Stay tuned for Nielsen’s top 10s in TV, digital and entertainment.

Even more surprising was the degree of variability between the different media sellers. Nielsen found that while the three ad networks reached the campaign’s intended audience 20-30 percent of the time, the women’s interest site, due to its audience composition, was most successful at delivering the intended audience.

For more on this case study, download the report, Building Brands in a Cross-Platform World.

Download Nielsen’s top 10s and trends in the U.S. for 2010.

Ad Spending Overview

• $117B was spent on all U.S. advertising in 2009. 57% of all ad spending in 2009 went into Television, making it the largest medium for advertisers. Print media earned approximately 28% of ad dollars, while Internet earned 7% of all ad dollars.
• The top spending product category for national TV was Automotive with $3.4B spent in 2009. The most significant growth by any one category among the top 20 was mobile phones, with national TV spend growing almost 200% to $587M in 2009.
• Ad dollars spent in primetime in national television account for about 50% of total TV ad dollars.
• The 30-second commercial remains the television advertising standard in primetime, accounting for 54% of all commercials (2009). However, the number of 30-second commercials has decreased 5% in primetime, while the number of 15-second commercials has increased 6%.
• For more, including ad effectiveness data, download Nielsen Advertising Fact Sheet.

Event Video

On Monday, Steve Hasker, President of Media Services, The Nielsen Company, announced a “major step forward” in online advertising measurement, Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings.

On Tuesday, Jonathan Carson, CEO of Nielsen’s Telecom practice, presented findings from Nielsen’s Connected Devices Playbook, which measures the impact of iPads, Kindles and various other net-ready devices.

In the U.S, Nielsen monitored national advertising during weekend ABC and ESPN matches, plus all Team USA matches from June 11-26, and found that official sponsors connected better with World Cup fans. Nielsen data showed that the five primary World Cup TV sponsors (Adidas, AT&T, Budweiser, Hyundai and Sony) generated 55% higher Net Likeability on average compared to commercials from other, non-sponsor World Cup advertisers. The sponsors also generated 16% higher Brand Recall on average for their World Cup in-game/in-studio elements, such as the Hyundai “Halftime Report” and the Adidas “First Half Highlights,” versus their typical in-game sponsorship performance in other sporting events.

“Nielsen data clearly shows an advantage for U.S. sponsors who have had an expanded presence in the matches with in-game or in-studio elements,” said Alan Gould, CEO of Nielsen IAG, which measures TV advertising effectiveness and program engagement. “The presence of these elements, which are integrated seamlessly into programming, is likely bolstering the effectiveness of these brands’ traditional TV commercials that air around the matches.”

In examining ad performance of new campaigns launched by World Cup sponsors and non-sponsors since the start of the tournament, Nielsen data also showed that ads from Budweiser, M&M’s, Macy’s, Sony and Hyundai scored highest in Net Likeability, with the greatest percentage of World Cup TV viewers recalling the commercial, the advertised brand, and reporting to like the ad “a lot” or “somewhat.”

Even World Cup fans are not immune to the gender divide as Nielsen ad effectiveness data shows that some World Cup ads seemed to be more engaging to certain genders in the U.S. While ads for Nike and Hyundai generated the high Net Likeability for female World Cup TV viewers, ads from Adidas and Cisco were hits with male audiences.

Both Sponsors and Non-sponsors Faring Well across the Pond
The World Cup, which proved to be a big draw for U.K. viewers, also provided an advertiser-friendly environment for sponsors and non-sponsors alike in the U.K. Nielsen IAG monitored advertising during World Cup programming on ITV1 in the U.K., including game, pre-game and post-game analysis from June 11-22, and found that, among new ad executions airing since the start of the tournament, ads for BT Telecommunications, Churchill Insurance, The Sun, Renault Automobiles and Carling all made the top 5 in Brand Recall. Among the top 5, only two – The Sun and Carling – are World Cup-themed.

A look at all World Cup-themed ads, including those that began airing during the run-up to the tournament, showed that England national team sponsor, Nationwide Building Society, topped the list in Brand Recall, followed by two ads from WeBuyAnyCar.com and the commercials from The Sun and Carling. The spot from Nationwide Building Society also ranked in the top 5 most liked ads, but it was a commercial for Magner’s Irish Cider that scored highest in Net Likeability, with a 22% higher than average number of viewers reporting that they recalled the ad, the advertised brand, and reporting to like the ad “a lot” or “somewhat.”

