Are drug advertisements losing their zing?
According to Nielsen IAG, this year’s pharmaceutical commercials have been far less memorable for consumers than drug ads aired in 2007, Brandweek reported Friday.
Nielsen IAG ranked the most-recalled prescription drug ads in 2007 and 2008, and found that consumer recall indexes for this year’s pharma ads were significantly lower than indexes for the most memorable prescription drug commercials in 2007.
“The overall average has come down. A high bar was set, but now it’s just not as high,” Fariba Zamaniyan, Senior Vice President, healthcare, Nielsen IAG, told …

On Monday, the Los Angeles Times ran a feature on television product placement and Nielsen’s efforts to measure this fast growing new segment of the advertising industry.  
The story focused on Nielsen’s Product Placement Service, which tracks product placement occurrences, and Nielsen IAG, which measures the effectiveness of advertising and product placements.
Alan Gould, Co-Chief Executive, Nielsen IAG, told the LA Times that Nielsen aims to provide the first comprehensive service for tracking product placement.  “If we do our jobs correctly, we will become the dominant way in which the industry measures …

Taco Bell’s Fruista Freeze spot, which features a giant talking turtle, topped Nielsen IAG’s list of the 10 most-liked new TV ads featured in Advertising Age on Wednesday. 
The Ad Age list also ranked the 10 most-recalled ads for the four-week period from May 19 to June 15, 2008.  Cymbalta’s “Where does depression hurt; Who does depression hurt?” ad topped that list.
Nielsen IAG measures consumer engagement with television programs, national commercials and product placements.