Google scores 2013 Brand of the Year, Ad of the Year

Ace Metrix, which supplies television and video advertising analytics, has awarded a Brand of the Year title to 20 brands from the most competitive categories of 2013. The winning brands earned the highest average Ace Score within their category based on their entire portfolio of national television ads in 2013. Google had an exceptional year, earning the overall Brand of the Year award, the Software and Websites category Brand of the Year and the Ad of the Year for “Here’s to 2013” (Ace Score 663).

“Google’s emergence as a storytelling force is not a recent phenomenon – they have produced outstanding creative for several years now – but 2013 represented a watershed moment for the brand,” said Peter Daboll, Ace Metrix CEO. “Their achievements over the last twelve months are a testament to Google’s ability to personalize technology and create an emotional connection to simple tasks such as search. In the process, Google’s television advertising reminds us that their technology doesn’t just connect us to the world around us; it makes us feel more a part of it.”

Advertisers that have achieved Brand of the Year status delivered a portfolio of work that set them apart from their peers. Nearly 750 brands competed for 20 category titles, from over 5,000 creative executions. In the last year, Ace Metrix scored more than 6,400 ads from over 1,200 brands. Liberty Mutual is the only brand to return to the winner’s list from 2012.

To qualify for Ace Metrix Brand of the Year, a brand must have debuted five or more unique pieces of creative within a category containing more than 100 pieces of creative and five qualifying brands. The Brand of the Year winners earned the highest average Ace Score for their 2013 portfolio of work, outperforming all other qualifying competitors within their category. Data is based on ads initially aired between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013, from data available through January 5, 2014.

Google’s “Here’s to 2013” (Ace Score of 663) outperformed every other ad in its category by 46%, the most of any other brand across every qualifying category.

“Here’s to 2013” debuted on Christmas day and is a reflective, inspirational look at the events of 2013 through the lens of Google Search. The :90 spot is emotional and moving, said Ace Metrix, yet manages to showcase their products from voice to Earth and from video to search. With towering scores across all components, what stands out is the Relevance score – 49% above the Websites category norm. The 706 Relevance score is also fourth highest overall among the more than 6,400 ads scored.

Google additionally earned the overall Brand of the Year award based on its 2013 portfolio of work which achieved an average Ace Score of 570, 24% above the category norm – the largest gap of any other brand compared to its category average.

Simplicity was the key theme on display for technology with Vizio beating out category rivals Samsung, Microsoft and Intel with a series of television ads elegantly displaying their commitment to simplify the increasingly complex television experience. Kindle’s customer service-centric ads disrupted the highly competitive Mobile Devices category swiping the top spot from previous winners Samsung and Apple – notably ranked 4th and 5th respectively. Xbox topped the Video Games and Consoles category with ads that introduced the Xbox One and successfully captured the more elusive female demographic. Netflix stunned the Telecom Services category by outperforming all the telcos and wireless carriers with a portfolio of ads showcasing their evolving subscription offering and content choices.

Brands of the Year, 2013 – listed alphabetically by category