Doritos, Hyundai and Cars.com Score Big – Budweiser, Century 21 and Dannon Fumble ROI

Not all TV programs are right for all brands –even if it happens to be the Super Bowl. But the 10th annual Super Bowl Engagement Survey– conducted by Brand Keys, Inc., a New York-based brand and customer loyalty research consultancy – reports that when it comes to winning, only half of Super Bowl XLIV’s advertisers will get real returns on their sizeable investments.

“The Super Bowl has long been a showcase of ‘creative’ advertising and ‘buy big’ audiences. But ultimately all TV spots are judged by how well they perform off the field. Do they engage customers, drive positive behavior, sales, and build the brand?” asked Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys’ president. “Awareness is the price-of-entry to this arena. No Super Bowl advertiser is in this to increase awareness. Everybody already knows them. So if awareness isn’t the goal, brand engagement must be the ultimate measure of an advertising touchdown.”

This year’s Brand Keys Super Bowl Engagement Survey was conducted January 14th and 15th, three weeks before the February 5th game, polling a national sample of 1,500 men and women, 18 to 65 years of age, who indicated that they are going to watch Super Bowl XLVI. The research examined the brands reported in industry publications as Super Bowl advertisers and determined to what degree brand values were affected by the Super Bowl venue. Advertisers are classified as “winners” (+5 brand equity points), “losers” (-5 or more brand equity points), or “tied” (brand values were left unaffected by the Super Bowl setting), with results as follows:

Winners

Doritos (+13)
Hyundai (+12)
Cars.com (+10)
Audi (+9)
Coke (+8)
Pepsi (+7)
GoDaddy.com (+6)
M&Ms (+6)
CareerBuilder (+5)
Skechers (+5)
Toyota (+5)

Losers

Kia (-5)
Teleflora (-6)
Dannon (-6)
Best Buy (-7)
Century 21 (-8)
Budweiser (-9)

Ties

Chrysler (-0-)
Volkswagen (-0-)
GM (-0-)
NBC ‘The Voice’ (-0-)
Bud Light Platinum (-0-)
Honda (-0-)

The Super Bowl Engagement Survey, like the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index predictively measures respondents’ true reactions to brands with the context of the medium. Results correlate highly with consumer behavior, and have been validated as reliable predictors of future brand purchase.

The final score: brand engagement is vastly different from being watched, being entertained, or being talked about. “A laugh, a sigh, or a tweet aren’t really acceptable returns on an investment this size,” noted Passikoff. “At a time when everyone is being pressed for greater strategic and monetary accountability, being able to judge that before you sign the check is the real definition of a winner.”

Contact Brand Keys
Robert Passikoff
Email: Robertp@BradKeys.com
212 532 – 6028 x13