Wix, a globally successful do-it-yourself web development platform recently named “hottest Middle Eastern startup” by Inc. magazine, will air its first-ever Super Bowl ad during NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, February 1. The Israeli company has run direct-response TV advertising campaigns for the past two years in the US, Europe and Latin America. Now it is spending $4 million for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl – the most coveted and therefore expensive TV advertising spot — as part of a wide-scale cross-platform branding campaign.

“The Super Bowl is not only the most watched broadcast event of the year, it’s the most fun. We’re excited that we can expose our brand in an event with such massive reach, but it’s actually this embodiment of fun that fits Wix so well,” said Omer Shai, Wix.com’s CMO. “Tens of millions of people use Wix to tackle what was once a complicated and expensive task – taking their businesses online.”

Last year, Israel-based SodaStream hired actress Scarlett Johansson as its “brand ambassador” for a Super Bowl commercial that went viral. Wix claims more than 55 million users worldwide for its unique drag-and-drop website creation platform. It also enables management of additional aspects of business or brand via the Wix Cloud. Famously operating without a sales team, Wix maintains its massive international growth through varied online and offline marketing and advertising initiatives. Wix.com’s headquarters are in Tel Aviv with offices in San Francisco, New York, Vilnius and Dnepropetrovsk. (via Israel21c)

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