“The Super Bowl remains the premier television event of the year, and is one of the few programs in an era of fragmented TV viewership that can still attract a huge national audience,” said Dave Thomas, Nielsen President, Media Client Services.  “This year’s Super Bowl had a compelling narrative, with the underdog New Orleans Saints coming from behind against powerhouse Indianapolis Colts.  There was tremendous interest in both the game and the advertisements leading up to last night and the excitement of the game itself translated into record ratings.”
 

Not surprisingly, New Orleans and Indianapolis earned some of the highest ratings among local markets, with averages of 56.3% and 54.2% of TV households, respectively, tuned to the game. This weekend’s Mid-Atlantic snowstorm kept many viewers inside their homes, leading to impressive ratings in Washington, DC: 

Nielsen found that simultaneous users were most engaged in general interest, e-mail, and online social networks. Sports sites, which might be more directly associated with the game itself, were visited by 18% of simultaneous users.

Almost a quarter of simultaneous users spent some time during the game on Facebook. Those users spent an average of 15 minutes on the site. Google and Yahoo! Mail were also popular destinations for Super Bowl viewers.

Bruce Springsteen’s 2009 halftime performance coincided with the release of his newest album “Working on a Dream.” The show helped the album debut with 224,000 copies sold in its first week. The performance also boosted The Boss’s overall catalog, with all other album sales soaring 218% in the following week.

If digital downloads were any indication, Springsteen’s halftime set list was also a hit. In the week after the Super Bowl, digital sales surged for each of his four performed songs: “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” (+1320%), “Glory Days” (+602), “Born To Run” (+360) and “Working on a Dream” (+221%).

“The Super Bowl halftime show is an incredible driver of music sales time and time again,” says Dave Bakula, SVP of Analytics for Nielsen Entertainment. “Big televised events like the SuperBowl and the Grammy Awards help expose artists to millions of Americans of different ages that they may not normally be exposed to. When a classic rock artist, like Springsteen or Tom Petty, performs in the SuperBowl, it also reminds fans why they fell in love with the artist in the first place and drives those people to purchase.”

Post Game TV Bump
Only a handful of TV shows have ever had the benefit of a Super Bowl lead-in. For network programmers, the post-game timeslot offers a rare opportunity to introduce a program to a wide range of viewers that they may not otherwise reach. Since 1990, the most watched post game broadcast was a special episode of Friends that aired after Dallas beat Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX on NBC.

Another measure of success for these shows is the percent of viewers retained from the game. Friends, for example, held 56% of the 94 million Super Bowl XXX viewers. More recently, post-Super Bowl programming has seen mixed results:

While we are not yet spending 90% of our time watching “glowing rectangles” as The Onion joked last year, Americans are consuming more and more video across all three screens (TV, Web, Mobile) according to our recent A2/M2 Three Screen Report. But do we watch TV online the same way we watch on our living room TV?

Looking at Nielsen’s online panel data of U.S. visitors to online TV sites (ABC.com, CBS.com, CWTV.com, Hulu.com, or NBC.com) in the last 30 days, we actually found more differences than similarities when it came to viewing behavior, demographics, and even ad effectiveness. Demographically, those watching online TV Network video are closer to DVR users by gender breaks, but closer to the general online population relative to age.

The broader usage patterns suggest that online video is, for the most part, a replacement of DVR use, or used by those who do not have immediate access to TV. In short, TV network content online is used to catch up with programming, and not typically as a replacement for TV viewing as results from our email survey showed.

When We Watch
Online TV Network consumption appears to be an activity set aside in specific sessions from most other online activities. When we go online to watch TV shows, that activity dominates that particular online session, with women and the 18-34 crowd spending the biggest parts of their sessions on network viewing.

While many of us may watch TV with friends or family members, the viewing of TV shows online proves to be a rather solitary activity. This may change as internet connectivity to our main TV screens becomes more ubiquitous, but right now, the majority of online viewers prefer to be alone.

Advertising Impact
TV commercial spots reused online appear to be more impact on recall and likeability than creative just designed for online as this case study with food and beverage ads shows.

This look into the similarities and differences of TV viewing on the web should be a reminder to brand managers that “context” is just as much king these days as content.

“Focus on the Family” earned 33.4% of total Super Bowl buzz in a two-month period ending January 31st. ManCrunch achieved 6% of the total online buzz in that time, even though its commercial will not air during the Super Bowl after CBS declined to run it. Similarly, Pepsi is the second most discussed advertiser associated with the Super Bowl in the last two months, despite company plans to not advertise the brand during this year’s game.

“The early buzz data makes one thing clear — controversy drives conversation,” said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of digital strategy at The Nielsen Company. “Both the anti-abortion ad and the gay-themed ad have triggered significant levels of conversation. Other advertisers looking to drive buzz on top of their ads may need to work a bit harder to navigate around the controversial content.”

