Go Daddy Taps Deutsch For New Era of 'GoDaddy-esque' Advertising

Go Daddy commercials: love them, or not ... the edgy, slightly inappropriate TV commercials have helped make the Web hosting provider and domain name registrar a world-leader on the Internet and a household name with mainstream audiences. Now, Go Daddy is announcing plans to evolve the iconic brand with a new marketing effort set to debut during the Olympics NBC broadcast. The campaign is titled "Inside / Out" and was created by the New York office of Deutsch Inc.

Considering Go Daddy's well-documented marketing success over the years, signing an outside agency is somewhat of a risk. While critics historically panned the TV ads, Go Daddy leveraged the buzz, using "Push to Web" advertising to attract website visitors and convert them into customers.

Go Daddy's Super Bowl campaigns have been produced in-house for the last seven consecutive years and are credited with helping grow new domain name market share to more than 50 percent worldwide.

"We are teaming up with Deutsch because we think the team there 'gets us' and can help take Go Daddy to the next level," said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President Barb Rechterman. "They understand our story and we think working with Deutsch is going to be an important step in Go Daddy's brand evolution."

The plan is for the new ads to be true to Go Daddy's sense of fun, but engage viewers more deeply around what exactly Go Daddy does to help millions of people and businesses grow their presence online.

"We see this as a tremendous opportunity to take Go Daddy, one of the most recognizable Super Bowl advertiser brands, or Internet brands for that matter, and make it relevant for what it does," said Val DiFebo, Deutsch NY CEO. "Go Daddy has a phenomenal growth story and delivers a brand of service unlike any of its competitors. Our challenge is to tell that story in a way that it still fun and edgy, but showcases more of Go Daddy's specific offerings."

Deutsch Inc. Chairman Donny Deutsch has watched the Go Daddy advertising story unfold over the years, having reported about it on CNBC's "The Big Idea" and critiqued many of Go Daddy's Super Bowl commercials. "Deutsch is the right agency for Go Daddy at this point in their growth. Look for Go Daddy to be on their typical big stage, with a smart business-focused step change," noted Deutsch.

Go Daddy's CMO has been leading the company's day-to-day marketing strategies and operations since before Go Daddy was registering domain names. "Now is the time for a new era of Go Daddy advertising," Rechterman said. "One of our strengths has always been a willingness to take risks, especially with our marketing. The new Olympics campaign pays homage to the past success, but spotlights Go Daddy's technical strength and entrepreneurial spirit."

Go Daddy serves more than 10.3 million customers worldwide and ranks as the world leader for Web hosting, domain name registrations and new SSL Certificates.

"People know who we are, our Super Bowl marketing has helped make Go Daddy a household name," said Go Daddy CEO Warren Adelman, who has been with the company for nearly ten years and took over leadership in December. "Our customers think of us as their business partner because of our technology, infrastructure and service. What we want to do now is market in ways that tell people more about what we do to help businesses grow online."