LOS ANGELES, CA–June 8, 2011 – Ace Metrix™, the authority in television advertising effectiveness, today revealed the most popular video game TV advertisers and ads this year, a list dominated by Ubisoft’s “Just Dance 2” ads and ads for combat games from Time Warner, Sony and Activision.
Take Two Interactive’s “Monkey See, Monkey Do!” spot, the most effective ad overall this year (Ace Score 623), also scored highest among moms and light gamers. However, despite having the most effective ad of the year, ads for the company’s MLB games dragged down its overall Ace Score to 559, making Take Two the 11th most effective game advertiser YTD.
“Ubisoft’s overall Ace Scores were certainly bolstered by its popular ‘Just Dance’ ads featuring the Wii platform, and Take Two’s ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ ad appealed to the masses and was ‘Mother Approved,’ a winning combination,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “The ‘shooter’ games, like WB’s Mortal Kombat, Lucas’ Clone Troopers, and Sony’s Navy Seals, all scored off the charts with heavy gamers despite doing relatively poorly with Moms, driving the overall effectiveness scores for Time Warner and Lucasfilm, which both ranked among the top 3 overall advertisers.”
One mom said, “I would never let these violent games in the house,” while a 16-20 male summed it up by saying the ads were “awesome!”
In fact, Lucas Art’s “Clone Trooper Does An About Face” ad, which was the 8th most effective ad overall, also scored highest among medium gamers (those who bought 6-12 games in the last year). Scoring highest among heavy gamers was Activision’s Call of Duty “NYC is Under Attack” ad. Heavy gamers are defined as those who purchased 12+ games in the past year.
Nintendo’s Wii Mario Sportsmix ad performed well, unlike its Pokemon Black & White ad, landing Nintendo in the #9 overall effective game advertiser spot.
Most Effective Game Advertisers, YTD*
| Rank | Company | # Ads YTD | Average Ace Score* |
| 1 | Ubisoft | 5 | 607 |
| 2 | Lucas Film | 2 | 595 |
| 3 | Time Warner | 7 | 583 |
| 4 | Majesco | 2 | 581 |
| 5 | Walt Disney | 2 | 570 |
| 6 | Electronic Arts | 22 | 569 |
| 7 | Capcom Entertainment | 6 | 568 |
| 8 | Square Enix | 2 | 566 |
| 9 | Nintendo | 10 | 564 |
| 10 | Sony | 10 | 563 |
| 11 | Sega | 2 | 562 |
| 12 | Take Two Interactive | 11 | 559 |
| 12 | THQ | 20 | 559 |
| 12 | Activision Blizzard | 10 | 559 |
| 15 | Foundation 9 Entertainment | 1 | 558 |
| 16 | Trion Worlds | 9 | 550 |
| 17 | Zenimax Media | 3 | 548 |
| 18 | Educational Initiatives | 1 | 531 |
Most Effective Game Ads, YTD*
| Rank | Company | Product | Ad Title | Ace Score* |
| 1 | Take Two Interactive | 2K Play Carnival Games | Monkey See Monkey Do | 623 |
| 2 | Time Warner | Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat Video Game | Golden Age of Mortal Kombat | 620 |
| 3 | Sony | Sony PS3 Socom 4 US Navy Seals Video Game | Kevin Butler: Teamwork | 617 |
| 4 | Ubisoft | Just Dance 2 | Play the New Dance Game | 615 |
| 5 | Activision Blizzard | Activision Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 | NYC Is Under Attack | 614 |
| 5 | Nintendo | Nintendo Wii Mario Sportsmix | Your Mii Can Now Be Part of the Action | 614 |
| 7 | Time Warner | Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat | Golden Age of Mortal Kombat Video Game | 612 |
| 8 | Lucas Film | Lucas Arts Lego Star Wars III | Clone Trooper Does an About Face | 611 |
| 8 | Ubisoft | Just Dance 2 | Join the Movement and Dance | 611 |
| 8 | Ubisoft | Just Dance 2 | Dance to Firework and Enter Contest | 611 |
*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.
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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