MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA.—December 5, 2014—Ace Metrix®, the standard in television and video advertising analytics, today announced the 2014 Brand of the Year Watch List, a compilation of the top performing TV brand advertisers across 20 of the year’s most competitive categories. Brands that appear on this list have earned the highest average Ace Score within their category based on their 2014 portfolio of work to date. With just less than a month remaining in the year, these brands are the current candidates for the Brand of the Year distinction, a celebration of creative excellence.
“The Brand of the Year Watch List illuminates the many paths to creative greatness,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “To be among the top performers in one of these competitive categories is an incredible accomplishment and illustrates a brand’s ability to break through and connect to consumers in a meaningful way. This year’s watch list showcases a large number of both newcomers and creative stalwarts, each with a unique story behind the success of their ad portfolio. We are anxious to see which of these brands secure the very top spot come January and if there will be any surprises given the year-end holiday push.”
2014 Brand of the Year Watch List by Category – brands listed alphabetically
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 80 pieces of creative and five qualifying brands as of November 30, 2014. The top five brands to date for each of the 20 Brand of the Year categories are represented above. Ace Metrix will reveal the final Brand of the Year winners for each category on January 7, 2015, once all ads for 2014 have been scored. While the Mobile Devices category currently falls short of the volume requirement, it will still be considered for Brand of the Year due to the highly competitive nature of the category.
More than half of this year’s Watch List includes the 2013 Brand of the Year winners, a marked change from last year. Categories with significant shifts include Beer, Spirits, Candies & Snacks, Household, Packaged Foods, Software & Websites and Telecom Services. The 2013 Watch List can be seen here, and the 2013 Brands of the Year can be seen here. Visit acemetrix.com for more complete coverage.
Automotive
Joining the Luxury Auto list this year are brands Volvo and Audi, while Subaru and Nissan join as newcomers to the Non-Luxury list. For the second year in a row, Buick (the 2013 Luxury Brand of the Year) represents the only domestic contender in the Luxury category. On the Non-Luxury Auto side, however, U.S. vehicles are proudly showcased through 2013 Brand of the Year Winner, Jeep, which appears alongside Ford (the 2012 Brand of the Year winner). Mazda has earned a place on the watch list for the second year in a row.
Beverages
Much like last year, caffeinated brands and complements have made a significant showing on the Non-Alcoholic Beverage list, with Dunkin’ Donuts and International Delight appearing for two years running and Starbucks appearing for the first time this year. Gatorade and Snapple represent the other two non-alcoholic beverages on the watch list with carbonated beverages, once again, notably absent.
2013’s Beer Brand of the Year, Samuel Adams, appears on this year’s watch list, alongside Super Bowl champion Budweiser, which aired the 2nd and 5th highest scoring Super Bowl ads this year. Ace Metrix also welcomed watch list newcomers Coors, Stella Artois and cider brand Redd’s to the Beer list.
Financial
TD Ameritrade, 2013’s Financial Services Brand of the Year, appears on this year’s watch list once again along with veterans to the list Citibank, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. New to the list this year is financial security brand Lifelock.
Restaurants
Last year’s Restaurant Brand of the Year winners, Longhorn Steakhouse and Baskin-Robbins, appear on this year’s Restaurant and Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) watch lists, respectively. Taco Bell is the only newcomer to the QSR watch list, which also includes Dairy Queen, Panera and Pizza Hut. Outback joins the ranks of IHOP, Olive Garden (2012 Brand of the Year Winner) and TGI Fridays, which appear once again on the Restaurants watch list.
Technology Brands
Google, last year’s overall brand of the year winner, remains safely on two technology watch lists: Hardware and Software & Websites. The Hardware list, which also incudes this year’s top Super Bowl advertiser Microsoft, also includes newcomers Intel and Dell. With the exception of Google, the Software & Websites list has completely turned over to newcomers Android, Care.com, GoDaddy, and Squarespace.
2013’s Mobile Device Brand of the Year, Kindle, is joined by the usual suspects Apple and Samsung, as well as HTC and, newcomer this year, LG.
Among Video Games & Consoles, Nintendo and Disney join the list along with XBOX Software—the 2013 category winner—Playstation Software and Ubisoft.
A major overhaul in the Telecom Services watch list is represented by the entrance of Dish, Comcast and T-Mobile alongside Hulu and Verizon FiOS, both watch list veterans for the second year.
Brand of the Year Qualifications
Ace Metrix scores every nationally airing television advertisement across 23 industries, 85 categories and is therefore uniquely qualified to report a brand’s overall effectiveness across the entire video advertising industry’s body of work over a year, as well as year-over-year. To qualify for Ace Metrix Brand of the Year Watch List, brands must have debuted five or more unique pieces of creative within a category containing more than 80 pieces of creative and five qualifying brands. The top five brands to date for each of the 20 categories can be found at www.acemetrix.com/news. Ace Metrix will reveal the final Brand of the Year winners in the first week of January once all ads for 2014 have been scored.
About Ace Metrix
Ace Metrix® is the standard in television and video analytics, dedicated to delivering better, faster and more cost-effective solutions for evaluating video advertising within competitive context. Through the Ace Metrix LIVE® platform, companies access timely, actionable data wherever, whenever they need to, enabling real-time advertising campaign optimization. Combining leading edge technology and patent pending methodology, Ace Metrix is revolutionizing the way marketers measure themselves and their competitive landscape. The Company is privately held and is backed by leading venture capital firms and industry leaders including Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures, Leapfrog Ventures and WPP.
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PR Contact: Michelle Robertson | 646-279-5775 | michelle@kerlancomm.com
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