TV Drives to the Web
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Brands to Watch... or Not
Page 3: User-Generated Content
Page 4: Mobile
Page 5: Online Video
Page 6: TV Drives to the Web
Page 7: The Buzz on Buzz
In years past, my favorite Super Bowl pastime was to count the number of Hail Mary commercials. Those are the Super Bowl TV spots where the company blows their whole wad on "The Game" in lieu of a marketing plan.
Those days are pretty much gone. In fact, most advertisers now recognize that despite the huge audience, a spot in the Super Bowl is not, in and of itself, a good deal. That's because by the time you've entertained the multitude enough to get their attention, there is hardly anytime left to sell your product. At $2.5 million a pop, that doesn't make sense. But if you use the spot as a portal to a more persuasive and comprehensive pitch perhaps it does.
That's why I think we are going to see most Super Bowl spots this year teasing a website where the whole brand story can unfold, at a whole lot less cost per second. Back in 2004 Mitsubishi ran the "See what Happens" campaign and supposedly generated 11 million hits in six hours. Unfortunately, they didn't have much on their website, but they were among the first to demonstrate the power of drive to web.
Today drive to web doesn't just make sense during the Super Bowl: it's the trend everywhere as brands realize that you can tell a more comprehensive, more persuasive, more compelling brand story online than you can in any other medium. This Super Bowl, I just hope that brands have thought about everything and have their story ready when millions of people show up at their virtual door.
Tony Quin
CEO
IQ Interactive
Direct response has crashed the biggest brand-driven advertising party around-- the Super Bowl. The growing trend of using television advertising to drive people online will be in full force during this year's Super Bowl spots. More and more companies are capitalizing on this new approach that combines building brand with driving a direct response, which often leads to ROI-positive campaigns.
Lucas Donat
Founding Partner
Donat/Wald
Google trends clearly demonstrate the spike in traffic for marketers like Go Daddy in late January and early February for each of the past two years.
Our prediction for this year's game is that, as more marketers leverage drive-to-web strategies to extend the shelf life (and purchase value) of their spots, they will incorporate search marketing into the mix to surround consumers with their messaging and capitalize on all interest their Super Bowl ad generated. GoDaddy.com and SalesGenie.com are already purchasing keywords like "Super Bowl" and "Super Bowl Ads" to harness the hype leading up to the big game.
Regrettably, though, there will still be some marketers that miss the boat from a search perspective. With so many blockbuster commercials running during the game, it can be hard for viewers to remember various advertiser websites and calls-to-action. Typically, viewers will remember one or two key things about each ad and use those nuggets to either get more information about the brand or jog coworkers' memories around the water cooler the next day. Last year, it was things like "caveman" from FedEx and "Brown and Bubbly" from Pepsi.
The key for marketers is to have coverage on core keywords beyond brand name and other trademarks to include the themes, characters and taglines from each spot. One notable example from last year of an advertiser that failed to do this was Ford, who debuted a commercial featuring Kermit the Frog but neglected to purchase the keyword "Kermit." Instead, GM bought that keyword and reaped the rewards of the spike in traffic during and following the game for that term.
Matt Spiegel
Managing Director
Resolution Media
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