The chief executive of OnMoney.com, a personal-finance Web site(www.onmoney.com) that is a unit of Ameritrade Holding Corp., Omaha, Neb.,was one of a handful of dot-com advertisers betting the farm on 30 secondsof Sunday's Super Bowl air time.

For many start-ups, the idea of spending what could amount to most of theirannual revenue on one ad would be enough to make a chief executive's stomachchurn. But Sunday night was doubly nerve-wracking for Mr Passione: Theentire site was launching then as well.

At least Mr Passione had company Sunday. He and a dozen executives, spousesand children gathered at the Stamford, Conn., home of OnMoney's chiefmarketing officer, Jim Blumenfeld, to watch their high-stakes gambleunfold.

Rallying the troops
Silver Super Bowl balloons floated above the television set, an OnMoney.combanner hung from the ceiling and a spread of hors d'oeuvres filled thetable. Executives joked and chatted during the game, but they fell silentduring the real drama: the commercials.

Buying the spot was one of Mr Passione's first moves when he arrived atOnMoney as CEO in August. He saw it as not just a way to blast the business'name to 100 million viewers but also one to rally his troops around thelaunch date. ``Generating that excitement was probably worth the money wepaid,'' Mr Passione said.

OnMoney has been working with DDB Chicago, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc,since the spring to develop the ad, part of a $30 million print, television,radio and Internet marketing campaign set to last until April.

By December, the two companies had come up with the concept for the ad - apile of paperwork-turned-monster that can be tamed only by using OnMoney'sservices - but they didn't finish hammering out the spot until earlyWednesday morning. Most staff didn't get a look at it until Friday, when thecompany held a special lunchtime pizza party.

Costume monster
Karen Conroy, who works in OnMoney's marketing department, had been talkingabout the ad with her mother in South Carolina for weeks and warned her notto go to the bathroom in the third and fourth quarters. Mr Passione'ssix-year-old daughter spent most of the first half making a costume versionof the `paper monster' image used in the spot. With help from her dad'scolleagues, she taped wads of newspaper onto a bag, donned it and growled atparty-goers during halftime.

During the second half -- with the ad set to run anytime -- some executivesgot antsy. ``OK, OK. Enough of the football. Show us some morecommercials,'' said Leo D'Acierno, the site's senior vice president forbusiness development. Nobody cared when St. Louis scored a second touchdown.(``Somebody got a home run!'' shouted one executive. ``What inning is it?''Mr Passione joked.) But when ads came on, all heads were riveted to thescreen.

``Commercials!'' shouted company publicist Jen Stein. An ad for ElectronicData Systems Corp. came on, featuring tongue-in-cheek cat-herding cowboys.It won big laughs from the viewers, enough that some executives wererelieved OnMoney's ad didn't air right after it. ``I'm glad we didn't followthat,'' said Bruce Donatuti, the company's head of human resources.``Thatwas very good.'' He felt better after a less-than-thrilling promo for theNational Football League and the United Way charity. ``I hope ours isnext,'' he said.

Tension builds
When the third quarter ended, executives grew anxious. ``If it's not on inthe first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, I'm going to get reallynervous,'' Mr. Donatuti said. Staff who had been roaming around the livingroom came closer to the TV set. Then, a few minutes into the fourth quarter,OnMoney's ad came on.

Mr Passione's six-year-old came running in to kneel before the set.Executives fell silent. In the ad, a man sits at a desk trying to manage hisfinances when his paperwork morphs into a monster. The man turns to hiscomputer, visits OnMoney.com and conquers the monster by organizing hisfinances through the site. The tagline: ``Get your money connected atOnMoney.com.''

OnMoney's staff erupted in cheers. Mr Blumenfeld brought in a celebratorycake. Mr Passione raised his beer to make a toast. ``It's been a great sixmonths; today is just the beginning,'' he said.

Two ads next year
Mr Passione called the company's headquarters to see how staff there werehandling the launch. It turns out they had spent most of their time votingfor OnMoney's ad in a USAToday. com Internet poll (www.usatoday.com/money/admeter/vote.htm) of the best spots. Monish Kumar, vice president forbusiness development, got a call on his cell phone from his brother,congratulating him on the ad. Mr. Donatuti asked to borrow the phone to callhis family. ``Next year, two commercials in the Super Bowl!'' shouted Mr.Kumar. ``No,'' shouted Mr. Donatuti, ``The whole halftime: `Sponsored byOn-Money.com.' ''

The company's enthusiasm notwithstanding, advertising watchers ratedOnMoney's ad fair to middling. ``I like the ad; I understand the ad; but I'mnot going to do anything about it,'' said Sergio Zyman, a marketingconsultant and former chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola Co. He didn'tthink the ad would prompt many people to use the Web site's service.

Allen Weiner, vice president of Internet-traffic measurer NetRatings Inc.,Milpitas, Calif., said he thought the ad ``got lost in the clutter.'' ``It'sdifficult to gain traction when you're pitted against many financialcompanies who already have a well-recognized brand,'' he said.

OnMoney wouldn't give specific numbers, but it said traffic to the sitejumped after the commercial aired. Despite briefly plateauing, it beganincreasing again steadily from Monday morning.

``It's exactly what we wanted,'' Mr Passione said.

-- The Asian Wall Street Journal