“Facebook is an increasingly vital link between consumers and brands.  We will now be able to add deep knowledge of this important social network to our unmatched media measurement and consumer insight across all three screens.  Together, we will be able to provide the missing elements to clients seeking better understanding of how Web content and online advertising affect consumer behavior,” said John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen’s online division. [Watch the Advertising Week keynote from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg featuring comments from John Burbank.]

The alliance comes at an important crossroads.  As with most advertising, online spend was down, but only 2 percent on a year-over-year basis.  At the same time, however, advertising on the top social network and blogging sites increased by 119 percent.

Read the full press release.

In short, value-message and recession-themed ads did not break through TV ad clutter at higher than ordinary rates.  In fact, ad recall of the 67 ads evaluated was at rates lower than historical averages for the 11 advertisers.  Packaged goods manufacturers saw no decline, while retailers registered minor declines.  Financial service, insurance, auto and telecom advertisers posted significant declines. 

Read more about value-themed ads, including case studies of those that were the most effective, in the new edition of Consumer Insight.

That’s not to say every ad in the category was unmemorable. An ad for Claritin featuring Nascar’s Carl Edwards was judged slightly more memorable than last year’s top ad for the category featuring the Nasonex bee. Still, the Claritin ad failed to motivate customers to consider Claritin to the same degree as the Nasonex ad.

Why didn’t this year’s ads leave a strong impression? They just weren’t as good, said Fariba Zamaniyan, senior vice president at Nielsen IAG, Healthcare. “This collectively weaker performance suggests that the creative strength of the advertising is not as strong as it used to be” she said. “In these economic times especially, if you’re going to advertise on TV it has to be memorable. In a high-clutter category like allergy, you can’t afford to miss. Being average isn’t good enough.”

There were more advertisers overall this year (nine, up from seven a year ago) but fewer ads (20 this season, down from 24 a year ago). Ad spending for traditional media within the category from January to April declined 17 percent from a year ago, according to Nielsen Monitor Plus data. That’s about in line with spending declines in other categories, Zamaniyan said. At the same time, allergy advertisers sought the efficiencies they perceived cable TV programming could provide. Nielsen said the allocation to cable ad spending during the January-April period increased 20 percent from a year ago.

The most-recalled ad this year among allergy sufferers aged 25-54 was Claritin’s 15-second “Carl Edwards interview.” No. 2 was Zyrtec’s 30-second “bicycle” ad, which showed a woman taking her bicycle out of storage for a ride now that her allergy symptoms had abated. A year ago, the Nasonex “Bee next to a bottle” was No. 1, followed by Sudafed’s “Teacher head balloon,” which showed a woman’s head blowing up like a balloon as her congestion increased.

Creative quality also is taking the blame for this year’s ads doing less to motivate allergy sufferers to seek remedies. Nielsen IAG found intent to ask the doctor about the prescription brand advertised was down 40 percent from a year ago. Purchase interest declined nearly 20 percent. “Weaker creative which limits the ads’ potential to be recalled has ultimately resulted in lower call to action levels this season,” Zamaniyan said. “Again, the number of ads on air is consistent vs. year ago so, we can’t blame it on clutter – it’s the creative.” She discounted the notion that the down economy could be totally to blame. “It may be one of the factors,” Zamaniyan said. “Advertisers and their agencies often blame the economy, but the takeaway here is that before the advertiser can influence behavior, it has to break through.” As the number of brands advertising increased, she said, that becomes critical. “If the ad is not a unique execution that stands out from the rest and connects with the viewer, then the ability to drive purchase interest or doctor contact is suppressed no matter how recognizable the brand name is,” she said.

Of key interest to advertisers is the finding that 95 percent of teens notice some type of advertising at the mall, with display ads, hanging banners and displays where samples can be tried the most effective.  View the full study, free of charge, here.

“The findings show that teens do in fact notice advertising in the mall, and our study shows that they generally rate it positively,” said Jane Traub, senior vice president of research for Scarborough.

Read the full press release regarding Scarborough’s study here.

But McCain got much more bang for his advertising bucks, according to an analysis by Nielsen IAG.

Nielsen’s survey of 1,600 likely general election voters who watched the Beijing Games found that McCain’s Olympic ads more effectively communicated a basic message, were recalled by more viewers, and triggered a larger intent-to-vote increase among viewers than ads run by Obama’s campaign. 

On average, the two McCain ads that were surveyed — “Celebrity” and “Washington’s Broken” – were recalled by 52% of those polled.  In comparison, just 40% recalled Obama’s two ads, “Hands That Built This Nation” and “It Begins With a Plan.”

That huge lead in general recall translated into a 10% net boost in intent to vote for McCain, while Obama received only a 7% lift from his Olympics TV ads.

There was some good news for Obama — his Olympics ads were apparently “more likable” than McCain’s.  Forty-five percent of Nielsen respondents said they liked Obama’s Olympics ads, while just 33% said they liked McCain’s.