Tech Ads Most Effective in 2010

With the launch of new devices like the iPad and 3-D–enabled TVs, it’s not surprising that five of the top 10 ads that viewers found most convincing in 2010 promoted consumer tech products, according to ad effectiveness tracker Ace Metrix. The No. 1 spot of the year, per Ace, was an ad for a Samsung 3-D TV set that debuted in the first quarter—this amid a furious marketing battle to showcase the new offering in the wake of positive buzz from hit 3-D movie Avatar. The Samsung ad, titled “Wonder-full,” features a family in their living room about to watch TV. When they put on 3-D glasses and settle onto the sofa, sea life swims out of the set toward them. "Ever wonder how amazing it would be to experience life in another dimension?" the ad’s voiceover asks. The Samsung spot garnered a total 736 out of a possible 950 points, and achieved the highest overall Ace Metrix score since the ad assessment firm launched its service in June 2009. Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett created the ad. "The main thing we looked at was how to create something that dramatized 3-D in this 2-D medium," said Burnett executive creative director Bob Price, shortly after the campaign broke. The campaign, added Price, “is always going to be defined by what we're calling these moments of wonder; something wonderful that the consumer can do.” A second-quarter spot promoting a brand in the somewhat more prosaic category of dish liquid took the No. 2 spot on Ace’s 2010 top 10 list. But the ad’s emotional appeal was boosted by real-life events as it debuted just days before the disastrous BP oil spill. The spot conveyed a message about how the product—Procter & Gamble’s Dawn Ultra—is used to save endangered wildlife. The ad, created by The Kaplan Thaler Group, featured oil-soaked birds and marine mammals being bathed in Dawn Ultra along with a pitch to buy the product and help build P&G's $1 per bottle donation fund to wildlife groups. The ad, titled “Wash Away,” scored a 699 and became the highest-ranked, cause-related message rated by Ace. Ace Metrix, which launched in mid-2009, analyzes the creative effectiveness of TV commercials. Proprietary software provides near-real-time reports on new national TV ads across major categories such as auto, retail, packaged goods and movies based on the impressions of a nationally representative sample of 500 consumers. In 2010, there were approximately 4,900 new national TV spots, per Ace.Two ads from Apple also made the list (one for the iPhone and another for the iPad), as did ads from Sony, Mars, Nestle, Starbucks and HP. (Click here to view Ace’s top 10 list.) Separately, looking at ads debuting in the fourth quarter, the consumer tech category was even more dominant, taking seven of the top 10 spots, led by a Sony gaming spot. “This reflects the overall consumer interest in new and innovative technology products that we saw resonate throughout 2010,” said Peter Daboll, CEO, Ace Metrix. (For the complete list of top fourth-quarter ads, click here.)

Brand Marketing

Tech Ads Most Effective in 2010

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