Super Bowl Ads Bow to the Mobile Screen

The most frequently used word consumers used to describe GoDaddy’s “Perfect” ad, according to Ace Metrix, was “gross.” As GoDaddy described the ad: “It used humor to demonstrate the two sides of Go Daddy by way of a memorable kiss. The now famous lip-lock featured supermodel Bar Refaeli, representing Go Daddy’s sexy side, and new sensation Jesse Heiman, representing Go Daddy’s smart side.”

As my sister put it, “I could have done without the sounds.”

Such comments are music to GoDaddy’s ears. The controversy, GoDaddy says, set the company up for a record Super Bowl. “We’re not going to apologize for ‘The Kiss,’” said CEO Blake Irving. “It’s sparking conversations. It was approved by network Standards and Practices and it uses humor to illustrate the point about how powerful a combination ‘sexy’ and ‘smart’ are. Personally, I think it’s hilarious!”

It was also pure gold for its mobile traffic, which has become the de facto benchmark for advertising success for the Super Bowl—an event almost uniformly watched on the big screen.

GoDaddy went for shock-value, explains Warren Zenna, managing director of Digital / Mobile at Woods Witt Dealy & Sons, full service agency in New York City. “They know that 50% of Superbowl viewers (mainly mom’s and kids) tune in more for the commercials themselves than the actual game. As a result, making the ads controversial or hilarious results in tweets, texts, searches and posts almost immediately. ”

Shock value. Clever games. Contests in which the prize is a trip to next year’s Super Bowl. Advertisers tried them all this year in order to get viewers eyes away from the big screen and onto their tiny mobile devices, if only for a few months. Why? “An effective mobile extension can turn a 30-second spot into a long-term engagement for advertisers,” Zenna says, “and for a $4 million dollar investment in a single ad buy, that extension can make or break the success of the campaign.”