On Strategy Showcase Podcast Summary

Episode: On the Spot: Rocket Mortgage and other post Super Bowl rants
Host: Fergus O’Carroll
Guests: Emily Harvey (Zulu Alpha Kilo), Caitlin Cody (BBDO Chicago), Matthew Herbert, Vanessa Chin
Date: March 1, 2026

Overview

In this dynamic roundtable episode, host Fergus O’Carroll brings together a panel of senior strategists to dissect the strategy behind Rocket Mortgage’s evolving advertising, with a particular focus on their Super Bowl campaigns under CMO Jonathan Mildenhall. The conversation broadens into a freewheeling review of 2026 Super Bowl ads, with the group sharing favorite spots, analyzing creative choices, emotional impact, and discussing the metrics that reveal which brands made the biggest mark. The tone is irreverent and playful, but insightful—a true insiders’ debate on what makes modern brand work resonate.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Rocket Mortgage: Evolving the Category

• The Shift from Product to Emotion

  • Rocket Mortgage has made a conscious pivot from focusing on rational product benefits (like rates and ease) to a more significant emotional space centered on "home," community, and belonging.
  • Past Super Bowl work (Jason Momoa, Tracy Morgan) was “wildly entertaining” but less emotionally potent. The more recent “Own the Dream” and “community” ads aim for a deeper connection.
  • “I feel like this is the year they tried to remind people that what you’re actually buying isn’t a piece of property. What you’re buying is community, what you’re buying is togetherness, the belonging…” — Caitlin Cody [10:09]

• Category Ownership & Brand Benefit

  • The panel celebrates Rocket for explicitly claiming the core category benefit (home and belonging), even if “anyone could say it,” and then working to make it distinctive in their storytelling.
  • “Anyone could say that… But nobody’s saying it well. And I think Rocket says it really well.” — Fergus O’Carroll [11:21]

• Strategist Insights on Emotional Impact

  • The team notes that attempting to own big, universal emotions is rare—and risky but powerful.
  • “There’s no worse comment a strategist can give in a creative review…‘that’s not ownable.’ Idea owns sport and potential. It takes a lot of confidence to recognize the biggest emotional role a brand can play.” — Emily Harvey [11:32]
  • The intensity of the emotional narrative—especially focusing on sadness or fear—needs careful resolution, so the spot leaves viewers hopeful rather than weighed down.

• Performance Metrics

  • Year-over-year, Rocket skyrocketed in unaided awareness (from 16% to 25%), consideration, and preference.
  • The campaign’s “fluency” (clear linkage between ad and brand) jumped from 64 to 80 (out of 100), despite co-branding with Redfin.
  • “Unaided awareness is up 9 points... That’s pretty significant. That’s one of the hardest to move.” — Matthew Herbert [15:07]
  • Category challenge: Trust remains an ongoing area to address, as it’s the strongest driver of conversion in the mortgage space.

• Creative Riffs and Social Commentary

  • Notably, the team discusses a poignant scene in the new spot: a neighbor greets a new family with a cold, unwelcoming look. The panel debates whether the ad should have leaned further into difficult themes of community and division, or kept the tone resolved and unifying.
  • “I think because there was so much implied and so many themes being danced and walked—that part of me wished they would have gone for it a little more.” — Emily Harvey [19:19]

Super Bowl 2026 Ad Reviews

Panel’s Top Picks & Strategic Commentary

1. Novartis – Tight End (Prostate Cancer Awareness)

   • Celebrated for leveraging sports context and humour to address men’s health in an unexpected way.
   • “Brands remember it's a football game… I thought it was really insightful about the fear and worry of those screenings.” — Emily Harvey [25:54]
   • Strong performance for a regulated category: 2.6 star rating vs. 1.2 average. However, brand linkage was weak (fluency at 37) and the message risked not being clear enough amid the jokes. [28:00–28:41]

2. Xfinity – Jurassic Park

   • Loved for its witty “It's never been a dinosaur problem, just a tech problem” premise and high production value.
   • Leveraged nostalgia while tying back to a clear product benefit (tech reliability). Enjoyed brand linkage (fluency at 83, star rating 4.0).
   • “That commercial takes the smart thinking and makes it sound so dumb that you wonder if everyone was a little high while making it.” — Caitlin Cody [30:44]
   • Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners [32:15]

