Is Go Daddy Saying Go Big or Go Home?

Three million dollars for a 30-second advertising spot qualifies as a big spend in any market. This is especially true during the current economic recession that’s sideswiped large and small companies alike. We’re sure that some were surprised when Bob Parsons, CEO of one of the biggest players in the Web hosting and domain registration game, Go Daddy, stepped up and took a commercial spot for the February 1st Super Bowl.

Given that the likes of FedEx, Garmin and Salesgenie.com took a pass this year (General Motors expectedly declined) there was some speculation that the remaining 8 commercial advertising spots NBC had remaining might go unsold.

Go Daddy could have easily forgone the expenditure without much fanfare this year but instead it returned for the fifth consecutive year. Parsons said he couldn't afford to not do it. That's a bold endorsement - or is it? Go Daddy has seen its share of the domain registration market climb from 16 percent to nearly 45 percent today thanks in large part to the Super Bowl commercials and all the media attention surrounding the sexy commercials that have failed to make it by the network censors. People naturally want to see why the commercials were cut and Go Daddy's website is the right venue to pander to that curiosity.

So spokesperson Danica Patrick will be back to feed the frenzy once again and Go Daddy will benefit from the commercial and the cleverly orchestrated extra time it gets on the website.

There's a body of information available that suggests that marketing well during a recession leads to improved profitability during the recovery. According to the The Financial Times website (Beating the downturn): "In every recession of the past 90 years, independent studies show that the businesses who increase their advertising spend are the ones who survive the tough times and thrive afterwards."

So maybe it's not so much 'go big or go home', but merely 'keep your eye on the ball'.