Official World Cup sponsor Visa, which decided to air World Cup TV ads outside the U.S. only, also saw a significant lift in Likeability within World Cup programming. Visa’s World Cup-themed credit card ad scored a 100% increase in Likeability when it aired during World Cup programming, versus airings for the same ad during non-sports programming. Nationwide Building Society received a nearly 80% lift in Brand Recall and a 95% increase in Likeability for its themed ad during World Cup programming versus when it aired in non-sports programming.

“While official sponsors are seeing their investments pay off as viewers are showing they’re receptive to the advertisements and that the messages are resonating well with the audience, there are clearly also significant opportunities for other advertisers to capitalize on the engaging environment that a major event such as the World Cup provides,” said Gould.

Top Ten Most Liked New Ads, May 10, 2010 to June 6, 2010
RANK	Brand	Description	Likeability Index
1	Target	Black smoke emerges from jungle; “Lost” theme; First Alert smoke detector	209
2	Aflac	Animated kids play roughly with toys; if you get hurt, you get paid cash fast; Toy Story 3	151
3	McDonald’s	Shrek Forever After Glasses–Donkey tells Shrek that outside forces are making him crazy	148
4	Ford	Fiesta–People with arrows highlight gas mileage; 40 more movies, concerts, ballgames	139
5	Walmart	Mom let me show you the coolest rollback in the store; what’s better than a dessert on rollback?	134
6	Johnsonville Sausage	Man wrestles with children at summer barbecue, then runs to grill and eats sausage	124
7	Chevrolet	Everyone deserves a car they can count on; images of cars in testing; Red X engineers obsessed with quality	122
8	Visa	Debit–Characters from Toy Story see Buzz in shopping basket and try to save him from getting bought	121
9	Hebrew National	Hot dogs made with 100% kosher beef; woman dressed as royalty renames them “Queen Elizabeefs”	120
10	Cadillac	CTS V–World’s fastest production sedan; 0-60 in 3.9 secs; car accelerates on street at night	114
Source: The Nielsen Company Only new ad executions considered, airing weeks of May 10 to June 6, 2010. The Likeability Score is the percentage of TV viewers who report to like “a lot” an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV (among those recalling the brand of the ad). These scores are then indexed against the mean score for all new ads during the period (Likeability Index). 100 equals average. For example, with a Likeability index of 209 the top-ranked Target ad has proven to be 109% better-liked than the average new commercial during the past four-week period.

Top Ten Most Recalled New Ads, May 10, 2010 to June 6, 2010
RANK	Brand	Description	Likeability Index
1	Walmart	Watch Mr. Rollback drop the price of your summer cookout; Heinz ketchup, Sara Lee hot dog buns	241
2	Pantene	Stacy London announces the first reality hair star winner during “live” commercial	224
3	Target	Wild boar runs through jungle; “Lost” theme; Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce	210
4	Target	Black smoke emerges from jungle; “Lost” theme; First Alert smoke detector	209
5	Target	Man types numbers into computer; execute button doesn’t work; “Lost” theme	207
6	Subway	Man eating a burger falls through hammock; try a Fresh Fit meal	200
7	Verizon	Droid–Smart phone can see through walls, locate restaurants and shops though viewfinder	193
8	Domino’s	Workers try to get Bill Johnson to try their pizza; 2 medium, 2 topping pizzas for $5.99 each	187
9	Victoria’s Secret	Biofit 7-Way–One bra that you can wear seven ways; different strap arrangements shown	186
10	AT&T	Huge sheets of orange cloth cover buildings and landmarks across the country	182
Source: The Nielsen Company Only new ad executions considered, airing weeks of May 10 to June 6, 2010. The Recall Score is the percentage of TV viewers who can recall within 24 hours the brand of an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV. These scores are then indexed against the mean score for all new ads during the period (Recall Index). 100 equals average. For example, with a recall index of 241 the top ranked Walmart ad has proven to be over 2.4 times as memorable as the average new commercial during the past four-week period.

