The startup that’s making a big, expensive bet on a Super Bowl ad this year

Alternative lender Social Finance, also known as SoFi, proudly admits that it’s not for everyone. But it’s still hoping to reach the largest possible audience with its first big TV ad, which will break during Super Bowl 50.

The San Francisco-based alternative lending startup is splashing out 20% of its annual budget on the big game in the hopes of becoming a household name. The 30-second Super Bowl spot, which cost around $5 million, will air during the second quarter of the game on Feb. 7 on CBS. The spot is the major highlight of a broader $20 million ad campaign introducing SoFi’s brand to the mass market.
--
“[Personal finance] is really becoming a mass-market topic and it just wasn’t before,” advertising-agency veteran Mark DiMassimo of DiMassimo Goldstein told Quartz. “The fin-tech category is really coming into its own this year. It’s reached the scale and velocity of growth that makes its possible for leading fin-tech companies to be very big advertisers.”

http://qz.com/603469/the-startup-thats-making-a-big-expensive-bet-on-a-super-bowl-ad-this-year/ 
https://www.sofi.com/