Coca-Cola Summer Ad Takes Top Spot in Winter Olympics TV Advertising
Ipsos research reveals the performance of TV ads aired during the Vancouver Games
April 9, 2010
TV ads by Coca-Cola, Birds Eye and AAMI have been awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals respectively in a new research report by Ipsos which reviewed the performance of 40 different ads broadcast on the Nine Network during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Unlike the ads screened during the Beijing Olympics, where two of the top three TVCs were Olympic themed, none of the top three ads in the Winter Olympics had an Olympic theme. In fact, only two out of the 40 ads tested contained Winter Olympics content and none of these made the top 10.
Ipsos ASI* Executive Director Peter Fairbrother said: "During the 2008 Beijing Games Coca-Cola aired a specifically themed ad ‘Bird's Nest' which only ranked 43rd out of 60.
"However, the company took a different stance this time by showing its feel good Summer ad. This ad is superbly branded and goes to show that Olympic sponsorship and Olympic themed creative is not a sure fire way to guarantee advertising success."
The Winter Olympics Advertising Study published by Ipsos was the only research carried out during the Games that measured advertising awareness, recognition, branding and impact on consumers in terms of relevance and persuasion. Ipsos also carried out similar research in 2008 for the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
The following is a list of the Top 10 performing ads ranked by the Ipsos Advertising Study:
Rank / Ad Name
Olympic Theme
Client
2. Birds Eye – Birds 45 Sec
No
Birds Eye
3. AAMI Safe driver
No
AAMI
4. Chanting Big Mac
No
McDonalds
5. Ford Territory
No
Ford
6. Meadow Lea Small Things
No
Goodman Fielder
7. John West Salmon
No
John West / Simplot
8. Panadol Optisorb
No
GSK
10. White water rafting
No
Bundaberg Beer
*Ipsos ASI is Ipsos's advertising research specialist division.
One standout comparison between the Summer and Winter Olympic advertising is the computer sponsors for both games, Lenovo for Beijing and Acer for Vancouver. Lenovo came in as the Silver medal advertiser during the Beijing Games, while Acer ranked 28th out of 40 ads during the Vancouver Games. Acer adopted a similar ad strategy to Lenovo but was less successful in integrating the product and message into the creative execution. The brand linkage for Acer was also deemed below average and there was also brand confusion.
"Using the Olympics to engage your audience can be a benefit but a brand has to have good creative as well, otherwise it’s a wasted effort," Peter said.
The study also measured awareness among consumers of brands that were official sponsors of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Samsung had significant sponsorship and advertising spend during the games, and scored highest on sponsorship awareness, driven by its Olympic-themed executions.
Notes On Methodology
The Olympics Advertising Study was designed and executed independently by Ipsos ASI with the objective of studying how brand ads perform against each other in their own category and against all other categories all in the context of the extremely cluttered and concentrated media environment of TV during the Winter Olympic Games broadcast.
Ipsos ASI tested 40 different TVCs during the fortnight of the games coverage on the Nine Network. Ads were tested in storyboard format and all shots were de-branded. A total of 1,022 interviews were conducted with respondents aged 18 to 65 years, representative of the national population. All respondents had watched at least one hour of Olympic coverage on Channel 9.
Interviews were conducted on-line using the Ipsos on-line access panel.
Each respondent was shown 10 TVCs selected at random from the pool of 40 ads. They were asked if they could recall having seen the ad during the Olympic broadcast. If an ad was recognised the respondent was then asked what brand was being advertised. They were then asked additional diagnostic questions to ascertain the impact of the ad on the brand.
It is important to note that the consumers measured were an overall Olympic broadcast audience and not the specific target audience of each brand.
For further information contact:
Peter Fairbrother
Ipsos ASI
T: 02 9900 5100
E: peter.fairbrother@ipsos.com
About Ipsos
Ipsos is one of the world's leading survey-based marketing research firms. Founded and run by market research professionals, Ipsos interprets, simulates, and anticipates the needs and reactions of consumers, customers and citizens – locally, nationally and around the world. Ipsos has a direct presence in more than 65 countries globally and conducts research in more than 100.