A turning point towards bringing Crypto into popular culture. 

This year’s Super Bowl was memorable for a lot of reasons. But for marketers and crypto enthusiasts, the most notable moment was Coinbase’s comeback ad, the only crypto ad shown during this year’s game.

Most people remember the 2022 Super Bowl as the “Crypto Bowl”, thanks to the overwhelming number of ads from large blockchain companies. They were loud, flashy, and filled with aggressive calls to action, celebrity cameos, and big promises. Crypto dominated the conversation. But after FTX’s collapse and the industry downturn, everything went quiet on the marketing front. Mistrust grew, budgets shrank, and crypto brands stepped back from the spotlight.

Fast forward to 2026, and Coinbase stood alone.

But what was the perceived intent behind the ad? It included absolutely no crypto terminology. There were no explanations of blockchain, no buzzwords, no hard sell. Instead, it aimed to have millions of viewers singing along together. So what was the point? To get people talking, and that’s exactly what happened.

Crypto still has relatively low mainstream appeal. For many, it feels complex, risky, or disconnected from everyday life. There aren’t many marketing campaigns focused on breaking crypto into popular culture in a way that feels natural and accessible. Coinbase’s approach suggests a shift away from selling a product and toward building cultural presence.

The responses were all over the place. Videos went viral of people booing when Coinbase flashed across the screen, while others praised the simplicity and subtlety, calling it a refreshing contrast to the over-the-top energy of the Crypto Bowl era. Love it or hate it, it sparked conversation. In response to the campaign, Coinbase emphasized that crypto is for everyone and that everyone deserves economic freedom.

So what does this mean for crypto moving forward? It signals a shift toward brand building and recognition. It suggests a turning point where the goal isn’t just adoption through aggressive marketing, but relevance through culture. Crypto still feels distant to most people, and if it’s going to become mainstream, it has to feel familiar first.

This ad may not have converted millions overnight, but it did something just as important: it put crypto back into the cultural conversation.

So what does this mean for Bitcoin? The recent surge in mainstream attention around cryptocurrencies has effectively expanded the top of the funnel. Events like Coinbase’s high-profile ad didn’t just promote a platform, they normalized the category and sparked curiosity at scale. That creates a strategic opening for Bitcoin to position itself not merely as another crypto company, but as the cornerstone of the entire crypto movement.

As new audiences move from awareness to consideration, Bitcoin’s opportunity lies in education-led marketing, clarifying its differentiated value (scarcity, decentralization, security, longevity), and reinforcing its role as digital infrastructure rather than speculation. In other words, Coinbase accelerated category awareness; Bitcoin now needs to convert that curiosity into conviction.

In today’s digital landscape, where marketing technologies are evolving rapidly, how are advertisers staying ahead of the curve? Among the latest advancements in martech, artificial intelligence (AI) stands out as a game-changer for marketers in several aspects of the advertising world. AI can revolutionize many aspects of advertising, from strategy and workflow, to creativity (in overcoming that annoying writer’s block!). If you still haven’t incorporated AI into your toolkit— it’s not too late! Here’s a quick guide to help harness AI to optimize your work in 2024:

1. Define your objectives: Before integrating AI into your work, define what you are trying to achieve. Are you looking to improve workflow, increase customer engagement, optimize campaigns, or enhance lead generation? Identifying your goals will help determine what AI tools you need to implement.
2. Learn what tools are available: Based on your outlined objectives, look into AI tools or platforms that align with your needs. For example:
   • To improve customer experience and guide users effectively through the sales funnel, look into implementing Chatbots to provide instant customer support or Natural Language Processing (NLP) for sentiment analysis, social listening, and understanding customer feedback. (ex. HubSpot Chatbot Builder, Salesforce Einstein)
   • Upgrade your analysis by incorporating Predictive Analytics tools to forecast future trends, customer behaviour, and potential leads, helping you make the most efficient data-driven decisions. (ex. Google AI, Microsoft Azure)
   • Optimize your advertising campaigns using in-platform AI to segment your audience more effectively (targeting them with relevant messaging), analyze ad performance, and adjust bidding strategies in real time to maximize ROI. (Stackadapt Page Context AI, Google AI-Powered Search)
3. Support AI with first-party data: Just like an excited analyst, AI thrives on data. Uploading audience data you’ve collected before and during your next campaigns, will help AI gain insight into customer targeting, behaviour, preferences etc. With third-party cookies phasing out, knowing how to serve your audience best is crucial to campaign success. Remember to respect user privacy and obtain consent for data usage— your tactics, analytics, and customer experience depend on it!
4. Monitor and measure: Continually monitor your AI-driven marketing initiatives to confirm tactics are effectively driving results while identifying areas of opportunity. Measure key metrics that align with your objectives such as conversion rates, bounce rate, and customer satisfaction, then analyze these data points to refine your strategies and outcomes.

Implementing AI in your 2024 marketing strategies will transform how you reach your audience, optimize campaigns, and accelerate growth. By defining your objectives, learning about what AI tools are available, utilizing first-party data inputs, and measuring data outputs, you can successfully leverage AI to your advantage and stay ahead of the competition in this dynamic digital landscape.

Told from the perspective of a current co-op student.

Thinking about a co-op placement with Colour? Here’s why you should consider it!

