Do Super Bowl Ads Payoff? New Study Indicates they Might

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By Kantar Video, Special for US Daily Review.

Kantar Video, a division of WPP’s insight, information, and consultancy network, Kantar, has released the results today of a comprehensive study of online video viewership and social activity from Super Bowl XLVI advertisements. The study finds that within the first 3 days, the top 10 ads created $862,000 on average in earned video impressions, a 12.7% return on the cost of a Super Bowl ad spot. Overall, this year’s ads have created over $11 million in earned media and saw a 267% increase in viewership over last year’s Super Bowl. This increase in online video viewership underlines the increasing trend for advertisers to use the Super Bowl as a launch-pad for multi-platform commercial campaigns.

Key takeaways include:

Return on Format: Longer ads create more value
Longer ads posted online offered much higher value to advertisers, as it extends the amount of time a consumer is exposed to their brand from a :30-:60 second commercial to upwards of two minutes or more, lowering estimated effective CPM. These ads also generated more viewership and discussion on average.
Return on Strategy: Pre-game strategies help, but the Super Bowl “Bounce” rewards creative
Over $2 million worth of earned viewership was created before the game even began, spurred by early releasing strategies and bolstered by media outreach, seeding and paid advertising. However, the Super Bowl “bounce” truly benefited the ads with the most popular creative executions. Over four times as much earned media value was created after the game with the most buzzed about ads topping the list.
Return on Creative: Generic themes offered stronger brand association than celebrities
Looking specifically at the automotive category, which commanded the most pre- and post- game viewership, thematic use of vampires and dogs with Volkswagen and Audi generated more recall in discussion versus ads featuring celebrities. While celebrities help create buzz, a strong execution around an idea that is central to a brand drives engagement and may serve as a more sustainable concept as campaigns continue throughout the year.

To view the top 10 list visit: http ://ow .ly /8 YYlP

“The incredible power of online video is on display this year offering an even greater return on investment for Super Bowl advertisers,” said Bill Lederer, CEO of Kantar Video. “This evolution to multi-platform campaigns is creating a whole new layer of value to brands and audiences making the advertisements an even bigger part of this annual event.”

The study, which leverages the Videolytics™ platform tracked viewership and social metrics (comments, favorites, ratings) generated on leading video distribution sites online through proprietary media identification technology. It also included engagement and recall analysis from the Videolytics Social™ platform. The study, which began the week before the Super Bowl, seeks out patterns and trends that have impact on advertisers’ campaigns. These results are based on data through Thursday, February 9, 2012.

For more information on the report contact KantarVideoMarketing@kantar.com.

The Videolytics™ platform, currently in Beta with major media, technology, content and advertiser partners, will launch this Winter with several new solutions.

About KANTAR Video
Kantar Video is the online and mobile video research and measurement unit of Kantar, WPP’s insight and consultancy network. Kantar Video provides marketers and their agencies, media companies, and content creators and distributors with key insights into how consumers view, interact, share, and discuss online & mobile video, the impact on both online and offline behavior, and ultimately Return on Investment (ROI). Their flagship platform, Videolytics™, features the only Paid, Owned, and Earned measurement solution with the most comprehensive analytics service for tracking and measuring the effectiveness of video ad campaigns and content. Additional solutions provide robust Social, Behavior, Purchase, and Audience metrics connecting viewership with actionable offline insights for brands. Learn more at www.kantarvideo.com.

About KANTAR
Kantar is one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 95 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group’s services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com.

About WPP
WPP is the world’s largest communications services group. Through its operating companies, the Group provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services including advertising; media investment management; information, insight and consultancy; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing and specialist communications. The company employs 145,000 people (including associates) in 2,400 offices in 107 countries. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.