Super Bowl ads fall short of expectations

Advertisers spent huge amounts of money to be "in the Super Bowl" this year, but fell short of that winning touchdown. That's the word from Reprise Media's yearly ad study. There are some bright spots, however. First, that more Super Bowl advertisers bought coordinating search campaigns this year than in 2006.

by Kristina Knight

"Advertisers are realizing that the ad channels shouldn't necessarily be segregated," said Josh Stylman, managing partner at Reprise Media (via MediaPost).

Still, according to Reprise Media, marketers fell short of fully integrating their campaigns between television spots and online marketing efforts, an indication that many don't understand the need for coordinating spots.

Roughly 58% of Super Bowl advertisers bought televised spots and paid search ads. That is up from 42% in the 2006 Super Bowl. However, about 90% of those integrated campaigns did not give viewers a compelling reason to visit the websites. Added to that, nearly 75% of those "integrated" campaigns did not have the same elements within the televised and online spots. Also, 70% of the landing pages used didn't have clear correlations with the Super Bowl ads that triggered them.

Advertisers who did the best job of integrating all channels of advertisers were Snickers, GoDaddy.com and CareerBuilder.com. Advertisers who did the worst job of integrating their online and offline campaigns were Doritos, Ford and T-Mobile.

According to Reprise Media, a fully integrated campaign should be coordinated. Similar elements online and offline, a compelling reason to visit a website and a call to action in both ads are crucial for marketers wanting to get the most bang for the advertising buck.