Was it worth it?

From: MediaPost via email

While dot-com ads proliferated this year’s Super Bowl telecast, a study released last week by D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in St. Louis – http://www.darcyww.com – indicates that at $2 million per 30-second spot, the return on investment was at best fleeting for most of them. In fact, only 17% of the respondents D’Arcy surveyed who watched the Super Bowl were able to recall any dot-com advertising after 30 days.

E*Trade was the leader in total awareness, garnering 57%. Pets.com came in second with 44% total awareness and Monster.com came in third with 37%. Not surprisingly, awareness of dot-com advertisers was higher among younger Super Bowl viewers, especially the 18-34 year-old group.

On the lower end of the awareness spectrum were brands for which the Super Bowl appears to be the focus of their marketing efforts or at least the kick-off. Epidemic.com received only a 4% total awareness and OurBeginning.com, which had not spent any money on advertising until the Super Bowl, received only a 6% awareness. So did Lifeminders.com, which aired the self-proclaimed “worst commercial on the Super Bowl.”

Mike Flynn, D’Arcy St. Louis Senior Account Planner said looking toward the advertising line-up for the Academy Awards this past weekend, that it looks like many of the advertisers have taken this into consideration and are “utilizing the Oscar telecast as part of their ongoing marketing program.”