Even though the “Focus on the Family” ad has earned the most online buzz, 75% of it is not directly linked to the organization. Consumers instead often refer to it as the “Tim Tebow ad” or the “Tim Tebow pro-life ad” without directly mentioning “Focus on the Family.”

The emergence of hot-button social issues alters the landscape of where Super Bowl marketing is discussed. While online sports communities remain a force in the Super Bowl marketing dialogue, political message boards are driving 21% of the buzz.

There’s a reason why products, brands, and issues associated with the Super Bowl generate so much hype. According to Nielsen’s historical data, ten Super Bowls rank among the 20 highest rated U.S. broadcasts since 1961. Meanwhile, the top 50 sports broadcasts of all time include 40 Super Bowls – meaning only three of the game’s telecasts do not make the list.

Last year’s game was the most viewed Super Bowl ever with an average of 98.7 million viewers. It was the fourth consecutive year of overall viewership growth since Super Bowl XXXIX was viewed by 86.1 million in 2005. The trend is also clear when broken down by men and women.

“The post Christmas hangover was longer and deeper this year with snow and ice disrupting shopping patterns, resulting in fewer shopping trips being made.  Where shoppers did carry on shopping however, some spending was bought forward into the week ending 9^th January as consumers stockpiled.   As a result, sales in the following 2 weeks were more subdued.  Many seasonal lines also came off promotion and this would have impacted sales.  Retailers will need to encourage shoppers to keep spending over the next few weeks to lift momentum,” said Mike Watkins, senior manager retailer services at Nielsen.

“The ‘big freeze’ has highlighted some unusual shopping trends: in the 3 weeks ending January 16, sales of salt increased 128 percent overall and 185 percent in convenience stores.  Cat litter was widely recommended as an alternative to grit and sales of this jumped 31 percent during the snowy weeks.  Meanwhile, sales of basics like tea (+10%), coffee (+8%) and soup (+16%) also grew as shoppers stocked up and battened down the hatches.  Convenience stores also benefited from shoppers and commuters staying at home and treating themselves to breakfast.  Sales of eggs were up 33 percent, bacon up 24 percent, sausages up 33 percent and hot cereals up 39 percent.  And rather heartwarmingly, we looked after our wildlife – sales of bird food shot up 73 percent,” said Watkins.

12-Weeks to January 23, 2010 Share of Grocery Market Spend by Retailer and Value Sales % Change

Part 5 of 5 on Healthy Eating Trends and Myths

Tom Pirovano, Director of Industry Insights

For years, retailers, manufacturers and marketers have been clamoring for a single benchmark that would facilitate comparisons of healthy eating patterns by key regions and time periods. Although The Nielsen Company has frequently reported on healthy eating trends, most insights have been focused on individual characteristics or product claims like “organic” or “fat free.” The missing piece of the puzzle has been a single measure that includes a combination of several key healthy eating indicators across multiple categories.

By combining the sales of 13 healthy eating components relative to total (UPC-coded food sales), the Nielsen Healthy Eating Index can track healthy eating choices over time and monitor the impact of industry health and wellness initiatives. The index is calculated by adding supermarket sales for products with health claims on their label, like “natural” or “reduced calorie.” Sales are also added from some inherently healthy categories like fresh produce.

Adjustments are made to give more weight to key healthy eating indicators with relatively low sales like omega and antioxidant claims. Other health claims with strong sales like “reduced fat” and “natural” are given less weight to avoid having fluctuations in commodity prices adding volatility to the Index.

Some products with multiple health claims like bread labeled “organic,” “whole wheat” and “high fiber” are counted in each group. The total dollar volume of these products is then divided by total UPC-coded food sales to make sure the Index is not disrupted by severe changes in total food volume or pricing.

For example, the data below shows that dollar sales of foods making an “antioxidant” claim represent 4.1% of the Index based on dollars and a weighting factor of 200%. Products with “Fat” claims make the largest contribution to the Index – even when excluding milk sales and factoring by 50%.

According to the Nielsen Healthy Eating Index, the U.S. is making progress on the healthy eating front, scoring 402 in 2009 vs. 389 in 2008. The chart below shows the seasonal nature of healthy eating habits across the U.S. You’ll notice that every year, consumers make unhealthy food choices over the holidays. Then in January, diets get back on track and healthy eating is a priority again. Another observation is that January seems to set the tone for healthy eating throughout the year. The month of September (back-to-school) is another time when Americans tend to make healthier food decisions.

The Nielsen Healthy Eating Index is a subjective approach to measuring healthy eating trends including better-for-you alternatives. It will allow both retailers and manufacturers to measure their efforts to promote healthier food choices. For more information on food and nutrition, visit the American Dietetic Association at www.eatright.org. For information on USDA’s dietary guidance and recommendations, visit www.mypyramid.gov.