We’ve heard from countless brand marketers about the need for guidance when it comes to measuring the value of social media advertising. It’s why we’ve made a major investment towards helping advertisers understand how to achieve their brand goals in a social context. Our joint report: Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression provides early insights from Nielsen’s BrandLift product which analyzed survey data from more than 800,000 Facebook users in response to more than 125 Facebook ad campaigns from 70 brand advertisers.

While the medium of social media advertising is still a wild frontier for some, the BrandLift framework solves a number of advertiser concerns by providing quantifiable data that can be mapped to trusted advertising effectiveness benchmarks already in place: Ad Recall, Brand Awareness, and Purchase Intent.

Suggesting You “Become A Fan” Of Social Engagement
Study after study has shown that consumers trust their friends and peers more than anyone else when it comes to making a purchase decision. It’s critical that we understand advertising not just in terms of “paid” media, but also in terms of how “earned” media (advertising that is passed along or shared among to friends and beyond) and social advocacy contribute to campaigns. To that end, we took a closer look at 14 Facebook ad campaigns that incorporated the “Become A Fan” engagement unit and sliced the effectiveness results three different ways, by each of the types of ads available on Facebook: 1) Lift from a standard “Homepage Ad”; 2) Lift from an ad that featured social context or “Homepage ads with Social Context”; and 3) Lift from “Organic Ads,” newsfeed stories that are sent to friends of users who engage with advertising on a brand.

For those Homepage ads at the top of the marketing funnel, awareness increased on average by 4% between exposed and control audiences. Purchase intent also increased on average by 2% following ad exposure on Facebook.

Comparing the responses of those users who had seen ads with social context against users who saw ads with no social context from the same campaign, we saw a measurable lift in lift.

While exposure to the homepage ad itself increased ad recall, those users exposed to both the “paid ad” and the organic impression remembered the ad at three times the rate of those just exposed to the paid homepage ad. We saw a similar effect for the other two metrics evaluated. Homepage ads increased awareness of the product or brand by 4% on average, but exposure to both homepage ads and organic ads increased awareness by a delta of 13% versus the control group. Exposure to organic impressions also impacted purchase intent as well, increasing the impact of the ad from 2% to 8%.

For more on earned media, social advertising and the methodology behind the study, download Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression.

We invite you to ask questions, leave comments below. We’re love to hear your thoughts.

In a recent presentation at the Advertising Research Foundation’s annual RE: Think conference, Dave Kaplan, Senior Vice President, Product Leadership at Nielsen IAG, and Beth Uyenco, Director of Global Research at Microsoft, discussed the ins and outs of online advertising and how to effectively reach video viewers.  Evaluating 238 brands encompassing 412 products in 951 ad executions in streaming full-episode TV programs, Nielsen IAG used the key brand impact metrics of ad recall, brand recall, message recall and likeability to determine the effectiveness of ads.  More than 14,000 surveys were conducted.

The patterns they uncovered were consistent:  video ads run during online full-episode TV programs yield deeper brand impact than corresponding on-air TV ads, with the difference most pronounced among younger viewers age 13-34.

What accounts for this variation in impact between online video and traditional TV? Data shows that web video viewers are more engaged and attentive to the programs they are watching, which is likely a function of the viewing environment and the oft-required active mouse-clicking to initiate nd continue content. Online video is also still a relative novelty compared to traditional forms of media.  Further, and most significantly, reduced ad clutter and the inability to easily skip ads are considerable recall-enhancing factors.

While creating a unique ad specifically for use in online video may be desirable, advertisers might want to consider that TV ads repurposed for online full episodes actually generated the top results. It may be that the TV executions possess higher production values, or that online full episode viewers still prefer the absorptive and passive nature of traditional-style TV spots.

“Advertisers might be able to save money by utilizing those ads already in the hopper. Even when controlling for exposure, we see that repurposed TV spots resonate quite well in the streaming full-episode environment,” said Kaplan.

But the results of the study don’t point toward an “either or” approach to advertising dollar allocation, especially given that audience reach and CPMs can vary greatly between linear TV and online streaming TV.  Instead, the data suggests the benefits of utilizing both platforms in tandem to achieve advertising objectives.

