Super Bowl advertisers take to the Web

Martin Wolk Chief economics correspondent • Profile • E-mail

The Super Bowl is television’s biggest event by far, with nearly 90 million Americans expected to tune in to ABC Feb. 5 for the big game and its much-hyped commercials, selling this year for a record $2.5 million per 30 seconds.

But the championship game also has become a huge event on the Internet, with some Web sites enjoying traffic spikes of 500, 1,000 or even 2,000 percent.

For many advertisers, a Super Bowl commercial is not complete without a dedicated Web site, or “microsite,” offering extras like contests, free downloads and extended versions of their television ads.

In a new twist this year several advertisers, including Burger King and Degree deodorant, are offering versions of their commercials that can be downloaded for viewing on an iPod. Several marketers say they are buying up Internet search keywords to make sure viewers can easily track down the commercials after the game.

CareerBuilder.com, which will appear in its second Super Bowl this year with another set of ads featuring simian office workers, will steer viewers to a specially designed site offering the chance to send a “monk-e-mail,” a customized electronic greeting card featuring a monkey speaking with the sender’s voice.

“It is a little juvenile, but it is a fun way of engaging in the brand,” said Richard Castellini, vice president of consumer marketing for CareerBuilder.

Such microsites, which often feature viral marketing hooks like e-cards, have been around for several years and allow companies to reach specific target groups with messaging that might not be suitable in the confines of a broader corporate site. A classic example was Burger King’s “subservient chicken” site, launched in connection with a 2004 menu promotion but not heavily publicized.

“It really was something we wanted consumers to stumble on,” said Adrienne Hayes, a Burger King spokesman.

This year Burger King, returning to the Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years, is launching whopperettes.com, a microsite based on the showgirl theme of its 60-second game ad. In addition to video downloads the site will feature behind-the-scenes footage, telephone ring tones, sheet music and an “irreverent” build-your-own Whopper feature, said Gillian Smith, Burger King’s senior director of media and interactive.

Exclusive video extras will be available during the game to subscribers of Sprint’s wireless video phone service.

“We want to make sure we have a 360-degree approach to reach our target audience at every touch point,” said Smith.  “We know the Super Bowl ads are the most talked-about ads of the year, and to provide people who are watching with some exclusive content, something interesting and unique, we think is just a great way to help us as a brand.”

“The experience of people online is that you can convey the information more quickly, easily and deeply than you can in other mediums,” said Castellini of CareerBuilder. “Not to say the 30-second spot is going to go away in its entirety — it’s just going to be augmented by other forms of marketing.”

Last year the help-wanted Web site had record traffic on Super Bowl Sunday and the days immediately following, including a 50 percent boost in unique users, an impressive number for a site that averages 20 million visitors a month.

Other sites that saw big increases stemming from Super Bowl advertising last year included Budweiser.com, up 600 percent, and Apple's iTunes, which benefited from a Pepsi promotion offering a chance to win free music downloads.

Another big winner was GoDaddy.com, a relatively unknown Internet company that generated controversy last year with its ad featuring a buxom actress losing her blouse. The Web site, which offered an extended version of the television commercial, got 850,000 unique visitors on Super Bowl Monday last year, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

“The volume of traffic to advertisers' Web sites really spikes before, during and after the game,” said Peter Hershberg, managing partner of Reprise Media, which specializes in helping companies market themselves by Internet keyword search. “There is no question the Internet is becoming increasingly important both as it relates to Super Bowl advertising and as it relates to advertising in general.”

In fact, the unique nature of the Super Bowl as a showcase for the most creative advertising of the year drives traffic to dozens of Web sites after the game — including this one — as viewers seek out specific ads to view them again and vote on their favorites.

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