Great Superbowl ads

(THanks to Futrelab for this post by: Roger Dooley)

Most of us have gotten over our short-lived obsession with the 2009 Super Bowl ads, but at neuromarketing firm Sands Research technologists have been slaving away analyzing all 72 of those commercials. Sands measures viewers’ EEG activity to gauge both emotional and cognitive responses to ads. In addition, they collect questionnaires before and after the ads are viewed.potato_head_RD.jpgWhat makes an effective TV commercial? Dr. Stephen F. Sands, Chairman and Chief Science Officer, says,”We have found that an engaging story that maintains the viewer’s attention throughout the commercial, like this year’s Bridgestone Tire’s Taters (Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head) commercial or Coke’s Heist spot with the animated insects stealing a bottle of Coca-Cola, provides an overall strong and sustained brain response and a better measurement of favorable brand opinion.” Here are Sands Research’s top 10:

1. Bridgestone / Taters - 5.04
2. Coke / Heist - 4.62
3. Pixar / Up - 4.40
4. CareerBuilder / Tips - 4.40
5. Budweiser / Clydesdale Circus - 4.39
6. Universal / Fast and Furious - 4.37
7. GE / Scarecrow - 4.29
8. Taco Bell / Overrated - 4.28
9. Pedigree / Crazy Pets - 4.23
10. NBC / LMAO - 4.20

The number following each ad is what Sands calls the Neuro-Engagement Factor (NEF).

The worst scoring ad in 2009 was E-Trade’s Talking Baby ad, which scored a mere 2.61 on the NEF scale. Sands attributed the poor showing, at least in part, to the fact that a similar ad had been running throughout the preceding year.

Check out the complete comparative scoring of the 2009 Super Bowl ads at sandsresearch.com.

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A brand new day

Target in the US have responded to the current economic climate with their new TV spot entitled 'a brand new day'. Tapping into ideas of new ways to save it shows a petrol bowser racking up the dollars as a business man cycles to work with the super 'the new commute', a dad cutting his kids hair retailing a shaver, a woman using her lounge as a gym retailing the swiss ball. A nice retail ad that heros Target and envokes fun at a time when consumers are having to tighten their belts.

Top 50 US web rankings

These figures are for June 2008 Thanks to comScore: http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/top-50-us-web-rankings-issued-for-june-travel-and-leisure-categories-gain-5357/?camp=newsletter&src=mc&type=textlink

Just barely, Google clung to its lead as the top US web property after having wrested away the honor from Yahoo three months ago, according to a comScore Media Metrix monthly analysis of US consumer activity at online properties.Content categories showing traffic gains in June were heavily leisure-oriented, including online gaming, travel, entertainment (movies and lotto/sweepstakes), but gains were modest in a month in which the total number of internet users decreased slightly and time spent online per user declined 4%. Below, the findings issued by comScore.

Top 50 Properties (Unique Visitors)

Google Sites maintained the top position in the Top Properties ranking, reaching 140.2 million Americans in June and narrowly edging out Yahoo Sites’ 140.1 million.
Among other highlights: Microsoft Sites ranked third with 119.7 million visitors. Apple Inc. moved up two positions to #10 with help from the iPhone 3G, which was announced in June.Disney Online and Adobe Sites each gained four spots to numbers 21 and 22, respectively.

Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking (Advertising Reach)

Platform-A led the Ad Focus ranking in June, reaching 90% of the nearly 190 million Americans online, followed by Yahoo Network (83% reach), Google Ad Network (81% reach), and Specific Media (78% reach).

Top-Gaining Sites and Categories

Categories:

Sites:

Summer Travel Season

The online car rental category was the top-gaining one in June, growing 4% to 6.5 million visitors: Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company led the category with 3.4 million visitors, followed by Avis Budget Group with 2.6 million visitors. Significant gainers in the category included Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (up 39% to 1.1 million visitors), CarRentals.com (up 42% to 892,000 visitors), and Advantage.com (up 39% to 214,000 visitors).

The travel - ground/cruise category ranked as the third fastest-growing category in June, growing 3% to 11.5 million visitors: Amtrak led the category with 2.7 million visitors (up 11%), followed by VacationsToGo.com with 2.2 million visitors (up 14%), and Greyhound Lines with 1.6 million visitors (up 26%).

The gains in ground travel lines like Amtrak and Greyhound may reflect Americans’ attempts to save on summer travel by avoiding the increasing costs of air travel and long car trips due to rising gas prices, comScore said.

Summer Blockbusters Drive Traffic to Movie Sites

Several summer blockbusters reached theaters in June, driving a 2% gain to the entertainment - movies category: IMDB.com (Internet Movie Data Base) led the category with 20.8 million visitors, followed by Moviefone (15.6 million visitors) and Yahoo Movies (15.2 million visitors).
Interest in Disney’s summer blockbuster Wall-E drove a 24% gain to Disney Movies (4.7 million visitors), while the release of Kung Fu Panda resulted in a 182% gain to DreamWorks SKG (1.4 million visitors).

More Gaming Online When School’s Out

Online gaming typically increases during the summer months with kids out of school, and the category was among the 10 fastest-gaining this month with more than 94 million visitors.

The category was led by Yahoo Games with 17 million visitors, followed by EA Online (13.8 million visitors) and Disney Games (12.8 million).