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Maybe I should begin this article by arguing that nothing spices up a mundane meeting like a creative, beautiful, or hilarious background for your Zoom calls. But the reality is that most of us just need to hide messy offices, guestroom beds, or dirty-dish-filled kitchens. These three websites offer up almost half a million free Zoom backgrounds for your perusal, so forget tidying up and get that scrolling finger ready. Pexels: Something for everyone The undisputed king of free Zoom backgrounds, Pexels houses more than 450,000 photos and more than 50,000 videos in its Zoom section. With that many options, you have . . . well, options. Whether you’re looking for something professional, fun, or quirky, Pexels has you covered: nature, home, office, space, peopleyou name it. If you cant find it here, it might not exist. Photos can be filtered by orientation, size, and color to help you whittle down your selection. They can also be sorted by popularity or latest additions. Unsplash: Modern masterpieces With only (only?!) 10,000 or so Zoom background images, Unsplash cant hold a candle to Pexelss giant collection, but this site specializes in slick backgrounds that will make your Zoom calls look posh and polished. There are some great options here, mostly skewing to the modern end of the spectrum. Theyre like what your office could look like if you had the time, money, awesome lighting, and daily cleaning service. Images can be filtered by landscape and portrait orientations, and sorted by relevance, date, and curated, which features hand-picked selections. Freepik: No nonsense, no distractions When you need a background to hide your background, Freepik has a wonderful selection of understated options. There are lots of plants here. Lots and lots of plants. However, theres also a great selection of slightly-blurred backgrounds that give your setup a nice, real-life depth of field to make things seem as realistic as possible. With not-quite 4,000 images on hand, this is the smallest collection of the bunch, but its a great place to start if youre looking for something neutral and nondescript. Its also got the most robust searching features, with more than a dozen filtering options to help you hone in on a most excellent downloadable.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Super Bowl is a magical time and place for brands. A rare and brief three-or-so hour moment when people want to see commercials. Every marketers Xanadu. What defines a great Super Bowl ad is obviously subjective, no matter what the Ad Meters, and any number of other measurement tech tells you. Hell, even your own brain might be lying to you. The real scorecard is unique to each brand and what it considers the worth of up to $40 million or more in investment around the game. My criteria for a good Super Bowl ad remains relatively simple: Is it fun or emotional in a way that is both entertaining and memorable? An easy question to ask, but as each year proves, much more difficult to answer. Before I get into my top 5 list, here are the honorable mentions. The coffee wars come to the Super Bowl! Im a fan of Dunkins work with Ben Affleck, created by Artists Equity Advertising (the ad arm of Affleck and Matt Damon-founded Artists Equity). This years spot was a funny take on the coffee wars, using a part-Warriors, part-Anchorman dynamic to continue the adventures of the DunKings. I also really liked Starbucks Hello Again, by Anomaly, which aimed to remind us why we liked the brand in the first place. However, the spot could be used as a case study in how crucial the right song can be, because this ad wouldnt hit nearly as hard without AC/DCs classic Thunderstruck. After 27 years, its about time we saw another Nike commercial in the Super Bowl. Hare Jordan is arguably a Top 10 all-time Super Bowl commercial, so getting the swoosh back feels right. Now in So Win, the brand used Led Zeppelin and a murderers’ row of female superstars to stylishly continue its swing back to the ultra-competitive attitude Nike was built on. My admiration for what FanDuel has created with Kick of Destiny is well-documented, and continues this year. While the main event isnt technically an in-game adthis year cleverly embedding itself within the Fox pregame showit remains one of the best-ever Super Bowl brand ideas. Speaking of all-time big game brand ideas, another shout-out to Doritos for bringing back Crash The Super Bowl after an eight-year hiatus. The spots were fun, funny, and the contest remains a benchmark in fan participation. And lastly, a shout-out to the brands that decided to go full emosh and actually pulled it off with impressive results. The NFLs Somebody, Lays Little