Monster.com Launches Ad Campaign

Online recruiting site Monster.com Monday released details of its new ad campaign, which includes spots that will run during Sunday’ Super Bowl XXXV on CBS.

The theme of the ads is an old one: how improving your work can improve your life. But the aptly tagged “Job Good. Life Good.” campaign is the first work from Boston’s Arnold Worldwide for Monster, which moved its account from Wenham, Mass.-based Mullen in late 2000.

The campaign’s first spot, “Assistant,” airs throughout the week, and twice during the Super Bowl pre-game broadcast on CBS. Two additional spots, “Business Card” and “Happy Guy” will run during the Super Bowl’s first and third quarter, making this the third year Maynard, Mass.-based Monster has advertised during the game.

“In 1999, Monster.com selected the Super Bowl as the premier venue in which to kick-off a cutting-edge, multi-million dollar marketing campaign because we wanted to directly connect with consumers. Three years later, we are an established Super Bowl advertiser and viewers know to expect something new and groundbreaking,” said Monster.com chief executive Jeff Taylor. “The Super Bowl has proven to be a great vehicle to drive our brand, and we look forward to showing the world how Monster.com is a catalyst to a better job and a better life.”

Monster’s earlier efforts included 1999’s humorous “When I Grow Up,” and 2000’s serious “Road Not Taken” spots. While both were popular with critics and the public, Monster.com said a return to its earlier, humorous ad style would serve it well during the season’s most-watched television event.

“We recognize the importance humor plays in advertising as a whole, but especially its importance during the Super Bowl,” Taylor said. “While the Super Bowl is a great sporting event, it is also the ‘ad bowl.’ It is the one time people are as interested in the ads as they are in the main event.”

While this last point is debatable, Monster nevertheless is gambling heavily on the buys: CBS doesn’t confirm precisely how much it charges individual advertisers, but has confirmed that the going price is about $2 million per 30-second spot.

Monster is also using some additional ways to its name out there during the broadcast: one of the company’s airships will be hovering above the game, and Monster is also utilizing its company mascot — the green, toothy monster called Trumpasaurus — in a guerilla marketing and outdoor advertising campaign in Tampa.

Spending for the campaign was not disclosed.

Competitor HotJobs.com has also committed to advertising during the Super Bowl, with one spot during the game and three in the pre-game show. Those commercials, from Weiss Stagliano Partners, will be part of HotJobs’ latest campaign, “Onward. Upward” campaign, which it describes as “inspirational.” Like Monster, New York-based HotJobs is a Super Bowl three-peat advertiser.