My Background

I am a Commerce Co-op student from Dalhousie University in my second year. I’ve been working at Colour for over 3 months now and have been enjoying every minute of it. I get first hand experience creating and managing campaigns, something that without Colour I would not get until after I graduated. It is a really valuable learning experience for me to be able to watch and learn from people who are at the top of their field. 

The Culture

The company culture at Colour is supportive. Even with a hybrid environment and employees in different cities and countries, we’re still able to connect with each other and build meaningful relationships. Though I’m based in Halifax,  I’m still able to learn from and get to know the employees in Toronto on a very similar level to those I see in the office. We do bi-weekly huddles where we present topics to each other that are uplifting, fun, or educational that allow us to enjoy that collaborative office environment. On Friday afternoons we have catch up calls where we get to experience the “water cooler” chatter even if we’re not physically present with one another. I’ve met some truly great people that I know I will be able to maintain relationships with even past my time at Colour.

The Opportunities

I have had the chance to work with the entire strategy team throughout different projects, and Colour has done a great job at giving me a variety of experiences and projects to work on. I came into this job with limited knowledge but the team has given me so many chances to learn, and presented unique experiences that will prepare both myself and future co-op students for life after university. Being a co-op student a digital agency gives us a chance to explore where we want to work in the future, and helps us to decide what we want out of a workplace. Being able to work in the industry we are considering will help us gauge if it’s right for us, and allow us to scout out which opportunities will provide the best future for us. I have had opportunities to work closely with big clients and leaders in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. More than learning about the industry, I get to develop professional skills such as public speaking, written and oral competency and more.

Why does Colour like it?

I asked one of our senior strategists, Emma Richter, why Colour likes hiring co-op students: “We love the Co-op program because it introduces us to potential future candidates and helps us to understand what types of experiences new graduates are leaving with: what they’re learning in university and on their other, similar work terms. Co-op programs are also a great way for us to further understand and improve our training and onboarding processes for the future.” 

Success in marketing can be attributed to many things, none more so than planning. Every successful advertising campaign involves captivating creative work and the right media plan—the creative content attracts and holds your audience’s attention, delivering the desired message, and the media plan connects that message to the right people.

Before establishing your campaign plan, here are a few things to consider when determining your audience.

• What platforms are your audiences using? Identify the different social circles that exist within their networks. 
• Are you targeting a persona or a behaviour? The more applicable your services or products are to more people, the harder it can be to carve out a persona. Focus on common behaviours or interests, as opposed to demographics. 
• Are you fostering a relationship with your audience? Customer service can shine through by developing a consistent system for sharing user-generated content and adding extra emphasis on brand love. Rewarding users who are frequent engagers turns them into brand ambassadors. 
• Further develop your list of brand ambassadors using a variety of tactics, helping to disseminate your message and brand values through employee advocacy or influencer marketing. 
• How far down the marketing funnel are you target audiences? Depending on where they fall, the message and creative should always align. 
• Are you going too big? Quality connections on a smaller targeted scale are often what matter most.

Back to Basics

When it comes to social media planning, the medium is made up of people as well as their networks, so how can marketers develop a plan to tap into these expanded social circles and accompanying interests? Buying social media ads takes the traditional media route to connect with potential customers. Using a variety of detailed targeting criteria, marketers can serve ups ads that reach their specific desired audiences. 

Optimizing for social

When it comes to social media planning, the medium is made up of people as well as their networks, so Traditional media planning doesn’t work well in the social space, as demonstrated by the often-lower conversion rates of Facebook ads. While Facebook ads work well for specific industries, it’s important to understand not just your target audience, but the segments and hyper-targeted groups within your audience. This allows us to engage with the right people, an efficient way to increase conversion rates and drive ROI.

Benefits of social media planning

Remember:    

• A successful social media advertising campaign starts by creating strong content around a marketing message. An effective social media plan is then needed to help connect that message with its intended audience. 
• Social media shouldn’t be siloed and separated from the rest of your marketing efforts. It should always be a robust and integrated part of your marketing and system plans.

Last week Facebook dropped some major news. 

In an email and a notification in-platform they announced to all advertisers that “after June 30, 2021, Facebook Analytics will no longer be available.” 

If you missed it (or you want to know how it’ll impact your business) we’ve got the details for you here.

What we think it means:

While all brands and advertisers have 3 months to access their data and save it securely, we expect that we’ll hear more about this from Facebook. We can’t say for sure, but for now we’re looking at a few possible scenarios:

1. Instead of data being readily available under Facebook Analytics, advertisers might have to dig deeper into the Business Suite or Ads/Events Manager at the campaign level. This may be a business decision to push their core products more, possibly as a response to Apple potentially turning off detailed data tracking for its users by default. 
2. Is there an alternative on its way? It is possible that a third party partnership is in the works that will replace the in-house analytics/insights tool.
3. A number of businesses already use tools like Amplitude, Mixpanel or SEMRush more than Facebook Analytics. It’s possible that Facebook is being proactive in getting rid of something that wasn’t preferred anyway. 
4. Facebook sees data as its most valuable asset. They might be looking at it as a potential profit centre by following Amazon’s footsteps and making it pay-to-play for advertisers.

What should I do?

Rest assured that we’ll continue to have access to data at the campaign level for reporting purposes. There is no action to be taken for now, but we’ll keep a vigilant eye on forums and updates from Facebook for any worthwhile chatter that may have a significant impact on businesses like yours.