Behind Rocket’s Super Bowl ad and live in-stadium singalong

Rocket Companies has aired its first Super Bowl ad since 2022 and with it, done something no brand has done at the Big Game before. Immediately following the airing of its second quarter 60-second spot titled “Own the Dream,” Rocket Cos. conducted a live stadium-wide singalong of the song that played in its ad, a reimagined version of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by the cast of the ad and musicians including Jessica Nolan, Michaela Neller, Robby Hecht, Neysa Murray, Maya Felber-Glick, Stephanie Boolean and Jillette Johnson. The collective performance aired for 15 seconds in the second quarter of Fox’s broadcast. Play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt called the moment with a preplanned read, “A moment of unity, inspired by Rocket.” Rocket purchased 15 seconds of live airtime “as a traditional media buy,” said Jonathan Mildenhall, chief marketing officer of Rocket. He declined to disclose the cost of the buy but said a negotiation occurred with Fox. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was chosen to connect the brand with Americana, Mildenhall said. “It’s one of two songs that as soon as you start playing it, everybody starts singing it,” he said. “That and ‘Sweet Caroline.’ We’re using pop culture and cultural relevance to create what we believe will be a significant standout against the many, many celebrities we’re going to see and the pronounced use of comedy.” All 75 seconds of Rocket’s Super Bowl appearance differed from how the brand previously went to market. The last time Rocket appeared in the game, three years ago, it relied on familiar tactics involving humor and celebrities. Actress Anna Kendrick starred in a commercial from Highdive about Barbie using Rocket Homes to find her Dreamhouse and Rocket Mortgage to finance the purchase—which earned the brand a seat on top of USA Today’s Ad Meter for the second consecutive year. This year, Rocket took a different approach with a spot created by Mirimar. Director Matthew Dillon Cohen, making his Super Bowl debut, created a sentimental ad that showed the emotional attachments people develop with their homes around the country. The spot offered snippets of parents raising babies, children playing in yards, young couples moving in, others moving out and military service members flying home. John McKelvey, co-founder and chief creative officer of Mirimar, in an email stated that the ad aims to capture “the joy, optimism and the role home plays in every American Dream,” adding that the spot was anchored in “real, intimate moments: real parents with their babies, real veterans and actual couples.” Rocket altered its strategy to leave a longer-lasting impact on viewers, said Mildenhall, whose Super Bowl ad experience includes 2014’s emotional “It’s Beautiful” ad for Coca-Cola. “People enjoy comedy and celebrity in the moment but they forget it a week later,” he said. “But when you have a cultural moment that is so core to the identity of America, that narrative will be remembered.” The ad also features a brief nod to Mirimar, as the name of the moving company on the back of a truck, as well as Otherway, the design agency that worked on Rocket’s logo overhaul—the slogan on the truck reads “The Other Way to Move.” How it worked During the commercial break, a DJ and hype person told attendees at Caesars Superdome that Rocket was going to live broadcast an extension of its ad and asked for everyone’s participation, Mildenhall said in an interview last week, describing the plan. As Rocket’s ad ran in the last position of the commercial break, attendees were asked to sing along to “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The singalong was timed so it would reach its climax as the ad ended and Fox’s broadcast cut to the stadium. “Orchestrating a never done before activation: to sync the broadcast and live in-stadium required meticulous coordination with Rocket, the NFL, Fox, Zenith Media, Mirimar and production teams,” McKelvey said. @nfl a moment of unity at #SBLIX 🤝 #philadelphia #eagles #kansascity #chiefs #superbowl #SBLIX #nfl @Rocket ♬ original sound - NFL Rocket also reached out to influencers with a simple brief asking them to capitalize on the moment in a way they see fit, Mildenhall said. That includes an attempt by the brand to spur an online singalong by encouraging influencers to release their own version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” on social media. “That should inspire their followers to do the same,” Mildenhall said. “We’re hoping the ad gets people to sing along in their homes.” He declined to name influencers the brand briefed. NextGen Marketing Summit Join us for a crash course on Gen Z, DTC marketing and the creator economy Register today Rocket went back and forth over making its singalong live or prerecorded, Mildenhall said. The NFL initially squashed the idea of going live due to expected complications but later changed its mind because the idea lent itself to a live moment, he said. Due to the singalong’s live nature, Rocket developed a contingency plan in case the brand needed to pivot at the last moment due to an unforeseen circumstance such as a serious player injury occurring right before the ad, Mildenhall said. Rocket declined to share those plans. Mildenhall maintained the risk was worth the effort. “If you look at the brands we have studied deeply, that have shaped the cultural narrative here in the U.S. or on a global basis—brands like Apple, Audi, Coca-Cola, Nike—these brands all appreciate how to take calculated risks and lean into never-been-done-before marketing,” he said. “I’m hoping the impact is going to … reposition Rocket as the iconic brand in this important cultural space of home ownership.” Mildenhall spent seven years at Coca-Cola. Creating a memorable Super Bowl moment was essential for Rocket as it sets out to become a brand deeply engrained in American culture, Mildenhall added. It took its first steps in January when it rebranded several of its verticals to adopt the Rocket name and create a cohesive ecosystem for homebuyers. Going forward, it plans to lean on interactive marketing targeted to various communities, such as experiential events and educational platforms for Hispanic consumers, as it highlights groups of consumers pursuing homeownership. Read more: Behind Rocket’s logo update and Super Bowl ambitions Rocket reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted net income of $166 million, up from $7 million during the same period in 2023. Rocket’s holding company, Rocket Holdings Inc., spent $252 million on U.S. measured media in 2023, according to Vivvix, which includes paid social data from Pathmatics, down from the $316 million it spent in 2022. The Rocket Mortgage brand spent $151 million on U.S. measured media in 2023, a decline from $217 million in 2022.

Behind Rocket’s Super Bowl ad and live in-stadium singalong

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