Nielsen's Recap Of 2008 Super Bowl Advertising
Most Played-Back Commercial was 'Walt Disney - Chronicles of Narnia Prince
Caspian'; Most Viewed Commercial was 'Victoria's Secret - Woman Holding
Football'
NEW YORK, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nielsen Company today released an
analysis of advertising trends from Super Bowl XLII, which was viewed by an
average audience of 97.5 million people in the U.S., more than any previous
Super Bowl. Included is a summary of Super Bowl-related advertising
measurement results from Nielsen's media tracking businesses. A few of the
highlights include:
-- The highest rated commercial minute was the Victoria's Secret
commercial at 9:44 p.m., which was seen by 103.7 million people.
-- The commercial that had the highest gain from DVR playback was the
Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian movie promotion, which was viewed
by 4.1 million people on DVR playback.
-- Super Bowl XLII was viewed by a record 97.5 million people in the U.S.
more than any previous Super Bowl.
-- According to live polling results from the social networking site,
HeyNielsen.com, the Budweiser Horse/Dalmation spot was the most popular
ad.
-- Pepsi's ad with Justin Timberlake was the most buzzed about ad online,
accounting for 6.7% of Super Bowl ad discussion, followed by E*TRADE
with 5.2%.
-- Among Super Bowl advertisers, the fastest growing Web site was Fox
Interactive Media's MySpace.com/SuperBowlAds, increasing 104 percent
from 441,000 to 900,000 unique visitors.
-- This year's Super Bowl aired 50 minutes and 50 seconds of commercial
time. Fifty-two unique brands aired commercials that competed for
viewers' attention for a total of 84 advertisements.
Viewing the Commercials
To view full-motion commercials, storyboards, and ratings that aired
during the Super Bowls since 1999, visit Nielsen's creative website at
https://www.nielsenmedia.com/monitorplus/superbowl/.
Top Rated Commercials
The Victoria's Secret commercial that ran at 9:44 p.m. was the most
watched commercial during the Super Bowl. It had a rating of 36.2 and was
seen by 103.7 million people. These "live plus same day" ratings include
viewing that was recorded and played back on digital video recorders (DVRs) on
Super Bowl Sunday.
Top-Rated Commercials
Viewers 2+, Live Plus Same Day
Commercial
Minute Viewers
Rank Parent/Brand Description Time Rating (SD) (000)
1 LTD Brands/Victoria's Secret
Woman Holding Football 9:44 PM 36.2 103,758
2 Pepsico Inc
Amp Drinks - Man Puts Clamps
On Chest 9:45 PM 36.2 103,612
2 Promo - Fox American Idol 9:45 PM 36.2 103,612
4 E Trade Financial Corp
E Trade Financial Website
Baby/Man Dressed As Clown 9:20 PM 36.0 102,976
5 Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc
Bud Light Beer
Man Holds Bottle/Locker Room/Glass 9:26 PM 35.5 101,572
5 Hyundai Motor Co
Hyundai Genesis 9:26 PM 35.5 101,572
7 Coca-Cola Co
Coca-Cola Drink
3 Newscasters/Man In Suit 9:12 PM 35.3 101,108
8 Pepsico Inc
Gatorade Drinks-Isotonic G2
Dog Drinking From Bowl 9:21 PM 35.2 100,901
8 Yum! Brands Inc
Taco Bell Restaurant-
Fiesta Platters/2 Men/Guitar/Woman 9:21 PM 35.2 100,901
10 National Football League
Nfl.com Website
Man Plays Musical Instrument 9:01 PM 35.2 100,809
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Methodology: If a commercial had the majority of its duration in minute
N, we applied the minute N rating to that commercial.
Most-Viewed Commercials on DVR Playback
Almost 4.2 million people watched the Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian
movie promotion seen at 7:46 PM via DVR playback. Nielsen began adding
households with Digital Video Recorders to its sample in late 2005 and this is
the second Super Bowl in which DVR playback has been included in the
television ratings. During Super Bowl XLII, all of the most played-back
commercials appeared between 7:18 p.m. and 7:50 p.m.
Absolute
Difference
between Live
and LiveSD
Rank Parent/Brand Description Time (000)
1 Walt Disney Co.
Chronicles Of Narnia Prince Caspian
- Motion Picture 7:46 PM 4,167
2 Promo - Fox American Idol 7:39 PM 4,069
3 Pepsico Inc
Sobe Life Water / Woman & Lizards Dance 7:24 PM 4,049
4 Pepsico Inc
Doritos Tortilla Chips Nacho Cheese/ 7:50 PM 4,017
Mouse Trap
5 General Motors Corp
GMC Yukon Trucks Hybrid 7:38 PM 4,001
5 Bud Light Beer
Men At Table / Women / Chicken/ Couple 7:38 PM 4,001
7 Office Of National Drug Control Policy
Man Holding Cup 7:25 PM 3,914
8 National Football League
Animated Man & Child 7:48 PM 3,843
9 General Electric Co
Leatherheads Motion Picture 7:19 PM 3,814
9 Garmin Navigational Equip
Car Driven / Napoleon Spoof 7:19 PM 3,814
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Super Bowl A Hit With Viewers In More Ways Than One
This year's Super Bowl was a ratings bonanza as the big game was the most
watched in history averaging 97.4 million viewers. Among all programs, it was
the second highest-viewed of all time.
