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Dot.Com TV Ads: The Good, the Bad, and the Left-Us-Clueless BW Online's unscientific sampling and wildly idiosyncratic reviews TV ads for Internet companies are as common these days as ads for beer or soft drinks. Dot.coms -- especially retailers -- have spent more than $500 million over the past three months to get their names in front of mainstream audiences via network and cable TV. While it won't be clear for several months whether such hefty spending was worth it, some researchers say these ads aren't getting the kind of attention the dot.coms hoped. Some 25% of 1,734 online shoppers surveyed between Nov. 22 and Dec. 15 couldn't remember a specific dot.com ad, according to a new study by the Web marketing firm Active Research. Only 12% of those polled said they went directly to a Web retailer's site when shopping, rather than starting at a portal or a comparison-shopping site. UNRECOGNIZED. One reason consumers may have trouble recalling which ad goes with which site is the number of shocking, wiseacre, or in-your-face campaigns that Net companies have ordered up. While such ads are often funny, they rarely relate to the company they're meant to promote. In some cases, it's hard to tell the name of a Web site or what it actually does. Amazon.com is the clear leader in recognition, with nearly 11% recall, according to the active research study. Etoys was a distant No. 2, with just more than 3% recall. The next five most-recognized ads were those of Yahoo!, Monster.com, CNET, ebay, and Pets.com. Business Week Online writers have spent the past few weeks reviewing dozens of dot.com ads. We've seen our share of near-naked, fat, white men and heard our share of off-color jokes. The following critiques are their takes on the best -- and the worst -- dot.com ads on TV. By Stefani Eads New York |
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