San Francisco-based Rippling is making a significant foray into mass-market brand awareness with its debut Super Bowl commercial, airing during Super Bowl LX in the third quarter on . The 30-second spot, starring Emmy Award-winning actor Tim Robinson, marks the launch of the company’s “Rule Your Business” campaign and represents a strategic shift from performance-driven marketing to broader brand recognition.
The commercial centers around a darkly comedic scenario featuring Robinson as a would-be corporate mastermind whose ambitious plans are consistently undermined by frustratingly inefficient operational processes. The narrative depicts a descent from world domination schemes to everyday annoyances stemming from issues like employee onboarding, laptop provisioning, and managing finance and benefits. This exaggerated portrayal aims to resonate with business leaders by highlighting the pervasive, yet often underestimated, impact of fragmented workplace systems.
Rippling, which currently serves approximately 30,000 customers across diverse industries including manufacturing and fitness, positions itself as the solution to these systemic challenges. The company’s software platform consolidates HR, IT, and finance functions into a single integrated system, addressing the pain points depicted in the advertisement. According to Rippling’s Vice President of Brand, Nick Wiesner, the Super Bowl appearance is a deliberate move to introduce the company’s value proposition to a wider audience beyond its existing tech-focused customer base.
“We’re at a stage now where we think the whole world should be operating on Rippling,” Wiesner stated. “This represents our opportunity to meet a bigger audience on a bigger stage and share that story.”
The choice of Tim Robinson as the campaign’s central figure is particularly noteworthy. Robinson is known for his comedic timing and ability to portray characters driven to exasperation by seemingly minor obstacles, a skill honed through his work on Saturday Night Live, the Netflix series I Think You Should Leave, and HBO’s The Chair Company. The advertisement leverages this talent to amplify the message that even the most visionary leadership can be hampered by outdated technology and disconnected tools.
The Super Bowl spot is not a standalone event but rather the first installment in a five-ad campaign featuring Robinson. Subsequent advertisements will roll out across television, streaming services, social media, and other channels throughout the year. These later executions will delve into specific Rippling products, including payroll, IT management, and global HR, while maintaining the core theme of software as either an enabler or an impediment to business success.
Rippling also plans to leverage the “Rule Your Business” campaign during the Olympic Games, utilizing the same creative framework to reach an even broader mainstream audience. This dual-platform approach underscores the company’s commitment to establishing itself as a recognizable brand among business leaders and decision-makers.
The advertisement, created in partnership with the agency Tombras, frames disconnected tools not as a minor inconvenience, but as a significant force capable of derailing even the most ambitious strategies. The humor in the spot intensifies as the gap between intention and execution widens, mirroring the everyday frustrations Rippling aims to eliminate for its customers. The campaign’s core message is that effective leadership requires control – the ability to “Rule Your Business” – and that control is impossible without a unified and efficient software infrastructure.
For Rippling, this represents a substantial investment in brand building. While the company has experienced growth with its existing customer base, the Super Bowl and Olympic campaigns signal a desire to accelerate market penetration and establish a dominant position in the enterprise software landscape. The shift towards mass awareness marketing suggests a confidence in the product’s ability to resonate with a broader audience and a belief that a significant market opportunity exists beyond its current reach.
