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CareerBuilder’s Chimpanzees Return to the Super Bowl

CareerBuilder Reveals ROI it Receives from the Big Game

CHICAGO – January 18, 2011 – Back by popular demand, CareerBuilder’s beloved chimpanzees will be starring in the company’s 2011 Super Bowl commercial slated to air during the third quarter of the game. CareerBuilder’s return to the Super Bowl ad lineup for the seventh consecutive year kicks off a national, integrated campaign that incorporates old favorites with exciting new twists and new elements never seen before.


The chimpanzees first appeared in CareerBuilder’s ads during the company’s Super Bowl debut in 2005. The campaign drew both award-winning critical acclaim and popular votes with the American public and returned even bigger in 2006. After a five-year hiatus, the chimpanzees are back at work at Yeknom Industries (monkey spelled backwards), creating chaos and high jinks for the only human employee in the firm. From a business trip gone awry to an unorthodox fire safety meeting to a “car sandwich” in the company parking lot, the chimpanzees are all about monkey business.

The 30-second spot is one of three new commercials developed in-house that will appear through various venues throughout the year. They are designed to appeal to people in less than ideal work situations and inspire them to find a better job with the tagline “Start building.”

“Over the years, we’ve heard the same question countless times from both employers and job seekers: ‘when are the monkeys coming back?’” said Richard Castellini, Chief Marketing Officer for CareerBuilder. “People loved that campaign and the message resonated well with our target audience. With the job market poised to be stronger in 2011, unemployed, underemployed and unhappily employed workers will be on the lookout for new job opportunities. We thought this was good timing to bring the chimpanzees out of retirement and tell more stories from a celebrated campaign that everyone can relate to in some way.”

The campaign has three standout online components that CareerBuilder will launch over the next few weeks:

  • Monk-e-Mail – Hailed as one of the most successful viral campaigns of all time, more than 160 million Monk-e-Mails have been sent to date since its launch back in 2006. CareerBuilder is working with Oddcast to soon unveil a hilarious, 2.0 version of Monk-e-Mail, which enables users to send messages featuring talking monkeys to unsuspecting co-workers, friends and family. Users can choose from a variety of backgrounds and accessories and voice options and share via social media as well.

  • Monk-e-Maker – For anyone who’s ever felt like they work with a bunch of monkeys, CareerBuilder and Oddcast are also launching a new viral program that enables users to upload pictures and see what their boss, their co-workers, their social network friends and others would look like as a monkey.

  • Yeknom Facebook Game– In this new game, players fight their way up the corporate ladder at Yeknom Industries by completing work tasks such as getting coffee or washing the boss’s car. As the players work to advance, there are mischievous chimpanzee co-workers causing mayhem to throw the player off his/her career path. Set to launch the week following the Super Bowl, it is the first attempt at a Facebook game by an advertiser with in-house talent.


    • CareerBuilder’s return to the Super Bowl was based on a long-term, multi-faceted marketing strategy that has paid off for the company.

    “We’ve invested in the Super Bowl for seven years because we consistently see a positive return in terms of revenue, applications and overall awareness,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “There’s no bigger venue to reach an engaged audience with your message.”

    CareerBuilder’s ROI from the Super Bowl

  • Revenue – Over the last six years, on average, CareerBuilder experienced a 39 percent year-over-year growth in invoicing in the month following the Super Bowl. This consistently outpaced year-over-year growth in other months.

  • Traffic – CareerBuilder’s traffic grew 30 percent year-over-year in the three months following its first Super Bowl appearance and continued to see gains every year.

  • Applications - Over the last six years, on average, CareerBuilder saw a 25 percent year-over-year increase in applications to its employers’ jobs in the month of the Super Bowl. CareerBuilder saw a 23 percent year-over-year increase in applications in the month following the Super Bowl.

  • Brand Awareness - Per Millward Brown awareness survey data, from 2004 to 2010, CareerBuilder’s unaided awareness grew 57 percent. Total awareness of CareerBuilder’s TV ads grew more than 400 percent in the week following its first appearance at the Super Bowl.


    • About CareerBuilder® CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset - their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 22 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 40 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

    CareerBuilder Media Contact
    For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

    Jennifer Grasz
    (P) 773-527-1164
    (E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com