Doritos airs “cool”est ad in Ipsos’ exclusive real-time biometric ranking of big game commercials

New York, NY, February 2^nd 2020 — Doritos, Google and Michelob Ultra were the big winners in Ipsos’ annual ranking of Super Bowl commercials. The ranking uses a unique set-up that measures passive emotional response in real-time and in the context of the game itself. An audience of 40 people were recruited to watch the entire Super Bowl at a private screening event in New York City, including commercials. Participants could bring friends and family in order to recreate a realistic viewing environment, with snacks and beverages. Each viewer was fitted with a Shimmer wrist bracelet and finger sensor to passively capture galvanic skin response (GSR). This allows Ipsos to measure, passively and in real time, emotional engagement throughout the whole event, including every commercial aired in the NYC area. This data can now be used to decode which ads had the strongest emotional impact on the audience during the event itself, including the context of the big game – a very different methodology to most rankings, which test ads in isolation. The top 20 results are shown here:

This year we saw that entertainment still rules, but there’s a growing trend around inspiration and tugging at the heart strings. Many of the usual creative devices were brought out, with celebrity overload and nostalgic throwbacks to movies such as the Shining or Groundhog Day. Facebook, Google, Amazon and Microsoft used this massive media reach to humanize technology and connect with consumers in a very different way. We also see a continued trend with entertainment being the subject of over a third of the featured ads.

Notably, this year saw the first presidential campaign ads to run nationally in the Super Bowl. We will wait to see whether this was an effective political strategy, or just a natural progression of having two billionaires in the race. An interesting angle here was that the ads from brands seemed the least political we have seen in a few years – was this a reaction to the presence of Presidential ads?

According to Pedr Howard, from Ipsos Creative Excellence: “We believe this is a markedly different ranking system to most used in the industry, for two reasons: first it is entirely based on passive measurement, passive reactions; second, it was collected during the event itself, reflecting the real-world response and context around the Super Bowl. While we know that emotional engagement by itself isn’t an exact predicter of overall advertising success, it’s a key factor for Super Bowl advertising and it’s a strong indicator of long-term brand health and salience. At Ipsos, we are always actively looking to as may data sources as possible to help our clients make the most informed decisions possible.”

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos live study conducted on February 2, 2020. For this survey, a sample of 40 were recruited and passively monitored throughout the entire game, including every commercial, via Galvanic Skin Response. The study was conducted at a private Super Bowl screening in New York City.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Pedr Howard
Senior Vice President, Creative Excellence, Ipsos U.S.
+1 203 919-3474
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is now the third largest market research company in the world, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. Our 75 business solutions are based on primary data coming from our surveys, social media monitoring, and qualitative or observational techniques.

“Game Changers” – our tagline – summarizes our ambition to help our 5,000 clients to navigate more easily our deeply changing world.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP

www.ipsos.com

Read more:

The Most Engaging Ads of Super Bowl LIV

Driving the Path to Successful Super Bowl Auto Advertising