T-Mobile’s New “Cowboy Phone” Ad Surpasses Suitor AT&T and Verizon Who Are Competing in Neck-and-Neck Race for Most Effective TV Ads in Their Category, According to Ace Metrix

Samsung’s Galaxy Tablet Ad Wins Overall Wireless Device Category, but Apple Still Dominates with Six of the Top 10 Ads Since the Beginning of Year

LOS ANGELES – Ace Metrix™, the authority in television advertising effectiveness, revealed the most effective wireless services and device ads to break since January 1, 2011. While T-Mobile’s recent Cowboy phone ad (featuring a Nokia phone) topped all wireless provider ads, Verizon and T-Mobile suitor AT&T demonstrated a neck-and-neck race in ad effectiveness, equally dominating the Top 10 Wireless Provider category with four spots each.

In the wireless device category, Samsung’s “Feel Free” Galaxy tablet ad was the most effective ad since January 1. Category-dominating Apple trailed closely behind with its highly effective iPad 2 ad, which broke during the NCAA Championship game. Four of Apple’s other ads in the top 10 promote the iPhone, and most include a cross-promotion with either Verizon or AT&T.

Advertisement

“The aggressive—and effective—marketing efforts by Samsung, Apple, AT&T, and Verizon demonstrate the race for marketshare and mindshare within the highly competitive wireless services and device categories,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “The absence of marketing activity from HP’s Palm is notable, as well as the fact that ads from Sony, Windows/Microsoft, and Blackberry scored lower Ace Scores, ranking outside of the Top 10 Most effective.”

Most Effective Wireless Services TV Ads to Break since January 1, 2011

Rank Product Ad Message Phone Featured Ace
Score*
1 T-Mobile Cowboy Phone Fights Other Phones Nokia 628
2 Verizon “Susie’s Lemonade Stand” promoting business services Non-Specific Smartphone 627
3 AT&T “Is it a Computer, or is it a Phone?” Motorola Atrix 622
4 Verizon “First Tablet Powered by Android 3.0” Tablet with Android 618
5 Sprint “Unlimited is Good” HTC 610
6 AT&T Bedtime Stories Characters Travel Non-Specific Smartphone 607
7 Verizon Fastest Network: “Downloading at a Rocket Launch” Samsung 603
7 AT&T “Surprised By Your Phone” Samsung with Windows 603
9 AT&T “Man Loses Bet Over Song Date” iPhone 596
10 Verizon SB11: Beautiful, Intelligent, Genius iPhone 595

“One of the most interesting things we found in looking at verbatim remarks from consumers was that they were as impressed with the phones featured in the above ads as the services themselves,” Daboll commented.

Consumers said this about some of the top wireless services ads:

Of the #1 T-Mobile ad, which featured a Nokia phone, consumers said: “It made me want the phone;” “Looks like a really cool phone,” and “I really like Nokia phones.”
Of the #2 Verizon ad that featured a non-specific smart phone, consumers said: “That’s a cool phone,” and “I love Verizon.”
Of the #3 AT&T ad, which featured the Motorola Atrix: “I watched the ad for humor, then my jaw dropped. I want that!” “That phone looks really cool and cutting edge and I like the whole package;” “I want that phone;” “Amazing—I want one.”

Most Effective Wireless Device TV Ads to Break since January 1, 2011

Rank Product Ad Message Ace
Score*
1 Samsung “Feel Free” for the Galaxy Tablet 650
2 Apple** iPad 2: “It Becomes Delightful, Even Magical” 640
3 Apple iPhone iBooks “Your Favorite Books in Your Pocket” 631
4 Apple iPad: Tablet Computer has Many Uses 628
5 Motorola Xoom Tablet: “Future of Mobile Computing” 620
6 Apple** iPhone Apps Store “Easy Apps to Find & Download” 615
7 HP “Everybody On”—60 seconds 613
8 Kindle Amazon Kindle: “People Read Throughout the Day” 607
9 Apple iPhone: “The Large Selection of Games” 603
9 Apple iPhone: Two is Better Than One 603

*Definition: Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads. Respondents are randomly selected and representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience. The results are presented on a scale of 0-950, which represents scoring on creative attributes such as relevance, persuasion, watchability, information, attention, etc.
** Featured during NCAA Championship game

Evident among the verbatim comments from consumers regarding the top three wireless device ads was that the ads were effective in providing new information, creating desire, and garnering attention.

Consumers said this about some of the top wireless device ads:

Of the Samsung Galaxy Tablet ad, consumers said, “I did not know Samsung offered this product;” “[The ad] shows what the product can be used for.”
Of the iPad 2 ad, consumers said, “It gets the message out that it’s an amazing product;” “I want one. It was informative;” “I WANT THAT!!!!!”
Of the #3 ranked iPhone 4 ad, consumers said, “Love the iPhone 4. So many possibilities;” “These commercials always catch my attention;” “This ad makes me want to buy the iPhone 4.”

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix is the industry authority in measuring and understanding the impact of advertising creative. Through patent-pending Ace ScoreTM measurement technology, Ace Metrix collects and measures the consumer impact of every nationally breaking TV ad in near real-time. Through its Creative Lifecycle Management TM suite of products, Ace Metrix provides actionable creative analysis, from ideation through real-time in-market performance optimization, to many of the world’s leading advertisers and agencies. Ace Metrix works with leading global advertisers. For more information please see www.acemetrix.com.
Follow Ace Metrix on Twitter for additional insight: @Ace_Metrix.