Doritos and Its Dogs Create Most Likeable Ad in Its Final Year of Crashing the Super Bowl, According to Ace Metrix
Ad Duration Much Shorter This Year; Automotive Brands Continue to
Impress
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In a year that relied heavily on celebrity endorsements and shorter ads,
light-hearted humor and animals were common ingredients to some of the
most likeable Super Bowl ads of 2016, according to Ace Metrix, the
leader in measuring the impact of video advertising. Doritos, which
ended its 10-year “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign on a high note, leads
the list of most likeable ads with “No Dogs Allowed.” Honda’s “A New
Truck to Love” ad starring singing sheep joins Audi’s “Commander” as the
top non-luxury and luxury automotive ads of the Super Bowl,
respectively. The stark difference in the tone of these two ads—from
whimsical to more dramatic– is representative of the overall thematic
mixed bag that is the Super Bowl ads of 2016.
“In years past, we’ve been able to identify a common trend among Super
Bowl ads. Last year, emotional manipulation ruled. Five years before, it
was slap-stick comedy. If anything, Super Bowl 2016 was the year of risk
aversion and caution. With the exception of Audi’s “Commander” ad, the
iconic story-telling that the Super Bowl has always been known for was
virtually abandoned by many brands this year. With only 28 percent of
ads running over a minute– versus 43 percent in 2015– brands pivoted
away from spending big bucks on longer ads during the game in favor of
shorter, safer ads that were book-ended, in many cases, by more daring
executions before and after kick-off,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace
Metrix. “The teasers for Amazon’s #BaldwinBowl, the post-game sequel to
Toyota Prius’ “The Chase,” and Hyundai’s pre-game creative are great
examples of this.”
Celebrities Present and Accounted for and Animals Hold Court
Forty two percent of this year’s Super Bowl ads starred celebrities (vs.
an average of 33 percent over the last six years), with Anthony Hopkins
(for TurboTax), Liam Neeson (for LG) and Willem Dafoe (for Snickers)
representing the top celebrity performers. Consumers rewarded Amazon’s
maiden voyage in Super Bowl advertising with an impressive overall Ace
Score of 620, successfully raising awareness of the Amazon Echo. If
Superheroes count as celebrities, Coca-Cola won major likeability points
through its use of Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and the Hulk. Hyundai’s
“Ryanville” starring Ryan Reynolds earned an admirable breakthrough
score, led by its ability to grab attention.
Animals, often a safer, less expensive advertising bet, continued their
popularity in Super Bowl 50, proving far more prevalent this year than
babies and kids and present in six of the ten most likeable Super Bowl
ads. Number One-ranked Doritos “No Dogs Allowed,” is joined by Honda’s
singing sheep in “A New Truck to Love” and Heinz’s charging dachshunds
in “Wiener Stampede,” rounding out the Top 10 most likeable ads.
Mountain Dew’s combination of animals in #PuppyMonkeyBaby, however,
while attention-grabbing was off-putting to consumers who ranked it near
the bottom of the list with an Ace Score of 457.
|
Top 10 Super Bowl Ads by Likeability, 2016 |
||||||
| Rank | Brand | Ad Title |
Likeability Score |
|||
| 1 | Doritos | 750 | ||||
| 2 | Honda | 724 | ||||
| 3 | Colgate |
722 |
||||
| 3 | Heinz | 722 | ||||
| 5 | Audi | 717 | ||||
| 6 | Coca-Cola | 709 | ||||
| 7 | Paypal.com | 707 | ||||
| 8 | TurboTax | 706 | ||||
| 9 | LG Televisions | 705 | ||||
| 10 | Snickers | 702 | ||||
*Definition: The Likeability Score is one component of the overall
Ace Score, which is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on
viewer reaction to national TV and online video ads, providing the
advertising industry an unbiased resource to measure creative
impact. Likeability is a key measurement for the large and diverse Super
Bowl audience who can like an ad for many different reasons. The results
are presented on a scale of 1–950. More information about the Ace Score
and research methodology can be found below. This list represents
the top 10 Super Bowl ads by Likeability. The list is based on ads to
have debuted during the beginning of Super Bowl game play through the
final whistle on February 7, 2016.
Many top Ads have Big Visual Impact; Tones Vary
Newcomers Paypal.com and LG relied on high impact visuals to win over
the massive Super Bowl audience to become two of the most liked ads,
while Colgate and Audi took on more serious tones—Colgate in its
cause-based promotion of water conservation and Audi in “Commander,” the
single story-telling ad in the Top 10. The decrease of longer-form ads
(60 seconds and more), which have been trending up over the last five
years, contributed to the dearth of story-telling ads this year and
up-tick in more direct light-hearted or product-focused ads.
“Marketers took a more cautious tone, both in terms of shorter (less
costly) units as well as the content,” Daboll commented. “The move to 30
seconds also paved the way for more celebrity use, who have instant
recognition. This could be a first step in the Super Bowl becoming more
about ROI than just pure reach — that selling product is as important
as a favorable brand association.”
For historical Super Bowl ad information, facts and figures, please
visit: http://www.acemetrix.com.
About the Ace Score
The Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on
viewer reaction to national TV and online video ads, providing the
advertising industry an unbiased resource to measure creative impact.
Ace Metrix scores every national television and the majority of digital
video ads, across 96 categories creating a complete comparative
database—Ace Metrix LIVE®. A unique panel of at least 500 consumers,
representative of the U.S. TV and Internet viewing audience, scores each
ad in the exact same manner. The results are presented on a scale of
1–950, which represents scoring on creative attributes such as
Persuasion, Likeability, Information, Attention, Change, Relevance,
Desire and Watchability. Ace Metrix applies a natural language
processing algorithm to the hundreds of qualitative verbatim responses
collected for each ad, deriving a score that indicates positive,
negative or neutral emotional impact and represents the ad’s position on
an Emotional Sentiment Index ranging from 1–100.
About Ace Metrix
Ace Metrix® is the standard in television and video analytics, dedicated
to delivering better, faster and more cost-effective solutions for
evaluating video advertising within competitive context. Through the Ace
Metrix LIVE® platform, companies access timely, actionable data
wherever, whenever they need to, enabling real-time advertising campaign
optimization. Combining leading edge technology and patent pending
methodology, Ace Metrix is revolutionizing the way marketers measure
themselves and their competitive landscape. The Company is privately
held and is backed by leading venture capital firms and industry leaders
including Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures, Leapfrog
Ventures and WPP.
Follow Ace Metrix on Twitter for sustained insight: @Ace_Metrix.
Note: Ace Metrix®, the Ace Metrix logo design, Ace Score®, Ace Metrix
LIVE® and Creative Lifecycle Management® are registered trademarks of
Ace Metrix. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contacts
PR Contact for Ace Metrix, Inc.:
Michelle Robertson, 646-279-5775
michelle@kerlancomm.com
or
For
an interview about Super Bowl ads, please contact:
Michelle
Robertson, 646-279-5775
michelle@kerlancomm.com
or
Dori
Busell, 917-689-3415
dori@kerlancomm.com