Farmer, and Googles Dream Job all struck a nice balance for the brands and the moment. OK, now on to my top 5 ads of the 2025 Super Bowl. Stella Artois “David & Dave: The Other David” Its a premise that could be explained in one line: David Beckham finds out he has a secret American twin named Dave. This is Artists Equity Advertisings first Super Bowl spot for a brand thats not Dunkin’, and here we have the companys other co-founder Damon in a starring role. I spoke to execs at the agency for a story coming out later this week, and they told me the brief from the brand was to shift Stellas image in the U.S. as an upscale beer to more of a quality everyday beer. Enter Dave Beckham. Weve seen David pitch for the brand plenty of times, in ads, on Hot Ones, and beyond, but here we get to see a funnier side of the soccer legend. Mountain Dew “Kiss From A Lime” Mountain Dew has long-been one of the more experimental Super Bowl advertisers. In 2021, it enlisted John Cena to challenge viewers with a contest to be the first person to tweet the correct number of Mountain Dew Major Melon bottles that appeared in the ad for a chance to win $1 million. In 2018, it partnered with sibling brand Doritos for a surreal rap battle between Peter Dinklange and Morgan Freeman. And of course, 2016 gifted us the classic Puppymonkeybaby. This year the brand went all in on the big game version of unhinged. Seal as a seal? Directed by Taika Waititi, not only is this absurdity bullseye consistent with the sodas identity when it comes to the Super Bowl, it delivers an on-brand ear-worm care of a 1994 love ballad. Whats not to like? (Its still in your head, isnt it?) Uber Eats “A Century of Cravings” Uber Eats made a relatively late decision in September to completely change its Super Bowl plansa planning process that typically starts in July. A spot starring Matthew McConaughey, in which he floated a conspiracy theory that the function of all sports is to act as a catalyst for us to eat more food, got a great response. Could they continue that in the big game? Short answer: yep. Here it goes deeper. Not deep like finger-rolling a booger in your Lincoln deep; just different deep. A decade on, The McConaissance is still deep in its commercial era, and here the Oscar winner keeps the streak alive by giving us a history lesson of his earlier conspiracy. Its a fun instalment of an overall celebrity-soaked ad strategy that manages to stand out, even as Pringles put up a strong challenge to its multi-celeb approach. I think people now have a clearer understanding of our brand and tone because were consistently showing up with a very specific type of spot that is landing a specific type of humor, Ubers head of marketing for North America Georgie Jeffreys, told me last week. Even if the message changes, the core tenets of our brand are the same. Bud Light “Big Men on Cul-De-Sac” Just like at a bar, it was a close call between this and Bud Lights blood rival Coors Light. Both ads are really funny and pretty much exactly what a light beer ad in the Super Bowl should aim for. What puts Bud Light over the line here is how it not only meets the above criteria, but does so with solid brand consistency. A great big game ad that doesnt feel like a one-off is often a rare species. This isnt the first time weve seen Post hit the field for Bud Light, and the work Gillis has done over the past year has completely reinvigorated the brands personality. Todd Allen, Bud Lights senior vice president of marketing told me that it was a no-brainer for the brand to keep the momentum going and continue to lean into Gillis brand of humor. Theres absolutely no bigger stage to deliver a laugh than the Super Bowl, and when you combine a comedic powerhouse like Shane with Bud Light, I think we have a winning formula, said Allen. Liquid Death Safe For Work I mentioned the importance of the right song earlier with Starbucks, and here it applies just as much, but in a totally different way. Instead of relying on a classic song or new hit banger to tap into the audiences existing affinity, Liquid Death crafted its own hilarious, pseudo-country jam about drinking on the job. The cops are drinking, the surgeons are drinking, the pilots are drinking, the court judges, the football refs, even the school bus drivers are all drinking on the job. Liquid Death is no stranger to celebrities. Its worked with Martha Stewart, Bert Kreischer, Tony Hawk, and more. But here, the brand shrewdly avoided any big names knowing full well its exactly the opposite of what the majority of Super Bowl advertisers would do. The sharp contrast between the parade of celebrity pitchfolks and this lack of Hollywood star power, makes the ad stand out for all the right reasons.
