Press Release

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—January 9, 2012– Ace Metrix, the authority of television advertising effectiveness, today honors Microsoft Kinect as the 2011 Brand of the Year and State Farm Insurance as the Most Improved Brand of the Year.  Microsoft Kinect delivered twelve ads that earned the highest average Ace Score (619) of the nearly 1,000 brands tracked by Ace Metrix in 2011.  To be considered for Brand of the Year, a brand must have aired at least 10 new television ads during 2011.

“It is a remarkable achievement to make one great ad, which Microsoft Kinect did with its category award-winning commercial ‘Sensor Turned Voice and Movement To Magic.’  It is, however, an entirely different challenge to consistently create great ads – which is exactly what Kinect was able to do in 2011,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix.  “Kinect’s ability to seamlessly blend innovation, possibility, and storytelling across different lengths resulted in an average Ace Score which fundamentally outperformed the field.  To think that Microsoft was able to sustain a strong Kinect launch in 2010 with such a compelling set of ads in 2011 is a testament to their outstanding agencies, brand teams, and production teams.”

Joining Kinect as the most compelling brands in 2011 were M&M’s, Apple’s iPhone brand, Coca-Cola and Applebee’s.

“While It is not surprising to see these iconic brands at the top of the list, it is worth noting that each has distinguished itself in highly competitive categories, not only emerging as the brand leader in areas like mobile devices, casual dining, non-alcoholic beverages, candies and snacks, but across the entire advertising landscape,” Daboll said. “While being likeable is important for brands, the ability to reach consumers across a variety of dimensions, from emotional to rational is what creates a strong Ace Score, and these brands performed exceptionally well in this regard.” 

Most Improved Brand: State Farm
Most Improved Brand of the Year was awarded to State Farm who demonstrated the most significant increase in average Ace Score from 2010 to 2011.

“As a brand, State Farm made extraordinary strides in 2011 compared to 2010,” continued Daboll. “State Farm increased its average Ace Score by almost 14 percent while airing fewer ads.  As a result, they were able to deliver far more value at significantly reduced production costs, making their marketing expenditure work harder in 2011.”

Top Five Brands of 2011, by Average Ace Score*
Click a name below to view five of the brand’s top scoring ads of 2011.

 *Definition:  Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads. Respondents (n=500+) are randomly selected and representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience.  The results are presented on a scale of 0-950, which represents scoring on creative attributes such as Watchability, Relevance, Desire, Attention, Change, Information and Likeability. Norm for ads over the last 90 days is 536.  Brand of the Year is calculated from all brands that fielded more than 10 new pieces of creative in 2011.  Most Improved Brand is calculated from those qualified brands as compared to their Average Ace Score from 2010. Average Ace Score of a brand is determined by totaling all of the Ace Scores earned by a brand in the calendar year of 2011 and dividing by the number of ads aired.