Did Super Bowl Advertisers Score a Touchdown With Search Engine Marketing?

Did Super Bowl Advertisers Score a Touchdown With Search Engine Marketing?

A Post-Super Bowl Analysis Reveals the Winners and Losers of the Advertising Game

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- An estimated audience of 90.7 million households tuned in on Sunday evening to watch not only the Super Bowl, but also the infamous advertisements during timeout commercial breaks. Many companies once again missed the mark, failing to adequately tie television commercials to their search engine marketing campaigns. Marketers that have awakened to the power of an integrated approach were able to sack consumers, seeing an increase in traffic anywhere from 10%-10,000%, while those left behind the curve were sidelined. The results are in -- Colts win 29-17, but the big Super Bowl advertising winner is yet to be announced. While naming the winners, the advertising game needs to move past "funny, cute and memorable" to interacting with the brands. SendTec, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: SNDN) , a progressive full service multi-channel marketing agency, examined how well each Super Bowl advertiser played the search game this year.

SendTec's analysis identified the advertisers that created a unique online destination, which was communicated through the Super Bowl television commercial. Those advertisers were evaluated based on their search engine visibility and ranking for both paid search and organic search listings in association with general ad recall. By answering how well prepared for the onslaught of enhanced web traffic they were and how easy it was for the search user to find the promotion online within Search Engine Results Pages (SERP's), SendTec found which companies succeeded (and which companies failed) at executing an integrated offline to online marketing communication.

"Consumers routinely turn to the search engines to learn more after they view a television commercial, whether the ad is featured during the Super Bowl or not. Marketers fumbled by not taking full advantage of this opportunity to engage consumers, and by focusing too heavily on television advertisements alone. Instead, marketers needed to integrate their offline marketing into their online presence via the search engines in order to catch consumers at every angle," says Eric Obeck, President of SendTec, Inc.

The winners are:

-- Garmin: The real 2007 Super Bowl champion, featuring the "Maposaurus"
campaign which played off the memorable Godzilla movies, provided a
clear call to action for the consumer to follow. If you forgot the
URL, a simple search on Garmin or GPS gets you there.

-- GoDaddy.com: There is nothing wrong with coming in second, unless
you're the Chicago Bears. This commercial was highly memorable, grabs
a good laugh and was perfectly integrated with online. Bob Parsons
keeps pushing the envelope and widens the gap between GoDaddy.com and
its competition. Over the past 2 years, GoDaddy has been the front-
of-the-pack winner showing massive online traffic gains not only from
the quick spot, but also a residual effect thereafter.

-- Snickers: Despite being perhaps the most off-balance advertising spot
of the night, the Snickers' commercial exhibited a perfect use of
search engine marketing that supported an offline marketing campaign.
Their website provides the consumer with a completely interactive
experience by directing viewers to AfterTheKiss.com, allowing users to
vote for their favorite ending. They should have, however, used paid
search to create results for searches on the term "after the kiss."

The losers are:

-- The Car Companies: Hardly deserving of a yawn, the automobile
manufacturers did not seem as interested this year in leveraging their
Super Bowl spots via search marketing or their web sites. We've come
to expect more from these advertisers, but their performance was
reflective of Rex Grossman's, with the exception of GM who, for
example, wisely positioned itself as #1 under the term "GM robot" to
reinforce their message of commitment to quality.

-- eTrade: eTrade quickly and completely diminished their "dot.com"
status and left consumers, who are less familiar with their services,
scratching their heads. As an Internet based company, the consumer
would expect to be directed to go online, however, their commercials
gave the impression that eTrade had shifted to a brick-and-mortar
provider of financial services.

-- BeatYourRisk.com: It's not popular to criticize a non-profit
organization, but their marketing campaign clearly missed a step.
BeatYourRisk.com was created by the American Heart Association so
consumers could learn more about the dangers of high blood pressure.
This web site got great exposure in a beautiful ad with a clear call
to action for a wonderful cause; however, it has almost no visibility
at all in search engines. In fact, other relevant marketers have
wisely positioned themselves under the term "beat your risk." It is
difficult to watch a good-intentioned organization not reap the
financial benefits due to poor execution.

"Before spending millions on television commercials, advertisers undoubtedly turned to focus groups for consumer feedback. Specific concepts and keywords become apparent during these sessions, and should have been utilized by marketers in their online campaigns," states Tim Daly, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategy for SendTec. "Ignoring the web as a vital marketing avenue during and after the Super Bowl will continue to prove to be a costly mistake, and taking an integrated approach will continue to be invaluable."

About SendTec

SendTec, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: SNDN) , a future-focused, direct marketing organization, offers next generation Search Engine Marketing (SEM) services aimed at dramatically increasing ROI. SendTec's expertise in direct marketing gives them a strong edge in the booming SEM industry. SendTec defines successful search campaigns as Humanology, the convergence of technology with the human brain to generate superior paid search results. SendTec has also earned Microsoft's Gold Certified Partner status, one of the first direct marketing companies to achieve this honor. Since their founding in 2000, SendTec continues to be one of the premier marketing services companies providing full service Direct Response Television consulting, script-to-screen production, media planning/buying/optimization, desktop reporting, and account services; Internet Pay per Performance; Direct Response Advertising; Online Direct Marketing and Response Optimization and Tracking. Servicing over 90 clients, SendTec is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida with offices in New York City and Chicago. Clients include Intuit, uBid,

Extra Space Storage, Euro-Pro, RealNetworks and Conde Nast. http://www.sendtec.com/

Safe Harbor

To the extent that any statements made in this release contain information that is not historical, these statements are essentially forward-looking. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "plans" "will," "may," "anticipates," believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar meaning. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, the effectiveness, profitability, and marketability of such products, the ability to protect proprietary information, the impact of current, pending, or future legislation and regulation on the electronic marketing industry, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of general economic and business conditions and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements. As a result, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: SendTec, Inc.

CONTACT: Huma Gruaz for SendTec, Inc., +1-312-245-9805 Ext. 101, or
Huma@alpaytac.com

Web site: http://www.sendtec.com/

-------
Profile: intent