• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, February 11, 2008

Super Bowl Ad Wrap: This Bud's The Thing

According to the results of the  comScore annual Super Bowl post-game survey the television broadcast averaged a record 97 million viewers throughout the game, making the event even more important than usual for this year's advertisers. The most popular advertiser during the Super Bowl was Anheuser-Busch, whose commercials for Bud and Bud Light (including comedian Will Ferrell's offbeat spot) scored well amongst viewers, with nearly half indicating they would most like to see the commercials again.  Beverage spots were particularly popular this year, with a large percentage of respondents saying they would also like to see ads for Pepsi (28 percent) and Coca Cola (25 percent) again.

More key findings

11 percent of respondents indicated they used the Internet to monitor stats and stories related to the game, while 3 percent said they went online to place bets on the game.

 This year, 13 percent of respondents said that they watched a Super Bowl ad online after the game. A similar 13 percent also said that they visited an advertiser Web site after the Super Bowl. Of those who visited an advertiser's Web site:

• 38 percent said they visited GoDaddy.com
• 22 percent visited Coca Cola's site
• 21 percent visited Pepsi's site

Each of this year's advertisers did see some level of brand improvement, hopefully ameliorating, to some extent, the reported $2.7 million price tag for a 30-second spot

 Hyundai's advertisement for the Genesis had the most positive impact on its brand, with 46 percent of respondents indicating it helped the brand, while just 1 percent said it damaged the brand, giving it a net improvement score of 45 percent. Anheuser-Busch once again got an overwhelmingly positive response, while Bridgestone earned the third highest net improvement score with its humorous ad featuring Richard Simmons.

 SalesGenie.com had the highest "brand damage" score, but still managed a small net improvement score. Perennially controversial Super Bowl advertiser GoDaddy.com also drew a high negative response with its racy ad featuring race car driver Danica Patrick.

 Busch's performance in this study reinforces the persuasive power of combining likeability with the right messaging... Regardless of how many hits they receive, Sales Genie, missed an opportunity by turning off almost as many people as they turned on."

 For more information, please visit comScore here.