Someone alert the Snuggie Fans!

Cash4Gold just bought a 30-second ad, slotted for the third quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, making the company the first direct-response advertiser to have a commercial during the big game.

The fact that Cash4Gold is advertising during the most-watched broadcasting time slot of the year sheds light on the hugely underestimated success and power of direct-response marketers.

Direct response advertisers often pay less for ad time, because they agree to allow the networks to run the commercials during less-watched time periods. But as networks find selling ad space at the regular rates increasingly difficult during these rough economic times, direct response advertisers are rising to the occasion.

Cash4Gold is experiencing an upswing, according to AdvertisingAge’s recent interview with Howard Mofshin, president of Cash4Gold. Since Cash4Gold was founded in 2007, Mofshin says, the company has grown from two people to 350, and executives intend to hire another 150 people in 2009.

The highly-anticipated ad will feature Ed McMahon and MC Hammer, who are known for both their fame and ongoing financial woes. McMahon said in a statement, “I’ve used Cash4Gold before, and that’s why I am happy to spread the word by appearing in their ad.”

Mofshin told the press that the commercial shows McMahon and MC Hammer trying to out-do each other by sending in things that get more and more outrageous in each shot.

Here’s hoping we’ll see gold Hammer pants. But let it be known that I’m keeping mine.

As we’ve moved into this protracted period of slow to negative growth, we have talked a lot about how spending allocations must change and how the web has affected the landscape of marketing.

But shifting the focus of the message is equally important.

When people are hurting, they buy differently; they need more value. As marketers, it is key to recognize that value is really all about benefit, not price. The benefits our products deliver are now more important than ever.

The pie is smaller—so fewer will grow. But this is a time when the fight for market share is critically important. The companies that learn how to strengthen their story and interactive approach in 2009 will be the greatest beneficiaries when we pull out of this mess.

This is not a simple task—it requires effort on several fronts, but it is not that complicated either. Step into your customers’ shoes and look at what they need. Align your strengths with their needs and make yourself easy to find. They will be doing more research and buying more carefully. This in itself gives you opportunity.

To find the silver lining in this economy is a real challenge—but if you make the effort to find it, it’s there.

Despite uncertainties in the economy and financial markets in 2008, trends in online advertising continue on an upswing. The latest report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP reports that online advertising revenues reached $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008 – up 11% over the same period in 2007, reports a recent post in Marketing Vox.

It comes as no surprise that despite a faultering US economy, online ad spending is up. Now more than ever, the increased measurability, targetability and direct path from online ads to trackable response mechanisms make search marketing and online advertising an attractive place to spend shrinking ad budget dollars. When things get tight, it’s nice to know if what you’re doing is working.

For many, technology is evolving too fast to keep up. For small- and mid-size businesses, Search Engine Marketing might be a new concept, but it can significantly impact your business. A SEM program will boost your visibility when people are searching the web. See some great tips for selling and buying SEM here: Prey or Pray.

Scott LoSasso, President of LoSasso Advertising in Chicago, discusses marketing planning for 2009. With marketers concerned about the economy, it’s important to make sure that you don’t stop evolving. Online marketing is essential to  positioning your company for growth coming out of the economic slowdown.