C-E-O E-G-O

“I’d rather have a Super Bowl ad.”

That’s how Bob Parsons, GoDaddy.com president and founder, ended his contribution to our discussion on GoDaddy.com’s decision to spend $2.4 million dollars on one thirty-second SuperBowl commercial.

Hmm, I get it now ...

GoDaddy just wants to be a Big Daddy.

******************** Thanks Bob for making your perspective known. Not many CEOs would have the gumption to respond to a blog posting critical of their company's actions.

Comments

[Josh Armantrout]

To be fair, you are mis-quoting him. He didn't say "I’d rather have a SuperBowl ad" than put the money back into product and service development, which were your recommendations, he said "I’d rather have a SuperBowl ad" than pay himself the money.

Your rant stated it was based on the asumption that this was going to be spending everything they have, which he stated was far from the truth. It's really pretty hard to argue with his thinking based on their position.

[Kenny]

Darn. I was kinda hoping it would say "Who's Your Go Daddy?"

For Bob's sake, I hope he has a great concept for the spot. The ones that get talked about the next morning on the morning news and around the water coolers are the only ads I'd want to be a part of.

[Darrin Dickey]

Not me. The only ads I want to be a part of are the ones that result in new sales. Coca-Cola's Mean Joe Green commercial is still being talked about, but according to Coke's (then) CMO Sergio Zyman it resulted in zero new sales.

[Kenny]

"Still being talked about" = "Better Brand Recognition" = "More/Continued Sales"

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Kenny … is it fair to say you subscribe to the marketing philosophy of awareness equals preference?

I’m not sold that brand awareness necessarily equals to brand preference. For example ...

** I’m aware of Burger King because of its marketing but I prefer (and buy from) In-N-Out Burger.
** I’m aware of Budweiser because of its marketing but I prefer (and buy) beers from Dogfish.
** I’m aware of Brittany Spears because of her marketing but I prefer (and buy) Joss Stone.
** I’m aware of Pizza Hut because of its marketing but I prefer (and buy) Mangia Pizza.
** I’m aware of Folgers because of its marketing but I prefer (and buy) Peet’s coffee.

Of the ‘brands’ I prefer (and buy) it’s interesting to note that none of them engages in broad-based advertising. Instead, they have spent resources to make their product more remarkable. Hmm…

[duey]

LOL so whichever company johnmoore prefers must have good and effective marketing/advertising? So what if you pick Mangia Pizza? I have no idea who they are. I do know and occasionally eat Pizza Hut. So what? Everybody knows awareness doesn't equal preference. But preference also doesn't necessarily equal a good product or tons of money poured into "making the product more remarkable." Preference is just that: personal preference. You can't establish preference without first establishing recognition/awareness. "Dig?" Btw, you are the most pompous person I've seen in a while. Having worked for Starbucks doesn't make you an authority in marketing. "Dig?"

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Dug! And thanks for adding your perspective.

Duey, have you thought about blogging? You sure do have lots of opinions and that always make for compelling blog reading.

Blog on Duey ... blog on.

[duey]

Sure thing. I'm going to have some of the wife's cooking now. I prefer it because she doesn't spend any money on marketing.

Btw, I guess all those other companies spending millions of dollars on those SuperBowl spots are idiots huh? I mean, it's only THE number one TV event in the world. You ever wonder why those companies haven't hired you yet?

[Sam]

Here's the water cooler talk on the GoDaddy ad...

"So we're starting to get a bunch of complaints from female employees about GoDaddy. Legal says we have some exposure to "hostile workplace" charges. So who is GoDaddy's competition? We better move our domain names off GoDaddy just to be safe."

Here is a big fat clue: Women in technology (and advertising) hate these ads. Passionately. Even if they tell you otherwise. They are talking to each other about what can be done. Some of them are lawyers. End of clue.