Roughly one year ago, a handful of crypto heavyweights made swaggering debuts on the Super Bowl ad roster, airing costly commercials with messages like “Don’t miss out” (FTX) and “Fortune favors the brave” (Crypto.com). Then came the swoon in crypto and the bankruptcy of FTX. Now, companies across the sector are using marketing and public relations efforts to defend their brands, distance themselves from dubious players like FTX and, in many cases, present a friendlier face to investors and regulators alike, the Wall Street Journal reported. “The problem they face is a massive drop-off of trust as holders of assets that have value,” said Tom Wason, global principal at Wolff Olins, a brand strategy firm that has worked with top crypto brands. Companies in the sector are trying to continue growing — or stay afloat — while simultaneously reassuring both the crypto faithful and the government agencies under pressure to rein them in, he said. Their marketing must evolve in turn, according to Mr. Wason. He compared last year’s burst of Super Bowl ads to those for dot-com startups in the 2000 Super Bowl, “where VC money [was] being burned for awareness.”
