Ace Metrix Names Q3’s Most Powerful, Most Inspiring and Funniest Ads

Brands achieve rare levels of emotional connection with viewers

LOS ANGELES — Ace Metrix, the leader in measuring the impact of video advertising, today released three lists of outstanding Q3 creative that achieved rare levels of powerful, inspiring and funny emotional connections with viewers.

@Ace_Metrix just released Q3’s most powerful, most inspiring and funniest ads. Brands on each list achieved rare levels of emotional connection with viewers.

The lists were derived using Ace Metrix’s new, groundbreaking approach that measures 57 different reactions/emotions in ads, such as heartfelt, nostalgia, humor, authenticity, preachy, sexist, boring. The methodology is based on deep Natural Language Processing and machine learning analysis of hundreds of viewer reactions to every ad – in their own words.

Some of the ads on each list rank in the 99th percentile for the given emotion/reaction. At a time where advertising has to go beyond simply entertaining and actually make an emotional connection, these brands achieved great success in Q3.

Q3’s Most Powerful

Fewer than 12% of all ads in our database spark this reaction from viewers, and the top five ads are more powerful than 97% of those. A strong message is the foundation of any ad that fires signal for “Powerful,” as viewer responses include phrases such as: “a real sucker for,” “bold message,” “extremely powerful message,” “liked her message,” and “meaningful message.”

Rank Brand Ad Title Length Likeability Score Powerful Percentile
1 Dawn

Dawn Helps Clean Wildlife

0:30 814 99th
2 Chik-Fil-A

Rewarding Service

0:30 701 99th
3 Ford

Hard Workers

0:30 707 97th
4 Nike

Do It :60

1:00 700 97th
5 FedEx

Tortoise & Hare

1:00 741 97th

Q3’s Most Inspiring

Inspiring ads are far and few between, as less than 9% of all ads register any signal for this emotion. Stories about facing adversity to achieve one’s dreams evoke comments from viewers that include the following phrases and words: “courageous,” “dream can come true,” “empowering!,” “inspiration,” “no matter disability,” and “their goal.” Of those that inspire, the ads on this list rank in the 95th percentile and above.

Rank Brand Ad Title Length Likeability Score Inspiring Percentile
1 Strayer University

Never Stop Growing

1:00 635 99th
2 Nike

Just Do It — Serena Williams

1:00 722 97th
3 Boeing

Experience

0:30 668 95th
4 Nike

Dream Crazy 2:00

2:00 705 95th
5 State Farm

Wish You Were Here

0:15 662 95th

Q3’s Funniest

With about 25% of all ads going for laughs, or at least a chuckle, funny is one of the most common emotions triggered in advertising. Viewer responses include words and phrases such as: “chuckled,” “cracked me up!,” “extremely funny,” “genuinely laughed out loud,” “hahah!,” “hilarious,” “lmaooo,” and “quite humourous.” These ads all ranked in the 99th percentile for funny:

Rank Brand Ad Title Length Likeability Score Funny Percentile
1 Southwest

Get Away :15

0:15 702 99th
2 Geico

Great Hands

0:30 655 99th
3 Gain

Dad Wins

0:30 657 99th
4 Jack-in-the-Box

Jack’s Bowls

0:30 630 99th
5 Ore-Ida

Introducing Ore-Ida Potato Pay

1:05 643 99th

You can find a detailed version on the Ace Metrix website, here.

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix® is the standard in television and digital video analytics, dedicated to measuring the impact of video ad creative. We provide data and insight to enable marketers and creative teams to produce more impactful work, test and adjust creative executions in real-time, and understand what creative drivers impact their brand KPIs. 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.