Commentary
No Social Buzz, But Super Bowl Ad Online Video Views More Than Triples
- by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, February 14, 2012
The plot thickens.
Last week I wrote about how social buzz for Super Bowl ads plummeted — and I mean the skydiving, body-slamming kind — mere minutes after most ads aired. But yet, many of us still went online and watched the ads.
What gives? Are Super Bowl ads being seen — both on TV and online — but just not being talked about?
Because according to a just-released report from WPP’s online and mobile research arm Kantar Video, the top 10 Super Bowl ads saw on average a 13% increase in the return on their media spend when factoring in additional online video impressions.
All the SuperBowl ads accounted for $11 million in earned online video impressions and more than three times an increase in views over last year, Kantar said.
Brands are also seeing big boosts from pre-releasing ads, as Honda and its more than 22 million online views for its Ferris Bueller takeoff spot has learned. But, one must ask if the Honda ad was so popular because it was pre-released, or because it starred an iconic actor reprising an iconic role?
Interestingly, Kantar found that in the auto category, the Audi and Volkswagen spots generated high brand recall.
Online video analytics shop Visible Measures also crunched the numbers, reporting that Volkswagen’s The Bark Side (yes, the cream does rise to the top because that ad rocked my paws off) topped the views chart with 24 million views as of Feb. 9, followed by Honda, Acura, Samsung and M&M ads.
So what do we make of all these views, but not much chatter? For starters, bear in mind I’m not comparing apples to apples. The social buzz and the online video impressions don’t always equate. But even though an ad racks up the video views, it still matters what a consumer does next. Does the viewer talk about the brand? Tell a friend about the spot? Spread the word?
Time will tell whether views alone tell the whole story or whether they need to be coupled with social chatter to translate into true brand lift.
What I do know is this — nearly all ads are better with dogs or cats in them.
not getting the math here based on online video CPMs...even if true, at $3MM/spot, isn't that still a single digit percent bump in value? sounds like someone with a service trying to make their service seem more valuable...and a mediapost reporter not challenging numbers (fairly typical, I find)