Guinness Rolls the Most Effective TV Ad of the Third Quarter According to Ace Metrix

Camaraderie and Humor Feature Prominently Among Top Ads of the Quarter

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Ace Metrix®, the new standard in television and video advertising analytics, announced the most effective of the more than 1,500 ads that broke during the third quarter. The most effective ad of the quarter, judged by performance within its category, was from Guinness, a unique demonstration of “Friendship” that outperformed the beer category by nearly 30 percent with an Ace Score of 622. The highest scoring ad overall was from Dawn, which continued to refine its long-running wildlife campaign with “Saving Wildlife”, an ad that achieved an Ace Score of 646 and brings Dawn back to the ad of the quarter podium for the second time this year.

“With the notable exception of Dawn, the consistent theme among this quarter’s ads is ‘delivering the unexpected.’ This quarter’s highest honor goes to Guinness who took a break from describing the characteristics of their beer to remind us of the character of man”

“With the notable exception of Dawn, the consistent theme among this quarter’s ads is ‘delivering the unexpected.’ This quarter’s highest honor goes to Guinness who took a break from describing the characteristics of their beer to remind us of the character of man,” said Peter Daboll, Ace Metrix CEO. “Conversely, Dawn’s wildlife campaign is a visual masterpiece—associating the brand with a philanthropic cause wrapped in oily, yet still lovable, wild animals.”

Advertisement
Top Ads of the Quarter by Gap to Norm*
Rank Brand Ad Title Ace

Score

% AboveCategory

Norm

Category
1 Guinness Friendship :60 622 28.8 % Beer
2 Netflix TV Series 592 26.0 % Websites
3 Petco Powerful Chemistry 609 22.6 % Retail: Other Stores
4 Reebok Be Ready 559 22.5 % Footwear
5 Honda This Sucks! 638 22.2 % Non-Luxury Auto
Top Ads of the Quarter by Ace Score*
Rank Brand Ad Title AceScore Category
1 Dawn Saving Wild Life 646 Cleaners
2 Microsoft Hardware Oh Snap 643 Computer Hardware
3 Samsung Televisions Never Been Better 642 Televisions
4 Honda This Sucks! 638 Non-Luxury Auto
5 Longhorn Steakhouse Longhorn Choices 636 Restaurants

*See “Award Qualification and Methodology” below.

Category Standouts

Depictions of camaraderie are key among the ads that outperformed category competitors this quarter, with Guinness’s inspired story of friendship leading the way. Petco also demonstrated the “Powerful Chemistry” between man and man’s best friend while Reebok challenged two running friends to “Be Ready.”

Netflix let its product portfolio speak for itself with a sizzle reel of its original and exclusive TV series content, which scored 26 percent over its category norm with an Ace Score of 592.

Compelling Product Demonstrations Earn Highest Scores of Q3

After earning the title of both Highest Scoring and Most Effective ad in Q2, Dawn returns with the highest scoring ad of Q3, “Saving Wild Life,” a short 15-second ad. Microsoft and Samsung both leveraged sarcasm to effectively demonstrate their product features and differentiation for seats on the list of top ads by Ace Score. Microsoft’s ad for its Surface tablet (Ace Score: 643) featured a pseudo-Siri narrator poking fun at the iPad while calling attention to the Surface’s benefits. Samsung’s “Never Been Better” ad (Ace Score: 642) allowed a family’s witty banter to describe the features of the latest SmartTV including voice activation. Longhorn Steakhouse’s “Longhorn Choices” delivered a little something for everyone, depicting a variety of mouthwatering food shots that visually satisfy nearly every palate while promoting its dinner and lunch values.

Honda Earns Two Seats

Honda also employed a sense of humor in its latest Odyssey campaign with a unique anthropomorphizing of garbage soon to meet its demise with the brand’s innovative onboard vacuum. Honda’s clever product demonstration was both a top-scoring ad among its category (scoring 22 percent over the average automotive ad) as well as the fourth most effective ad overall for the quarter. The ad hit on all cylinders and had broad demographic appeal earning Change, Attention and Information scores well over 700.

Watch the ads and get more details at acemetrix.com/news/blog.

Award Qualification and Methodology

The Ad of the Quarter honor is awarded to the ads with the highest percentage gap to the twelve-month category norm that debuted nationally between July 1, 2013 and September 30, 2013. A Top Ads list is also provided for the ads earning the highest Ace Scores among the same set. The Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads, providing the advertising industry an unbiased resource to measure creative impact. Ace Metrix scores every national television ad, across 85 categories creating a complete comparative database, Ace Metrix LIVE®. A unique panel of at least 500 consumers, representative of the U.S. TV 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 collected more than 1,500 ads in the third quarter. All ads within categories that had at least 20 unique pieces of creative over the past twelve months, and at least five in the quarter, were considered for the award.

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix® is the new 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 can now 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.