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.”

The nominees for the 2010 Nielsen Automotive Advertising Awards are:

Automotive Ad of the Year

• Cadillac CTS – ‘Kate Walsh’
• Kia Soul – ‘Hamsters’
• Chevrolet Silverado – ‘Howie Long Truckers Truck’

Best Green Ad

• Ford – Drive One ‘Christopher Leaves’
• Toyota – ‘Portfolio Chase’
• Volkswagen – ‘Clean Diesel’

Best Sales Event Ad

• Toyota – Toyotathon ‘Musical Chairs’
• Volkswagen – ‘Sign Then Drive Event’
• Ford/Lincoln/Mercury – ‘Recycle Your Ride’

All national auto ads that began airing in 2009 were eligible for nomination. Winners are determined by response data from 2.5 million viewers of national television advertising collected by IAG, Nielsen’s ad effectiveness measurement service.

“While 2009 was an incredibly challenging year for the auto industry, it’s great to see that it has not lost its focus on producing engaging and highly effective advertising,” said Lois Miller, President of Nielsen Automotive. “These awards are special because the nominated ads are essentially chosen by regular everyday TV viewers, many of whom are potential car and truck buyers.”

This year’s awards will be Nielsen’s fourth annual ceremony at the New York International Auto Show. Last year, Ford Motor Company won Auto Ad of the Year for its commercial for the Ford Focus.

“We are thrilled that the New York International Auto Show is once again hosting the Nielsen Automotive Advertising Awards,” said Candida Romanelli, NYIAS Director. “Nielsen IAG is the leader in measuring advertising effectiveness and these are the only awards of their type for the automobile industry.”

The Nielsen IAG Top 10 Most Recalled In-Program Placements focuses on brand/product placements
occurring in new summer series on the broadcast networks during the July 13 to August 16 period.

The Recall Score is the percentage of television viewers who can recall within 24 hours the brand/
product of an In-Program placement they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing
new summer series. These scores are then indexed against the mean score for all placements
occurring in these programs during the time period (Recall Index). 100 equals average.

Note: For this analysis, In-Program placements were only considered if the occurrence had visual
elements (i.e., was “seen” on-screen) or both visual and auditory elements (i.e., was both “seen” and
“mentioned”). Only first-run episodes were considered. Both planned and incidental exposures were included.

But according to an analysis of the most effective holiday retail TV ads, released Tuesday by Nielsen IAG, retailers did not appear to increase the proportion of promotional ads in the mix this year. 

About half of all TV ads so far this holiday season (Nov. 17 – Dec. 14) have been brand-focused, while the other half have been devoted to sales/price-focused messages — as was the case during the 2007 holiday season.

What’s Hot
Instead of promoting sales events and low prices, the most effective TV ads from retailers this holiday season used strong narratives, nostalgia, and family-focused storylines to communicate a brand’s benefits to viewers. 

“Practical” messages for shoppers were also a successful theme.  Take this year’s most liked holiday retail ad — a Wal-Mart spot that shows lights atop all of the cash register lanes flashing on and off, in sync with a well-known holiday song.  The key message is clear: more open register lanes at Wal-Mart make shopping there more convenient.

What’s Not 
What didn’t work this year?  According to Nielsen, seven of the 10 least liked holiday TV ads were 15-seconds spots — an indication that shorter-length ads garnered less appeal, in this case. 

What’s more, the elements that helped enhance appeal levels in the best-liked ads were largely lacking in the less popular spots.  According to Nielsen, among the commercials at the bottom of the pack, promotional messaging generally accounted for a greater share of the creative, leaving proportionally less room for “entertainment value.”

10 Most-Liked Holiday Retail Ads (Nov. 17 – Dec. 14, 2008)

Likeability refers to the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” after viewing it, among those who are able to recall an ad’s brand.

An ad’s “likeability score” is the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” (among those who can recall an ad’s brand) after being exposed to it during the normal course of viewing primetime TV on the broadcast networks.

Likeability scores are indexed against the mean score for all ads during the time period to calculate a “likeability index.”  A likeability index of 100 indicates average recall. A likeability index of 171, for example, means that an ad was 71% better liked than the average new ad during the four-week time period.

Read the full report.

Chief among these thrifty advertising alternatives – the auto-themed Speed Channel, which Republicans are 52% more likely to watch, compared with the average American.

In comparison, Republican voters are 48% more likely to watch FOX News and 33% more likely to watch Country Music Television. 

The takeaway: well-placed cable advertising can reach core Republican constituents at a more favorable CPM.

Nielsen’s report is based on a survey of 40,000 registered U.S. voters, conducted online on September 30. 

The report’s findings track the TV viewing habits of Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters, pinpointing which TV networks reach the largest percentages of voters of each political affiliation.

View Nielsen PreView’s report.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Independent and The Hollywood Reporter.