MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—October 3, 2011– Ace Metrix™, the authority in television advertising effectiveness, today announced the Ace Metrix Quarterly Top 10 national ads for the third quarter of 2011, a list led by September 11th tribute ads from Budweiser and State Farm, which garnered Ace Scores of 665 and 662, respectively (on a scale of 950). The list, which was also dominated by ads for food including Sonic, Bisquick, Subway and Red Lobster, also featured ads from auto makers Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, as well as MasterCard and Clorox.
“Much to the distaste of many in the advertising community, September 11th represented the largest TV advertising event of the quarter and possibly the year,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “9/11 ads from Anheuser-Busch and State Farm broadly appealed to consumers, overshadowing a quarter that was otherwise dominated by food ads. It’s also notable that while they did not achieve overall Top 10 status, Chevrolet’s 9/11 ads represented four of the top 10 non-luxury automotive ads this quarter.”
Most Effective TV Ads of Q3 2011*
| Brand | Ad Title | Overall Ace Score |
| Budweiser | 9/11 Tribute | 665 |
| State Farm Insurance | Thanks (also a 9/11 Tribute) | 662 |
| Sonic | Man Has Food Fantasy | 657 |
| Nissan Full Line | Vision | 652 |
| MasterCard | Ray Romano: Stand Up to Cancer | 646 |
| Bisquick | Unleash the Hidden Power | 646 |
| Subway | Skip the Grease | 643 |
| Mercedes-Benz | Vic Gundotra: Drive to Distraction | 643 |
| Clorox | Kitchen Volcano Eruption | 643 |
| Red Lobster | Grill Cooking with Charles Himple | 642 |
*Definition: Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads. Respondents 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 relevance, persuasion, watchability, information, attention, etc.
American Consumers Were Hungry in Q3
The effectiveness of food ads in Q3 of this year was a departure from last year when Apple’s iPad ads and other tech ads dominated Ace Metrix’ most-effective list of Q3 2010. Indeed, Restaurant and food ads performed better than a year ago and represented four of the top 10 most effective ads this quarter verses only one (from Dominoes Pizza) for Q3 of last year.
“It is well-documented that people crave food during stressful economic periods, a potential driver of interest in creative food messages in a quarter when economic uncertainty was one of the greatest headlines,” Daboll commented. “The broad spectrum of food—from burgers to pancakes and then from healthy subs to grilled seafood—indicates a lack of consistency in consumer appetites—and a great opportunity for food advertisers in an economy that shows little sign of improvement.”
Sonic’s “Food Fantasy” ad was the most successful QSR ad this quarter and the most effective ad overall behind Budweiser and State Farm’s 9/11 ads. The ad, which touted Sonic’s focus on customized orders scored an impressive 657 Ace Score, 79 points higher than the average fast food score of 578. Interestingly, it also performed particularly well among young women, driven by high attention and likeability scores.
Following Sonic was an ad from Nissan, which topped the list of most-effective automotive ads for the quarter. Nissan, which produced the 2nd-most effective ad in Q3 2010, represented three of the top 10 non-luxury automotive ads for the quarter, along with 5 ads from Chevrolet, four of which were September-11th themed.
Finally, Mastercard’s ad, which promoted its partnership with “Stand up to Cancer,” was the top-scoring financial services ad, and Clorox’s “Kitchen Volcano” ad was the top-scoring household product ad of the quarter.
About Ace Metrix
Ace Metrix is the industry authority in measuring and understanding the impact of advertising creative. Through patent-pending Ace Score™ measurement technology, Ace Metrix collects and measures the consumer impact of every nationally breaking TV ad in near real-time. Through its Creative Lifecycle Management™ suite of products, Ace Metrix provides actionable creative analysis, from ideation through real-time in-market performance optimization, to many of the world’s leading advertisers and agencies. Ace Metrix works with leading global advertisers.
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