Square, the San Francisco-based payments company founded and run by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, is launching a national ad campaign Monday featuring six new television commercials.
The commercials run 15 seconds each, and highlight the company's core product, Square Reader, which allows vendors to accept credit card payments with a smartphone or tablet.
[seealso slug="tech-ipos-2014"]
Square has often evangelized the simplicity of its product, and the commercials are in the same vein. Each spot is tailored toward a different profession that may not traditionally operate using credit card payments. Jobs like surf instructor, nature guide, and music teacher are a few of the examples, and each commercial highlights a short home video-style clip that's relatable to the audience.
Square's commercials will run on national cable networks, including prime time slots, for the next four months, according to a company spokesperson. The same spokesperson declined to share the budget for the campaign, but said the commercials will appear on networks like Fox Business, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, Travel, National Geographic and Discover.
The last time Square ran a television ad campaign was Fall 2012 when the company highlighted Square Reader and Square Register, a product for small businesses that replaces the traditional cash register with a tablet. The current campaign was created by 72andSunny, an ad agency in Los Angeles with clients like Anheuser-Busch, ESPN, and Google.
Some believe that Square will go public in 2014, and a national ad campaign wouldn't be a bad way gain exposure ahead of an IPO run.