Monster.com Unveils New Campaign

Monster.com, whose “When I Grow Up” commercial from last year’s Super Bowl, has proven to be one of the most memorable of the year, Thursday unveiled its next campaign, whose theme is based on Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.”

In the spot, which will first air on ABC’s “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” on Saturday, a young woman stands at an urban crossroads and is passed by a cast of characters who dispense advice. Their words of wisdom come in the form of the Robert Frost poem, suggesting that the choices people make will have a big impact on their careers.

Just like last year, Monster.com’s advertising will come up against competition during the big game. Last year, rival HotJobs.com (HOTJ) made a big splash by spending half of its annual revenues on a spot. That company will put in another appearance this year. A less well-known job board, kforce.com is making its Super Bowl debut this year.

After the initial “sneak preview” on ABC’s popular game show, Monster.com’s 30-second commercial will appear five times on Sunday – during the Super Bowl pre-game broadcast and during the first and fourth quarters of the game.

Monster.com credits last year’s ad, which continued to run throughout the year, to boosting site traffic from 4.7 unique visits per month to its current 9 million plus unique visits per month.

“The success of last year’s ad was unparalleled for us, and this year we explored fresh new ways to stay true to our commitment to help people identify and pursue their individual career goals,” says Jeff Taylor, chief executive officer of Monster.com.

Both last year’s and this year’s ads were created by Mullen Advertising.