fortune favors the brave” spot from last year, which featured Matt Damon comparing crypto investing to courageous acts like space travel and mountaineering. The commercial garnered backlash online for being over-the-top, and later became the prime example of celebrities mindlessly shilling crypto. This practice has continued despite warnings from the Securities and Exchange Commission. In September, FTX launched its latest ad starring Tom Brady, who has appeared in several other commercials for the exchange since 2021. However, Brady, Steph Curry, Larry David and other brand ambassadors were sued this week by crypto investors claiming the stars deceptively promoted the company. The outcome of the class-action lawsuit—which also includes Bankman-Fried—could determine the extent to which celebrities are on the hook for their paid crypto advertisements. Ronaldo’s presence in Binance’s ad—which comes less than a month after he served a one-game suspension from Manchester United for walking off the field before the end of a game—is slightly different considering he released an NFT collection with the company this week. Yi told Ad Age that the star isn’t a spokesperson, but rather a partner who is providing real value for consumers. The utility of the NFTs spans signed merchandise, entry to giveaways and Instagram Live sessions with Ronaldo. NFT marketing blog Catch up on the latest non-fungible tokens from brands Click here Partnership aside, the campaign may not be enough to convince mass consumers it’s any different from what they’ve seen before. “This is the Super Bowl again,” said Dixon. “We see how FTX ended up in the Super Bowl, and ended up now.” Yi, on the other hand, views the campaign as an opportunity to get out from under the negative news cycle and continue business as usual. “It is Binance’s responsibility as a leader to innovate our industry,” she said. “For instance, when the mobile revolution rolled out, it was better to focus on building smartphones and not dwell on inventing better ‘dumb’ phones.”

Binance launches major campaign following FTX's collapse—and it stars Ronaldo

Featured Stories