GoDaddy made a calculated decision to nationally brand their name using the Super Bowl commercial. They also decided to make their commercial news by making it a racy play off of last years Janet Jackson fiasco using the Senate Hearings theme. This made the commercial more then just a commercial. It made it News. I read about the commercial in Time magazine 2 weeks before the Super Bowl even aired it. Using this clever trick GoDaddy was able to make the most of their airtime by receiving press before and after the commercial. This extra press only further branded their name with consumers.

Paying a large amount for one 30 second commercial can be a large gamble for any company, especially one trying to mark their image on the minds of consumers. But to make the commercial newsworthy practically guarantees your moneys worth and continues to create talk 6 months later. The next key to its lasting brand power will be weather it is compared next year to the new crop of commercials.

A lot of Registrars and Hosting companies spend their budget online looking closely at costs/signup and other hard measures to see if they are getting their moneys worth. They often overlook the value and power of branding their name and how lasting that form of marketing can be. As most commodity products found out a long time ago, branding is the key to longevity. As the web hosting industry moves to this sort of market it will be interesting to see how the well branded companies do against less well known counterparts no matter what their online budget may be.

I think there are lessons in GoDaddys Super Bowl marketing that we can all learn from. First, branding is a very powerful and last lasting tool. This is evident by their jump to the leading Registrar position and maintaining it half a year later. Secondly, instead of just making an advertising campaign, make the advertising campaign news on its own. This will deliver a lot of other press and air time to the original campaign.