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INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | | JANUARY 15, 2001 PERSPECTIVE By Ellen Neuborne A Super Bowl Splurge Can Still Make Sense Three dot-coms will be back this year spending big bucks -- and making their expensive spots well-timed kickoffs for yearlong advertising campaigns
So as the final weeks of the NFL season wind down, you have to look at the three e-companies buying Super Bowl ads and wonder if they didn't get the memo. Despite what happened last year -- and in the financial tragedy that followed -- HotJobs.com, Monster.com, and E*Trade have all returned to the fray, dishing out an estimated $2 million per 30 seconds to flash their message in front of football fans. And they're right to do so. Well, as right as anyone writing a check for $2 million per 30 seconds can be. They illustrate what companies -- Net or not -- should be hoping to prove when they come to the Super Bowl. LONG RIVALRY. HotJobs and Monster have a good contest going. This will be their third year, head-to-head, at the Bowl. But more than rivalry, they have timing going for them. This is a time of year when lots of folks are thinking about a job change. It's a new year. The post-holiday haze has lifted. You got your bonus. Now, what are you going to do with your life? Just like December is a smart time to advertise if you're in the gift-selling business, January is a great time to pitch if you're in the career business. "This is our big season in the employment industry," says Richard Johnson, CEO of HotJobs.com. He has purchased four ad slots, three in the pregame show and one in the second half. "We speak to all that delayed career frustration out there. If you put off doing something about it in November and December, now's the time." E*Trade, too, has great timing in its Super Bowl advertising. Next to losing weight and getting a new job, fixing your finances is another top New Year's resolution. And given the turbulence in the stock market and the economic outlook, now would be a good time to get financial plans in order. E*Trade will be in front of more than 100 million worried investors with its message of low-cost financial tools. What's more, all three of these companies have their Super Bowl ads as part of a larger yearlong branding effort. True, $2 million sounds like a lot of money, but for Monster.com, that's part of a $200 million ad plan for 2001. HotJobs will also carry its message through a yearlong marketing plan. That casts the Super Bowl ads as campaign kickoffs, rather than one-shot hopes at brand-marketing glory. BANG FOR THE BUCK. By contrast, many of the dot-coms of last year's debacle had neither good timing nor a long-term strategy to leverage a Super Bowl ad. In fact, many of them blew so much of their budget on the one game, there was little left to spend over the rest of the year. Getting a big publicity bang is only worthwhile if you can really do something with it. Otherwise, it's just 15 minutes of fame -- or worse, 30 seconds. There's nothing wrong with the Super Bowl as an ad venue. It isn't cheap, but it's a great place to be if you know what to do with it. If your timing is right, thanks to the calendar or the stock market, get in. If you can make it part of a larger marketing plan, go for it. It's a perfectly good place for Internet companies -- but no place for dot-com babes-in-the-woods.  Neuborne comments monthly on Net marketing issues for Business Week Online Have a question or a comment? Let her know at ellen_neuborne@ebiz.businessweek.com.  | | |
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