2006 Super Bowl Search Marketing Scorecard:
Did Advertisers Miss the Handoff to the Web?
As the Seahawks and Steelers battled to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy at
Super Bowl XL, there was another battle taking place on television screens
around the country. More than 30 of the world's biggest companies spent
millions of dollars on Super Bowl advertisements in an attempt to generate
massive buzz for their products.
While many of these ads generated substantial interest, many were missing an
essential next step: Placement in search engines including Google, Yahoo! and
MSN.
Paid search can serve as the bridge between an advertisers offline campaign
and their web presence. For a few cents per user, marketers can ensure that
people who turn online to find more information about their favorite
commercials are led to promotions or online mini-sites that can help harness
this surge of interest.
How well did this years advertisers do at converting buzz into business once
viewers headed online to search for more information? Lets find out:
Most Companies Still Missing The Extra Point
Unfortunately, a year didnt make much difference in the overall search showing of Super Bowl advertisers.
Surprisingly, many companies still dont even include URLs in their commercials, an easy way to indicate to
users that theres additional content available online. Search presence was few and far between, ensuring that
those attempting even a rudimentary campaign linking their commercial to their website would clearly stand out.
Movie Industry Wising Up
Perhaps the most dramatic turnaround came in the film industry, where movies such as Cars, The Shaggy Dog and
Mission Impossible 3 utilized Super Bowl specific keywords and creatives, capturing the attention of interested
users and giving them access to trailers, sweepstakes and downloadable information. Overall, 2006 represented a
much stronger showing for this buzz-centric industry.
Dot Coms still Ahead of The Curve
While one would expect a strong showing from the internet-based businesses, it is still noteworthy that dot-com Super
Bowl advertisers Career Builder, GoDaddy and newcomer Overstock each made the most of their 30 second spots,
with extensive, comprehensive placement across all the engines, and customized landing pages that rewarded
users for heading online during the game.
Automotive Missing Out
Other than Cadillac, a major Super Bowl XL sponsor, all of the Automotive companies put forth a fairly uninspired
effort, often getting bumped from the first page of results for a long line of resellers and service providers. In
fact, some even provided virtually free traffic for their competitors. Ford had one of the more memorable commercials
for their new Escape hybrid vehicle, starring Kermit The Frog. Competitor GM purchased the word Kermit to promote
their own hybrid car line, essentially getting all of the benefits of having a Super Bowl ad, with none of the hassles.
Were Some Brands Hiding?
Its bad enough to ignore the power of search as a means to get people to your site. Its even worse when interested
people cant find your site at all no URL, no organic listings, nothing. For example: PS Cleaning Products spent
a ton of money to launch their new brand amid the biggest advertising event of the year. One problem: Users are still
trying to find their website.
Review the ScoreCard
Want to know more about which companies did the best? The worst?
Download the 2006 Super Bowl Search
Marketing ScoreCard and find out
(PDF 805kB. Adobe Acrobat
required)
Get Deep Inside the Huddle: Super Bowl ScoreCard Whitepaper
While
the ScoreCard is a great overview, it
only tells half the story. We have prepared a whitepaper that shares even more
information about the benefits of combining Super Bowl ads with effective
search engine marketing.
- Read extensive critiques of this years integrated Super Bowl campaigns
- View screenshots and examples of how marketers are currently using search to
bridge the gap between television and interactive marketing
- Learn best practices for maximizing the ROI on your offline buzz
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