The campaign “Barry and Mosley” by Squarespace leverages a narrative-driven approach to emphasize the brand’s core proposition: making website creation effortless and accessible, even for unconventional users. By showcasing Barry Keoghan, an acclaimed actor, helping his donkey co-star build an online portfolio, the campaign highlights Squarespace's intuitive, user-friendly platform that simplifies the process of claiming domains, designing websites, and customizing brand presence. The promise centers on empowerment—enabling individuals and creatives to translate their unique stories and ambitions into a professional digital identity with ease.
Strategically, the campaign taps into a cultural moment by previewing one of its Big Game ads, building anticipation while reinforcing the brand’s relevance around a high-profile event. It targets creators and entrepreneurs who value both simplicity and professionalism in establishing their online presence. The creative angle plays on humor and relatability, contrasting the donkey’s struggling acting career with Barry’s smooth navigation of Squarespace’s tools, making the process appear accessible regardless of technical expertise. The setting—an Irish coastal backdrop linking to Barry's acclaimed roles—adds authenticity and emotional resonance. Moreover, by echoing a previous successful formula used with Martin Scorsese, the campaign establishes continuity and trust, appealing to an audience familiar with Squarespace’s commitment to empowering diverse creatives.
Overall, the campaign’s insight lies in blending storytelling with practical demonstration, portraying Squarespace not just as a tool but as a catalyst for unlocking new opportunities, creative expression, and digital success. This approach aligns with its market position as a comprehensive all-in-one platform for building and marketing unique online brands.
FORMAT#8 ONGOING CHARACTERS OR CELEBRITIES — Uses a recurring personality or celebrity for brand recall.
This campaign most closely fits the "Ongoing Characters or Celebrities" format. The entire creative hinges on the star power and familiar persona of Barry Keoghan, returning to a setting reminiscent of his acclaimed roles, and the "celebrity" donkey Mosley, humorously positioned as a budding Hollywood star. The campaign builds on last year’s Squarespace Big Game prequel featuring Martin Scorsese and his daughter, indicating an ongoing tradition of using well-known faces to playfully demonstrate Squarespace’s ease of use. The comedic chemistry between Barry and Mosley, focus on celebrity aspiration, and continuity with previous celebrity-led setups make this format the clearest fit—Squarespace leverages recurring star power, rather than a pure demonstration, parody, or exemplary story arc, to drive brand recall and engagement.
ADVERTISING FORMATS EXPLAINED: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats
1. Wix – Market Positioning
Wix positions itself as an intuitive, drag-and-drop website builder catering to professionals and small businesses seeking extensive design flexibility without coding. It differentiates through a vast app market, AI-driven design assistance, and scalable ecommerce solutions, emphasizing creative freedom and customization ease.
2. Weebly (by Square) – Market Positioning
Weebly focuses on simplicity and seamless integration with Square’s payment ecosystem, targeting small businesses and entrepreneurs who need straightforward ecommerce and website setup. Its strength lies in affordability, mobile optimization, and efficient tools for online selling and marketing.
3. WordPress.com – Market Positioning
WordPress.com leverages its open-source heritage to offer the most customizable and scalable website platform for bloggers, developers, and enterprises. It differentiates by providing extensive plugin ecosystems, powerful content management capabilities, and flexibility for any website purpose, from simple blogs to complex portals.
4. Shopify – Market Positioning
Shopify leads in ecommerce-focused website building, catering primarily to retail businesses aiming for robust online stores. Its strategic edge lies in comprehensive commerce functionality, multi-channel selling, scalable infrastructure, and an extensive app ecosystem that supports business growth.
5. GoDaddy Website Builder – Market Positioning
GoDaddy Website Builder targets beginners and small businesses with a focus on speed and ease of use, combined with domain registration and hosting services. Its competitive advantage is one-stop shop convenience, quick setup, and integrated marketing tools, appealing to users wanting an all-in-one web presence solution.
Q: What is Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace about?
A: Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace is a 2025 film campaign created by the agency Square Inhouse for the website-building brand Squarespace in the United States. The 90-second short film stars acclaimed Irish actor Barry Keoghan alongside Don Mosley, a donkey aspiring to break into Hollywood. Set against the Irish Atlantic coast, the campaign humorously depicts Barry using Squarespace’s platform to build a professional website for Mosley, highlighting the ease of creating an online presence. The campaign serves as a prelude to Squarespace’s Big Game ad, blending storytelling with product demonstration to engage creators and entrepreneurs.
Q: What creative device does Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace use?
A: Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace employs the FORMAT#8 ONGOING CHARACTERS OR CELEBRITIES creative device as classified by Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy. This approach leverages the recurring star power of Barry Keoghan and the humorous persona of Don Mosley, the donkey, to build brand recall and engagement. The campaign continues Squarespace’s tradition of using well-known personalities in a playful narrative to demonstrate the platform’s ease of use, creating continuity with previous celebrity-led campaigns such as the one featuring Martin Scorsese and his daughter.
Q: What is the campaign proposition for Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace?
A: The campaign proposition for Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace centers on empowering individuals and creatives by making website creation effortless and accessible. It targets creators and entrepreneurs who value simplicity and professionalism in establishing their online presence. By showcasing Barry Keoghan helping his donkey co-star build an online portfolio, the campaign highlights Squarespace’s intuitive platform that simplifies domain claiming, website design, and brand customization. This narrative-driven approach positions Squarespace as a catalyst for unlocking new opportunities and creative expression within the electronic devices market category.
Q: How does Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace rank in Clapboard's archive?
A: Barry and Mosley | 2025 | Squarespace holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 73/100 in Clapboard’s global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign’s creative ambition, execution quality, and cultural relevance as assessed by Clapboard’s curatorial authority.
Q: Who are the competitors in Squarespace's category?
A: Squarespace competes with several key players in the website-building market. Wix positions itself as an intuitive drag-and-drop builder offering extensive design flexibility and AI-driven tools for professionals and small businesses. Weebly, owned by Square, emphasizes simplicity and seamless integration with payment systems, targeting small businesses and entrepreneurs focused on ecommerce. WordPress.com leverages its open-source heritage to provide the most customizable and scalable platform for bloggers and enterprises. Shopify leads in ecommerce-focused website creation, catering primarily to retail businesses with robust commerce functionality. GoDaddy Website Builder appeals to beginners and small businesses by offering quick setup, domain registration, and integrated marketing tools in an all-in-one solution.
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