Press Release

August 24th, 2016

Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and P&G Win Medals in Olympics Advertising Breakthrough

Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and P&G Win Medals in Olympics Advertising Breakthrough

Official Sponsorship Combined with use of Specific Olympic Athletes Offers Secret Sauce to Olympic Ad Effectiveness


LOS ANGELES, CA.— August 24, 2016 — Ace Metrix, the leader in measuring the impact of video advertising, today revealed the highest Breakthrough ads and advertisers of the Rio Olympic Games, a list led by official Olympic sponsors. The Ace Score components of Likeability and Attention combine to form the Breakthrough dimension of an ad, which is particularly important for Olympic ads, as it measures an ad’s ability to break through the clutter and get noticed. P&G’s “Thank You, Mom – Strong”, a viral hit online long before the Games began, showed the highest Breakthrough of all Olympic ads, proving that the most heartfelt messages often resonate the strongest.

On an aggregate basis, official sponsors Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and the P&G family of brands made it to the medal stand for highest average Breakthrough level for all of their ads. Nike’s “Unlimited” campaign drove success for the brand through inspiring and relatable stories for the athlete in all of us, as well with a focus on Olympians such as Simone Biles and Allyson Felix. Among non-sponsors, the top brand for aggregated Breakthrough of all ads is Under Armour, though they come in ninth among all brands.

“Even with the Rule 40 change this year allowing more leeway for non-sponsors to air ads, we see that brands that invest in Olympic sponsorship make sure their ads deliver,” commented Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix.

Ace Metrix data indicates that consumers found certain Olympic athletes in ads to be not just likeable, but loveable. For example, Simone Biles, Kerri Walsh-Jennings, and Missy Franklin were featured by multiple brands, with ads high in Breakthrough and emotional response.

“The most successful brands have aligned themselves with athletes that allow them to tell authentic stories that viewers find highly engaging. Whether using humor or sentimentality, these emotional connections drive viewer engagement,” Daboll commented.

Top Breakthrough Ads of the Rio Olympics 

Rank Brand Ad Title Ad Length Attention Score Likeabilty Score
1 Procter & Gamble Thank You, Mom – Strong 2:00 780 754
2 Dick’s Sporting Goods The Contenders :60 1:00 746 739
3 Samsung The Anthem – Rio 2016 Olympic Games 1:40 735 727
4 Bounty Allyson Felix: Faster Than Chloe :30 725 736
5 Dick’s Sporting Goods Vault. Sleep. Repeat. (:60) 1:00 721 727
6 Gatorade* Never Lose the Love 1:00 709 737
7 United One Journey. Two Teams. 1:00 736 709
8 Hershey’s U.S. Olympic Hopeful Hello From Home 2:10 712 727
9 Hershey’s Hello From Home U.S. Olympic Wrestler 2:10 712 726
10 Nike General Apparel Unlimited You 2:35 742 696

*not an official Olympics sponsor

Emotionally Charged Ads Lead the Way

Emotion is closely tied to the components of Breakthrough. Verbatim responses from viewers to an open-ended question in Ace Metrix testing show that the top Breakthrough ads had a strong propensity to stir admiration, tug at the heartstrings, and in a couple of instances, make consumers laugh out loud. A few examples:

  • “Very inspirational and patriotic. Makes me want to go to Dick’s and buy something.” – M50+ on Dick’s Sporting Goods’ “The Contenders”
  • “I think the advertisement was both innovative and powerful. I liked how the Samsung Galaxy S7 phone was incorporated within the anthem for every country.” – F16-20 on Samsung’s “The Anthem – Rio 2016”
  • “It’s great! I really enjoyed it. It is very funny, entertaining and inspiring at the same time. I would love to see more like this from this company.” – M21-35 on Nike’s “Unlimited You”

Iconic Campaigns and Honorable Mentions

Ongoing campaigns from P&G (“Thank You, Mom”) and Always’ (“Like a Girl”) continued to provide leading Breakthrough capacity during the Olympics. P&G’s 2-minute “Thank You, Mom – Strong” featuring four Olympians and their moms, was the top ad, while Always’ “#LikeaGirl Keep Playing” delivered the strongest Breakthrough seen in ads not featuring an Olympian (702 in Attention and 734 in Likeability).

Aside from Gatorade’s “Never Lose the Love”, the two non-sponsor ads that performed the best in terms of Breakthrough were Pizza Hut’s “The Big Flavor Dipper: USA Edition”, which achieved an Attention score of 713 and a Likeability score of 699, and Apple’s “The Human Family – Shot on iPhone” (Attention 698 and Likeability 703.) Without using Olympic athletes, these engaged viewers by creating desire (for pizza) and through unique and inspiring messaging.

Other honorable mentions are ads from Chobani (“Team USA & Chobani Present: Cooking with Marlen Esparza”) and BMW (“Drive for A Cause”). While not high in Breakthrough, these ads succeeded with consumers in other key measures, such as by providing compelling information and driving change in perception of the brand. Chobani’s ad achieved impressive Information and Change scores (732, 691) while BMW garnered scores of 705 and 680 in those same measures.

About Ace Metrix
Ace Metrix® is the standard in television and digital video analytics, dedicated to measuring the impact of video ad creative. We provide data and insight to enable marketers and creative teams to produce more impactful work, test and adjust creative executions in real-time, and understand what creative drivers impact their brand KPI’s. 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.

Follow Ace Metrix on Twitter for sustained insight: @Ace_Metrix.

PR Contact: Michelle Robertson   646-279-5775   |   michelle@kerlancomm.com

Note: Ace Metrix®, the Ace Metrix logo design, Ace Score®, Ace Metrix LIVE® and Creative Lifecycle Management® are registered trademarks of Ace Metrix. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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