An analysis of the top ads debuting in Q1 of this year revealed that, while Super Bowl ads were among some of the best liked commercials (four of the top five Most Liked ads appeared in the big game), several other creatives managed to break through the clutter as well.
Volkswagen’s Little Darth Vader ad, where a small boy is stunned by his powers, was not only a standout commercial in this year’s Super Bowl, but it also took the top spot among Most Liked new ads of the entire first quarter, according to Nielsen numbers. In fact, overall, six out of 10 Most-Liked ads were not shown in the Super Bowl, including a 30-second spot from M&M, which ranked third on the list.
| Nielsen Top 10 Most Liked Ads: Q1 2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | Brand | Ad Description / Duration | Likeability Index |
| 1 | Volkswagen | Super Bowl — Passat — Little Darth Vader starts car (:30) | 232 |
| 2 | Doritos | Super Bowl — Man licks cheese crumbs off of coworker’s fingers (:30) | 227 |
| 3 | M&M | Convenience store robber threatens to eat M&M hostage if demands are not met (:30) | 225 |
| 4 | Doritos | Super Bowl — Housesitter brings grandpa back to life (:30) | 217 |
| 5 | NFL | Super Bowl — Montage of people watching football on well-known classic TV shows (:60) | 214 |
| 6 | Snickers | Peanut Butter Squared — Woman asks sharks which human tasted better (:30) | 211 |
| 7 | Dove | Woman leaves chocolate gifts for Valentine’s Day, including one for herself. (:15) | 208 |
| 8 | Canada Dry | People pull roots, cans of soda, and a soda machine out of the ground (:30) | 207 |
| 9 | General Electric | Ecomagination — Animated elephant dances in jungle (:30) | 206 |
| 10 | M&M | Pretzel — Patrick Warburton turns into a pretzel M&M after eating them (:15) | 205 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company: Only new ad executions considered, airing from January 1, 2011 to March 31, 2011. 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 who remembered 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 recall index of 232 the top ranked Volkswagen ad has proven to be 2.31 times as memorable as the average new commercial during the past quarter. | |||
For the most memorable ads, the high profile platform provided by the Super Bowl seemed to have more of an impact. Seven of the top 10 ads with the strongest Brand Recall score came from the game. The top commercial featured a Western backdrop, where a cowboy demands Budweiser when he enters a saloon. Overall, the ads with the highest Brand Recall significantly outperformed the average commercial in the first quarter of 2011 – they were more than twice as memorable as other new creatives.
Two Super Bowl ads scored on both Brand Recall and Likeability: a Doritos ad where a man licks crumbs off his co-worker’s fingers (#2 Most-Liked, #3 Most-Recalled), and an NFL montage (#5 Most-Liked, #7 Most-Recalled) ranked in the top 10 on both lists.
lists.
| Nielsen Top 10 Most Recalled Ads: Q1 2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | Brand | Ad Description / Duration | Recall Index |
| 1 | Budweiser | Super Bowl — Cowboy in Western saloon sings (:60) | 232 |
| 2 | Doritos | Super Bowl — Pug knocks down door after boyfriend taunts with chips (:30) | 227 |
| 3 | Doritos | Super Bowl — Man licks cheese crumbs off of coworker’s fingers (:30) | 225 |
| 4 | Yoplait | Light — Woman talks on phone about her diet; husband searches for treats (:15) | 217 |
| 5 | Cheez-It | Wheel of cheese tells immature jokes and is deemed unready to be eaten (:30) | 214 |
| 6 | Pepsi Max | Super Bowl — Pepsi Max — Soda cans shoot out of cooler and hit bullies (:30) | 211 |
| 7 | NFL | Super Bowl — Montage of people watching football on classic TV shows (:60) | 208 |
| 8 | GoDaddy.com | GoDaddy.co — New spokesperson Joan Rivers is revealed (:30) | 207 |
| 9 | Head & Shoulders | Itchy Scalp Care — Woman scratches her scalp on a date and messes up her hairstyle (:30) | 206 |
| 10 | Budweiser | Super Bowl — Bud Light — Dogs work at party (:30) | 205 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company: Only new ad executions considered, airing from January 1, 2011 to March 31, 2011. The Recall Score is the percentage of TV viewers who can remember 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 232 the top ranked Budweiser ad has proven to be 2.32 times as memorable as the average new commercial during the past quarter. | |||