3. Uber Eats – ‘Hungry for the Truth’

   • Panel praised its relevance to football, use of celebrities (Bradley Cooper, Matthew McConaughey), “dumb smart” humor, and consistency across campaigns.
   • “Year round they’re that way…a spike in the year, maybe a way to launch another phase of a campaign, but not a single initiative that lives for 30 minutes or three days.” — Fergus O'Carroll [34:19]
   • Strong performance: 3.3 star, 90 fluency, but minor negative emotions for celeb bickering [35:02–35:54]
   • Agency: Special Group LA [44:23]

4. Ring Security

   • Fergus’s top spot: Lauded for direct, feature-led storytelling and for claiming a category benefit clearly and memorably.
   • “It wasn’t afraid to talk about it…such a huge creative territory for that brand to own.” — Fergus O’Carroll [38:00]
   • Off-the-charts scores: 4.5 stars, spike 1.41, fluency 88 (“You picked…the highest scoring” — Vanessa Chin [38:06])
   • Emotional arc: sadness is “100% resolved with pure happiness” (the “special sauce” of the ad) [39:21]

5. Dunkin Donuts

   • Applauded for leaning into its Boston/Ben Affleck lore and balancing massive celebrity appearances with clear brand personality.
   • TikTok tie-in with retro ads praised as a clever move. Scored 3.8 stars, 91 fluency, and strong emotional spike (1.75).
   • “It didn’t feel like a typical Super Bowl ad…” — Emily Harvey [41:36]

6. Google Gemini

   • Stood out among many AI-centric ads for feeling authentic (scored 3.5 stars, 93 fluency).
   • “It felt like a Google spot…when others were scoring one.” — Vanessa Chin [44:52]

7. Hellmann’s

   • Memorable jingle, strong branding throughout. Scored 4.1 stars, 80 fluency, but some “disgust” from mayonnaise divisiveness.
   • “If you know Hellmann’s, you knew for Hellmann’s” — Vanessa Chin [47:14]

Metrics and Trends

• Panel and System 1 analysis reveal that category benefits, emotional storytelling (especially positive resolution), and celebs tied to core brand truths are driving effectiveness.
• Nostalgia, sport tie-ins, and humor remain sure bets for Super Bowl resonance.
• Top fluency performers: Google Gemini (93), Dunkin (91), Uber Eats (90), Ring (88).

Quick Hit Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Emotional Stakes:
  “As a mom of two with a real emo streak, I was choked up…our job [is] to really stir feelings in people.” — Emily Harvey [12:13]

• On Strategic Courage:
  “Trust that you build with the first work, you actually just build by helping people feel connected to the brand.” — Emily Harvey [12:46]

• On Celebrity Casting:
  “We like to poo-poo celebrity…but in this case, they really have such a clear understanding of what they have with Boston and Ben Affleck...They just continue to play on that.” — Emily Harvey [41:36]

• On Results-First Strategy:
  “Don’t forget the category benefit and possibly just owning it…don’t overlook it is my lesson of the day.” — Fergus O'Carroll [49:45]

Timestamps

• 00:00–06:00: Host's intro, tour announcements, panel introductions
• 08:14–13:25: Rocket Mortgage campaign evolution; product vs. emotion debate
• 13:26–18:18: Brand performance data—metrics deep dive; strategic challenges
• 18:19–21:33: Panel dissects the “neighbor” scene; social themes in ads
• 24:49–36:53: Super Bowl ads: panel favorite picks, strategy analysis & performance data
• 38:00–39:51: Ring Security ad breakdown and accolades
• 40:36–42:41: Second round of panel picks: Dunkin’, Uber Eats, Google Gemini
• 46:08–47:14: Hellmann’s review; unconventional emotions
• 47:24–49:55: Quick-fire: System 1’s overall top 10, Instacart struggles, closing banter

Conclusion

This episode is a masterclass in strategic advertising critique—showcasing how brands like Rocket Mortgage break design conventions to claim emotional ground, how metrics validate creative instincts, and why authenticity and emotional storytelling lead to memorable Super Bowl campaigns. The panel’s blend of humor, candor, and data-driven debate make this an essential listen (or read) for any strategist, creative, or marketer interested in modern brand-building.

Guests & Attributions

• Host: Fergus O’Carroll (A)
• Emily Harvey (C) – Head of Strategy, Zulu Alpha Kilo
• Caitlin Cody (B) – Executive Group Strategy Director, BBDO Chicago
• Matthew Herbert (D)
• Vanessa Chin (E) – System 1 Group (Brand metrics)