Ads from McDonald’s, Budweiser, Android, Dove and Prudential Stand Out by Outperforming their Respective Categories by Over 20 Percent
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Ace Metrix®, the standard in television and video advertising analytics, announced the top scoring ads of the first quarter of 2015. In total, 30 ads were awarded the Ad of the Quarter title, each one having earned the highest Ace Score within their respective category. Of the winners, five ads from Android, Budweiser, McDonald’s, Dove and Prudential Investments outperformed their competitive set by at least 20 percent, a significant score above average. In addition, six of the 30 category winners debuted during the Super Bowl, including the top-scoring ad of the Super Bowl, McDonald’s “Pay with Lovin’” ad, which scored 21.6 percent above the Quick Service Restaurant category norm with an Ace Score of 706—the only Ad of the Quarter to exceed a score of 700.
We also saw some great creative powered by other drivers like Prudential Investments, which won with its striking relevance to viewers, and Android’s ‘Peaceful Co-Existence,’ which achieved strong breakthrough from its message and use of animals.
“This quarter included some superior performances by Super Bowl advertisers like McDonald’s and Budweiser, which both had highly likeable ads that tugged at the heartstrings via positivity and puppies, respectively,” remarked Peter Daboll, Ace Metrix CEO. “We also saw some great creative powered by other drivers like Prudential Investments, which won with its striking relevance to viewers, and Android’s ‘Peaceful Co-Existence,’ which achieved strong breakthrough from its message and use of animals.”
The unique, syndicated method by which Ace Metrix gathers creative performance measures allows advertisers to compare their ad effectiveness against all other brands within their respective categories. Watch the ads and learn how each creative piece earned its place on the list at acemetrix.com/blog.
Top Ads of the Quarter, Q1 2015*
listed alphabetically by category
| Category | Brand | Ad Title |
Ace |
Percentage |
Powered |
|||||
| Apparel & Footwear | Reebok | 609 | 19.1% | Attention, Likeability | ||||||
| Appliances | Hoover | 674 | 10.4% | Relevance | ||||||
| Auto – Luxury | Mercedes-Benz | 641 | 15.0% | Information | ||||||
| Auto – Non-Luxury | Jeep | 648 | 17.4% | Information | ||||||
| Automotive Services | WeatherTech | 653 | 16.0% | Relevance, Desire | ||||||
| Beverages – Beer | Budweiser | 652 | 27.8% | Attention, Likeability | ||||||
| Beverages – Non-Alcoholic | Simply Juice | 658 | 15.0% | Desire | ||||||
| Beverages – Soda | Coca-Cola | 652 | 19.4% | Relevance, Likeability | ||||||
| Beverages – Spirits, Flavored Malts & Wine | Pinnacle | 537 | 8.9% | Information | ||||||
| Candies & Snacks | Triscuit | 658 | 15.1% | Relevance, Desire | ||||||
| Financial Services – Banking, Investment & Mortgage | Prudential Investments | 604 | 20.8% | Relevance | ||||||
| Financial Services – Credit Cards | Discover Card | 601 | 10.8% | Likeability | ||||||
| Financial Services – Tax Services | H&R Block | 572 | 11.8% | Information | ||||||
| Household | Bounty | 676 | 12.0% | Information | ||||||
| Insurance | Allstate Insurance | 617 | 17.1% | Likeability, Relevance | ||||||
| Packaged Foods | Sargento | 673 | 15.0% | Relevance, Desire | ||||||
| Personal Care – Cosmetics | Almay | 562 | 12.9% | Likeability, Change | ||||||
| Personal Care – Hair | Herbal Essences | 573 | 12.9% | Attention | ||||||
| Personal Care – Main | Always | 636 | 15.3% | Likeability | ||||||
| Personal Care – Skin | Dove | 652 | 26.3% | Likeability | ||||||
| Pets | Purina | 624 | 11.4% | Change | ||||||
| Restaurants – Casual Dining | TGI Friday’s | 695 | 12.8% | Desire | ||||||
| Restaurants – QSR | McDonald’s | 706 | 21.6% | Likeability | ||||||
| Retail | Ace Hardware | 654 | 19.9% | Information, Relevance | ||||||
| Technology – Hardware | Intel | 640 | 13.3% | Likeability, Desire | ||||||
| Technology – Mobile Devices | Kindle | 671 | 12.3% | Information | ||||||
| Technology – Software & Websites | Android | 647 | 28.4% | Attention, Likeability | ||||||
| Technology – Video Games & Consoles | Supercell | 607 | 19.5% | Attention, Likeability | ||||||
| Telecom Services | HBO | 640 | 19.2% | Change | ||||||
| Travel | Universal Studios Resort | 659 | 16.1% | Desire |
Each of the ads within this list earned the highest Ace Score of all ads within its category, having first aired on national television between January 1 and March 31, 2015.
*See “Award Qualification and Methodology” below.
Category Standouts
Of the 1,700+ ads Ace Metrix tested with consumers in the first quarter, only 30 are awarded the title of Ad of the Quarter and only five scored 20 percent above their respective category norm. Google-owned Android scored the highest percentage above its category norm with the ad “Peaceful Co-Existence” (Ace Score 647, 28.4 percent above the Software & Websites norm). This is particularly notable because of Google’s advertising leadership over the last year, winning overall Brand of the Year for 2013 as well as four consecutive Ad of the Quarter distinctions in 2014. The cuddly animal ad scored high with viewers on breakthrough measures of likeability and attention.
Budweiser’s heartwarming “Lost Dog” Super Bowl ad appealed to consumers on an emotional level, being driven by likeability and attention. The ad far outperformed its category with an Ace Score of 652, 27.8 percent above the Beer category norm. Other brands that aired Ad of the Quarter-winning Super Bowl ads include McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Discover Card, Always and Supercell.
Dove’s Oscar-debuting ad “One Positive Tweet to Start a Trend” for its #SpeakBeautiful campaign and its partnership with Twitter achieved an Ace Score of 652, 26.3 percent above norm. High likeability scores drove the empowering ad about the domino effect of negativity in beauty and body image speech.
Finally, Prudential Investments’ “Optimism” ad scored 604, 20.8 percent above the category average. Driven by a message of relevance, the ad features a magnet experiment to encourage planning for the future.
To watch and learn more about each of the winning ad visit acemetrix.com/news/blog.
Award Qualification and Methodology
An Ad of the Quarter award recognizes the highest scoring ads of each qualifying category based on ads that debuted between January 1 and March 31, 2015. 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 96 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 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. Ace Metrix collected more than 1,700 ads in the first quarter, scored by more than 170,000 consumers, representing 850,000 quantitative and approximately 510,000 qualitative responses. All ads within categories that had at least 20 unique pieces of creative over the past 12 months, and at least 10 in the quarter, were considered for the award.
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 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.
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