Over time we expect to fine-tune the Nielsen Index based on the latest nutritional research available. Stay tuned to Nielsen Wire for more on this new metric. In the coming weeks, we will look at January healthy eating trends setting the pace for 2010. We’ll also compare major U.S. markets using the Nielsen Healthy Eating Index.

Healthy Eating Trends

• Part 1: Commitment Trumps the Economic Pinch
• Part 2: Organic Enthusiasts Remain Loyal
• Part 3: Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have To Cost More
• Part 4: Store Brands Expand Healthy Offerings
• Part 5: Healthy Eating Index Debuts

Part 4 of 5 on Healthy Eating Trends and Myths

Tom Pirovano, Director of Industry Insights

U.S. retailers continue to make progress in offering store brand products with health claims relevant to shoppers looking for healthier food choices. Store brands flexed their marketing muscle in the health claims arena putting impressive growth numbers on the leader board in emerging, albeit smaller, trend areas such as genetically modified organism (GMO) free, gluten free and absence of a specific fat. Store brands now comprise almost 40% of products with preservative claims, one-fourth of organic product sales, and nearly one-fifth of all products with natural and fat claims in food/drug/mass merchandise retailers.

Supermarkets have been quick to launch certified organic products with their own store brands. And in the natural food channel, research from SPINS shows that the natural food consumer will migrate to items that deliver natural product benefits and full flavor under a familiar retail banner.

The success of Topco’s Full Circle line encompassing more than 1,000 products in 90 categories, the 300 “O” Organics products and 200 Eating Right items speak to the potential of retailer brands throughout the store. More categories are soon to follow, based on the recent announcement that Sam’s Club plans on launching a private label Rue 33 premium French vodka, likely inspired by the success of rival Costco’s Kirkland label of vodka, scotch, tequila, wines and beer.

Conversely, store brand development lags with respect to the products with newer claims such as high fructose corn syrup free, with many retailers adopting a wait-and-see attitude to determine if a claim has “legs” or is merely the latest blip on the consumer trend screen.

Healthy Eating Trends

• Part 1: Commitment Trumps the Economic Pinch
• Part 2: Organic Enthusiasts Remain Loyal
• Part 3: Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have To Cost More
• Part 4: Store Brands Expand Healthy Offerings
• Part 5: Healthy Eating Index Debuts

“Staying in is the new ‘night out’ and we see this trend continue to play out with the Super Bowl,” said Nick Lake, vice president, group client director, Beverage Alcohol at Nielsen. “Consumers continue to rein in spending and while this ‘new normal’ provides challenges for restaurant and bar owners, it presents opportunities for consumer packaged goods (CPG) retailers and manufacturers.”

Nielsen’s survey of more than 28,000 U.S. households also shows that 86 percent of Super Bowl viewers plan to spend the same amount or less on food and beverages for the Super Bowl this year, while only five percent plan to spend more.

Beer and The Big Game
While beer and football are popular American pastimes, the Super Bowl, somewhat surprisingly, is not the most popular beer holiday. Nielsen’s research shows that the Super Bowl ranks relatively low among holiday beer sales, after the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Halloween.

“We see the lowest amount of beer sales during the first quarter of the year leading up to a peak in the summer,” said Lake. “However, the Super Bowl continues to be a bigger and bigger event where consumers drink billions of servings of beer servings at home. Beer marketers are taking advantage of that opportunity to drive sales during what is typically a slower period for beer purchases.”

Grocery the Big Winner
Nielsen’s analysis shows that with the exception of late March, grocery retailers experienced the biggest weeks for Q1 beer sales during the two weeks surrounding Super Bowl 2009, with nearly 17 million cases sold.

“At-home viewing of the Super Bowl is predominantly more of an opportunity for grocery stores, rather than other CPG retailers,” said Lake.  “Today’s consumers want value but also want convenience.  While picking up snacks and soda, they’re adding beer to their grocery baskets.  In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, look for heavy promotions at grocery stores, encouraging consumers to take advantage of the one-stop-shop for their Super Bowl party needs.”

No Kickoff Without Snacks
Super Bowl viewers across the country stock their at-home parties with snacks, nearly 166 million pounds of snacks, especially salty snacks.  Potato chips reign, with more than 44 million pounds of snacks sold while tortilla chips and pretzels also rank high for Super Bowl sales.  The Super Bowl snack with the greatest growth?  Popped popcorn!

Private Label Snacks Gaining Ground
Consumers in the ‘”new normal” are trying private label or store brand items more than ever before and this trend holds true for snack items with private label snacks gaining ground.  For example, during the two weeks surrounding the Super Bowl in 2007, private label snacks held a dollar share of 6.8 and an equivalized share of 10.4.  During the two weeks surrounding the Super Bowl in 2009, this jumped to a dollar share of 8.1 and an equivalized share of 12.5.   Similar trends are evident for private label crackers, nuts and frozen pizza.