• by Ross Fadner , February 6, 2004

When advertisers shell out $2.3 million for a 30-second Super Bowl TV spot, they're not just paying for 30 seconds of publicity in front of the world's largest audience anymore. The post-Super Bowl media attention marketers receive on television, in newspapers, and in trade publications is equally important to them. But the Internet traffic generated by the post-Bowl media circus is also an increasingly significant factor in the Super Bowl TV buy, as data released Thursday by comScore Networks reveals.

The data examines traffic increases to TV advertisers' sites on Super Bowl Sunday versus the average amount of traffic these sites generated the four previous Sundays. By far, the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis had the greatest increase in site traffic on Sunday following its Super Bowl spot, logging 1,868 percent above its regular traffic volume. On the heels of the spot touting its 100 million song giveaway promotion with Pepsi, Apple's iTunes site registered a 593 percent traffic increase above its Sunday average.

Other post-Super Bowl Web traffic beneficiaries include H&R Block with a 258 percent increase, Pepsi World (190 percent), and anti-tobacco organization the Truth.com, (72 percent). Automakers Dodge, Cadillac, and Ford each saw traffic increases following their Super Bowl TV spots, at 140, 94, and 19 percent, respectively.

"Aside from reaching an enormous audience, Super Bowl advertisers count on a buzz effect before, during, and well past the big game," said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix. "Year after year, our research finds that many Super Bowl advertisements drive immediate spikes in visitation that often pay dividends well past game day."

In some instances, the data reports immediate spikes in Web traffic to some advertisers' sites after their ads aired. Cialis posted an immediate 240 percent increase after the pharmaceutical company's ad. Following Dodge's spot for the 2005 Magnum, its Web traffic jumped 220 percent. Similarly, the "Troy" advertisement brought an immediate 200 percent increase to WarnerBros.com.

GoldenPalace.com employed a non-traditional branding initiative. The online casino used British streaker Mark Roberts tattooed with the Golden Palace logo. Many people heard about the unplanned entertainment and replayed it on the Internet later. As a result, Golden Palace received a 380 percent increase in Web traffic from 9:00 to 9:15 EST on Feb. 1.

Online gambling site SportsInteraction.com achieved 400 percent growth versus the average traffic of the preceding four Sundays, while InterTops.com received 240 percent, and CasinoLasVegas.com increased 79 percent.

Anheuser-Busch had the most popular Super Bowl ad for the third year running; the standout spot this year featured a new recruit to Budweiser's Clydesdale team--a donkey. Seventy percent of respondents gave this ad three points out of a three-point scale, and nearly 18 percent said the ad was their favorite of any Super Bowl promotion. The donkey spot also had the highest unaided recall of any of this year's Super Bowl ads.

Nearly one-third of comScore's survey respondents said that they used the Internet during the Super Bowl, including the pre- and post-game shows. The pre-game and halftime shows were the most popular times to use the Internet. Chat/Instant Messaging was by far the most popular online activity during this time period, with 41 percent of respondents using these services. The second and third most popular activities were visiting sports information (23 percent) and advertisers' sites (21 percent). ComScore compiled the data through a nationwide survey that began immediately following the Super Bowl and ran through February 3, 2004.

Not surprisingly, the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake costume fiasco dominated search terms categories on Feb. 2, accounting for three of the top search phrases. Among the top 200 search phrases on February 2, searches related to the infamous breast-baring incident accounted for 50 percent of the total search volume.