Category:
E-Commerce
For the first time in 27 years, we saw a Nike commercial in the Super Bowl. Has it really been that long? Hard to believe that one ofif not theworlds greatest marketing brands hasnt been on the big game stage for almost three decades. Hare Jordan is arguably a Top 10 all-time Super Bowl ad. Blame complacency, the fragmentation of media and culture, or whatever you like, but getting the swoosh back to the Super Bowl just feels right. Not only that, but the brand is using this opportunity to re-establish its hardcore athlete bonafides, in case anyone forgot. Created with Wieden+Kennedy, and narrated by Grammy winner Doechii, here we get a cranked up, black and white film, set to Led Zeppelins Whole Lotta Love. It features top athletes like ballers Caitlin Clark, Aja Wilson, JuJu Watkins and Sabrina Ionescu; footballer Alexia Putellas, tennis star Aryna Sabalenka, sprinter ShaCarri Richardson, and more, all showing the various ways they’re proving critics wrong. Chief marketing officer Nicole Hubbard Graham says the brand returned to the Super Bowl in order to tap into one of the very few mass, shared cultural experiences we have left. Thinking about the Super Bowl and thinking about this moment, it felt very timely to tell this athlete story, says Graham. Women are just absolutely shattering records right now, selling out stadiums, ticket sales, commanding contracts like you’ve never seen before, and being placed with probably some of the harshest expectations of how you’re supposed to act. And I think they will redefine what it means to be athletes and personalities of the future. Down on your luck. No one believes. The odds are stacked. Nike is using the most reliable premise in all epic sports stories to not only make a point about any individual athlete, and the state of womens sports, but also to give a not-so subtle middle finger to all the shade the brand itself has been thrown over the past year or so. Attitude adjustment Soon after Graham took over as CMO, her first order of business was to talk to the brands elite stable of athletes. What she heard most often was the notion of winning had a losing reputation in the world. The whole idea of being maniacally focused and obsessive and following your dreams to no end was sort of becoming a little bit taboo in society, says Graham. We thought that was a really interesting insight. And that led to the Olympic work. Winning Isnt For Everyone was an ode to the uncompromisingly competitive. Narrated by Willem Dafoe, the work was reminiscent of Nikes campaign for the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta that featured the tagline, You dont win silver, you lose gold. As I wrote at the time, the new Olympic work marked a return of the f**k you attitude in Nike advertising that taps into its hardcore athlete pedigree. The Super Bowl campaign is the start of a larger campaign that will run into 2025, all looking to tap back into Nikes connection to athletes by using the same foundations of style and emotion that built the brand in decades past. This brand wasn’t built on Google ads or clicks, it was built on feelings, and big, disruptive, irreverent, emotional ideas. says Graham. That has been a really important strategy for us, and obviously with our partners at Wieden. How do we make sure that we are very much athletes over algorithms? Bigger picture The brand will need all the emotional power it can get to counter the headwinds it’s been facing. Last summer, Nike saw its biggest stock drop since 2001. Second-quarter revenue dipped by 8%. The brand is up against steep competition across major sports like running, thanks to a resurgent Adidas and Brooks, as well as newer players like On and Hoka. Critics point to a lack of innovation, being more about streetwear Air Jordans and Dunks than performance products. Emarketer senior analyst Zak Stambor says that the brand has taken a lot of steps to identify its problems and to right the ship. Getting back to iconic advertising is just a piece of it. For all of Nike’s challenges, the power of the brand remains incredibly strong, says Stambor. If the marketing can lean on that core strength, it likely will resonate. Then comes the need for everything else. You don’t want the marketing to drive the ship, it should be following the lead of the innovation, but it’s still a significant part of the puzzle. Last year, particularly with the arrival of Graham, the brand started its mission to get back to the strategy co-founder Phil Knight espoused: First capture the market for hard core athletes with innovative performance gear, and the casual consumer will follow. Graham agrees and describes Nikes biggest strength as a triangle that is built on its athlete partnerships. Unique insights lead to innovative products, which are then talked about through aspirational and inspiring ways. The work appears to be backing that up. Executives said on a recent earnings call that there are truly transformative sneakers coming for spring of 2025. Last week, the brand revealed Aja Wilsons long-awaited signature shoe, to much fanfare. We’re getting back to that trifecta, says Graham. That is our winning playbook, and that’s what you’re going to see from us over and over and over again. If Nike cant be iconic, its going to push its hardest to be iconic.
Category:
E-Commerce
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