Nestle’s Nescafé produced a commercial based on an approved animatic.
During a viewing of the new 0:30 ad, the Nescafé team felt that the creative had taken a different style than what had been represented in the animatic. The ad was dark and aggressive rather than uplifting and energetic. Nescafé asked Ace Metrix to test the ad to determine how consumers would react.
In less than 24 hours, Ace Metrix had tested the ad among more than 500 consumers. The data revealed that the ad did, in fact, have issues. The ad scored 42 on the Emotional Sentiment score, whereas the Nescafé brand average score was 48 (out of a possible score of 100). Consumers who left an optional comment for Nescafé indicated that they were confused by the ad’s message, partly because the ad was not holding their attention. The ad’s Attention score was 633, just six points above the average coffee and tea commercial.
Using Ace Metrix data, Nestlé returned to the ad agency and confidently requested a new ad that more closely matched the original animatic. After hiring a new actor and changing the scenery and props, Nescafé had a new, final ad. Ace Metrix then tested the new ad with a new 500-person panel. Sure enough, the ad earned an Ace Score 22% higher and an Emotional Sentiment score 43% higher than the previous cut. The new ad had captured the original intent with a brighter, more energetic message.
Nestlé held back on $9.1 million in media spend based on the Ace Metrix data it saw from the original ad. By reworking the ad, Nestlé recognized a savings/efficiency of close to $2 million. When it comes time to make a creative decision—whether or not to launch an ad—hard data that confirms or denies intuitions can provide not only piece of mind, but valuable savings and optimization.
Ace Metrix is also able to test animatics, which would have provided Nestlé with a benchmark for their final creative versions and provided additional color by virtue of the voice of the consumer comments collected for each ad.
