Super Bowl Advertisers Fall Short Online; Majority Miss the Opportunity to Carry T.V. Ad Buzz to the Web

NEW YORK--Feb. 7, 2005--

-- Reprise Media Scores Super Bowl Advertisers on their Web Marketing Savvy --

While the Eagles and the Patriots battled it out on the football field, the "other" Super Bowl competition - the pricey advertising shoot-out - was played out on television screens worldwide.

But despite the millions of dollars spent, and the tens of millions of people tuning in to see the ads, a surprising number of advertisers missed a crucial extra point in their efforts to launch and sell products, generate buzz and capture consumer attention - Search Engine Marketing.

"In an era when consumers turn to search engines to research companies and investigate products, Super Bowl advertisers must harness the online demand they're creating, and turn viewers into instant customers," says Peter Hershberg, managing partner and co-founder of Reprise Media, a company that has helped launch Internet search campaigns for businesses like The Princeton Review and The Los Angeles Times.

Sunday's Super Bowl ads and the buzz they create have the potential to live far beyond the 30-second, multi-million dollar spot on Fox. With millions on the line, every Super Bowl advertiser should help consumers find more information about their brand or product.

Hershberg points to last year's Super Bowl as evidence: "In the 24 hours after the big game, advertisers saw a bump in Internet traffic by as much as 600 percent - most of that through search-engine queries on Google and Yahoo."

So how well did this year's Super Bowl advertisers do in funneling online demand to their sites? Reprise Media evaluated each company's Search Engine Marketing strategy and came up with an answer.

"For each advertiser, we looked at criteria such as keyword selection, listing copy, landing pages and ties between the Super Bowl ad and the company's Web site," says Hershberg. "We then tabulated the scores to evaluate which advertiser gained the most yards from their Super Bowl investment."

Among the company's findings include:

-- The companies with the highest scores were Ameriquest, Staples, Napster, CIBA Vision, GoDaddy, Cadillac and CareerBuilder.com. These top advertisers were clearly visible throughout the major search engines, and followed up on their ads with clear integration on their Web sites.

-- While many companies are buying placement against their brand names, an overwhelming majority of 'Bowl advertisers did not go the extra yard - buying complementary terms or integrating their ad into their site's landing pages. Advertisers with the lowest scores included Visa, Pepsi, Degree Antiperspirant and Frito-Lay.

-- Overall, ads focusing on the entertainment industry, including those for movies and television, did not score well. While entertainment companies usually thrive on the buzz created by high profile advertising, none of the movies advertised during the Big Game met Reprise Media's criteria. Instead, the company found that often, studios were not buying ads against the titles of their movies.

-- Not surprisingly, online companies took greater advantage of the cross-channel opportunity, with GoDaddy, CareerBuilder.com and Napster following up on their Super Bowl placements with strong, integrated online ad campaigns.

-- While many companies included a Web address in their Super Bowl ads, once at the site, there was no clear path for the consumer to follow up on the interest generated by the advertisement.

"Our findings show that advertising practices are not keeping pace with today's consumer behaviors," comments Hershberg. "While there are some clear exceptions to this, such as Ameriquest which aced our evaluations, the majority of Super Bowl advertisers seemed to miss the mark when it comes to search. In short, they are walking away from their Super Bowl investments with a lot of money left on the table."

For a detailed score card and further analysis, please contact Sarah Coyle, SHIFT Communications, at (617) 681-1245 or scoyle@shiftcomm.com.

About Reprise Media

Reprise Media helps companies significantly and profitably grow their businesses through Search Engine Marketing. Through the Reprise Process - an innovative, proven combination of campaign strategy, methodology and management - Reprise Media has delivered the value of search to a large and growing client roster, including companies such as Champion Mortgage, Reader's Digest, and Reunion.com. SearchViews (www.searchviews.com), Reprise Media's search-focused blog, provides a destination for marketers to find the latest news and commentary on Search Engine Marketing.

Reprise Media is headquartered in New York City, with offices in San Francisco and Boston. For more information, Reprise Media can be contacted at 212.226.0697, or via the Web at www.reprisemedia.com