“It appears that leveraging the large reach of TV in combination with the standalone impact and amplifying effect of online video makes for a successful marketing strategy,” said Kaplan.

Specifically, online video ads help to reinforce and strengthen the impact of a traditional TV campaign. Including online video advertising in the media mix and synchronizing with TV greatly improves all key brand metrics, especially message recall.

Spending the most doesn’t necessarily equate to efficiency in viewer recollection, however.  In fact, new research released by Nielsen IAG found that the top four most memorable TV commercials which launched in 2009 included brands that did not spend the most on their respective campaigns in 2009. The two most recalled ads for Flomax promoted awareness of BPH treatment, followed by the HPV vaccine Gardasil and newcomer, anti-depressant Pristiq – were not among the year’s largest spenders for TV advertising by a long-shot.

2009 Most Recalled Prescription Drug/Vaccine Ads

“As with any category of advertising on TV today challenged with the need to cut-through the clutter and drive awareness and ultimately, persuade target viewers to take action, creativity and clarity are essential ingredients for effective and efficient ad development and deployment.  Pharmaceutical drug ads are not exempt from this challenge,” said Fariba Zamaniyan, Senior Vice President within the healthcare practice of Nielsen IAG.

While TV spending for prescription drug advertising has declined over the years, a number of factors contributed to that decline: fewer drug launches, the economic downturn and the increasing scrutiny by the FDA for prescription drug ads to increase the clarity of the delivery of product claim information in the ads. Stricter guidelines have forced an increase in ad length for many prescription advertisers which has resulted in extended ad lengths and ultimately, higher costs. In fact, the number of Rx ads that are greater than 60 seconds in length has nearly tripled since from 2006 to 2009.

“Longer ad lengths has further compounded the pressure marketers in this space already feel to build break-through advertising,” said Ms. Zamaniyan.  “However, longer length ads do not drop the bar when it comes to achieving goals.  Several ads in the top 10 most recalled new ads of 2009 include ad lengths greater than 60 seconds which further demonstrates that compelling and unique creative executions will help you stand out from the rest even if the ad is more than one-minute long.”

In the winning TV ad, streets are occupied by hamsters running in place on exercise wheels until a red Kia Soul pulls up to a stoplight as the passenger window rolls down to reveal a trio of music-loving hamsters who have found “A New Way to Roll.”

The ad was found most effective by Nielsen’s panel of 2.5 million television viewers who answered questions about how much they remembered about the programs and commercials they watched the previous evening throughout the past year. Only TV ads that launched in 2009 were eligible for nomination.

“Our data show that truly effective advertising starts with a great creative idea,” said Lois Miller, President of Nielsen Automotive. “When you combine that idea with a memorable and unique hook that grabs the viewer’s attention, you are going to get the results that we saw from Kia this year.”

This was the fourth year of Nielsen’s Automotive Advertising Awards, which were once again held at the opening breakfast of the New York International Auto Show. Nielsen also distributed awards to Ford for “Green Ad of the Year” and to Toyota for “Sales Event Campaign of the Year.”

The Social Media Effect
But it was Kia whose ad stood out as the best of the best. To maximize its success on TV, the company carried the message to social media, which is now becoming standard practice for marketers both in and out of the auto industry.

“Even before we could get our own copy of the ad online, fans had already found it and posted it on YouTube,” said Michael Sprague, Kia’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Within a couple of months we saw that the ad had a total of over a million online views.”

As Nielsen’s Miller is quick to point out, consumers aren’t just viewing videos on the web; they’re talking about them as well.

“Social media is a living, breathing channel and many companies are scrambling to understand it,” said Miller. “Fortunately, Nielsen can measure social buzz and can give insight into whether marketers are creating positive or negative sentiment in these spaces.”

Watch Automotive marketers and consumers discuss social media’s impact

Whether viewed online or over the airwaves, consumers were able to connect – and connect positively – to Kia’s marketing effort. And that means TV and Internet audiences haven’t seen the last of those hamsters.

“We never envisioned this ad being as popular and effective as it’s become,” said Sprague. “Stay tuned. You’re going to see more hamsters coming this summer.”