Top 10 Programs Among Persons 2+ (000)
Per2+
Rank Program Network (000s) Telecast Date
1 M*A*S*H Special CBS 105,970 Feb. 28, 1983
2 Super Bowl XLII Game FOX 97,448 Feb. 3, 2008
3 Super Bowl XXX Game NBC 94,076 Jan. 28, 1996
4 Super Bowl XLI Game CBS 93,250 Feb. 4, 2007
5 Super Bowl XX Game NBC 92,564 Jan. 26, 1986
6 Super Bowl XXVII Game NBC 90,987 Jan. 31, 1993
7 Super Bowl XL Game ABC 90,749 Feb. 5, 2006
8 Super Bowl XXXII Game NBC 90,004 Jan. 25, 1998
9 Super Bowl XXVIII Game NBC 89,996 Jan. 30, 1994
10 Super Bowl XXXVIII Game CBS 89,795 Feb. 1, 2004
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Here are some additional viewership highlights:
-- In terms of total audience, 148.3 million people watched at least 6
minutes of Super Bowl XLII making it the Super Bowl with the largest
reach (unduplicated audience) ever.
-- Locally, Boston had the #1 Metered Market performance with a 55.6
HH rtg. New York was #32 with a 44.9 HH rtg.
-- Super Bowl XLII also drew large numbers of ethnic viewers. Ratings for
African-American Persons 2+ were up 4% over 2007. Hispanic and Asian
viewers drew an 18.0 and 21.8 rating among Persons 2+, respectively.
-- The big game did exceptionally well in upscale households with Persons
2+ in homes with an income of $100,000+ indexing 24% higher than the
total US audience. In terms of education, those households of Persons
2+ with 4+ Years of College indexed 14% higher than the total US
audience.
-- Within DVR households, Super Bowl XLII averaged a 39.8 rating among
Persons 2+ -- 17% higher than the total US audience.
-- In HD capable/receivable households, Super Bowl XLII averaged a 47.6
rating among Persons 2+ -- a 40% increase over the total US audience.
-- Within homes with Internet access, Super Bowl XLII averaged a 36.7
rating among Persons 2+ -- 8% higher than the total US audience.
Hey!Nielsen Live Polling
Hey! Nielsen, the company's new social-networking site, recruited over 200
influential members to participate in a ground-breaking survey for Super Bowl
XLII. Members were asked to score each commercial on a scale from 1 (fumble)
to 4 (touchdown) in real-time. A series of questions were given post-game to
drill deeper into qualitative analysis.
According to live polling results, famous personalities scored high among
members. Budweiser was the highest ranked ad, with an average of 3.67 for its
Horse/Dalmation spot. The brand's Fire Breathe and Cheese ads were also among
the top 10. Coke and Pepsi closely follow the number one ad, ranked 2 and 3
respectively.
Deeper qualitative analysis reveals that most viewers wanted something new
and funny, as 62% of members said that humor influences their purchase
behavior. Other qualities of an ad that motivate consumers include excitement
(9%), surprise (8%) and inspiration (8%).
Rank Brand: AD Avg.
1 Budweiser: Horse/Dalmatian 3.67
2 Coke: Parade Balloons 3.56
3 Diet Pepsi Max 3.53
4 FedEx 3.51
5 Pepsi: Timberlake 3.50
6 Bridgestone: Animals Screaming 3.45
7 Bud Light: Fire Breathe 3.41
8 NFL: Ephraim Salaam 3.39
9 Bridgestone: Richard Simmons 3.32
10 Bud Light: Cheese Ad 3.31
Super Bowl Ads Drive Web Traffic
This year more than ever, Super Bowl advertisers focused on driving Web
traffic with their premium TV spots. In turn, the Web is dramatically
increasing the longevity of Super Bowl ads, with the rise of social networking
and video sharing sites.
Among Super Bowl advertisers, the fastest growing Web site from Super Bowl
Sunday to Monday was Fox Interactive Media's MySpace.com/SuperBowlAds,
increasing 104 percent from 441,000 to 900,000 unique visitors. Victoria's
Secret and FOX Sports on MSN also saw significant daily gains, growing 86
percent and 72 percent, respectively. Among Super Bowl advertisers
collectively, the Web traffic increase from Sunday to Monday was 24 percent.
A handful of advertisers did not have reportable Web traffic on Sunday,
but saw a bump on Monday, including FedEx, E*Trade and Sprint. Super Bowl
Advertisers with Fastest Growing Sunday to Monday Unique Audience
Feb. 3-4, 2008
Sunday UA Monday UA Sun. - Mon.
Web Site (000) (000) Growth
myspace.com/superbowlads 441* 900 104%
Victoria's Secret 196* 364* 86%
FOX Sports on MSN 2,563 4,403 72%
Chase 1,652 2,584 56%
Dell 1,562 2,056 32%
Source: Nielsen Online (U.S. Home and Work)
Note: Includes only those web sites with reportable traffic on both days.
* These web sites do not meet minimum sample size standards. Projected and
average measures for these sites may exhibit large changes month-to-month as a
result.
Advertising Takes a Large Share of Overall Super Bowl Discussion
The Super Bowl is not only an event for football fanatics, but also an
opportunity for advertisers to reach a larger audience. According to Nielsen
Online, 33% of all online consumer discussion involving Super Bowl XLII was
about advertisements.
Brands by Buzz -- Which Super Bowl Commercial Generated the Most Buzz?
Pepsi's ad with Justin Timberlake generated the most buzz online
accounting for 6.7% of Super Bowl ad discussion, followed by E*TRADE with
5.2%. First-time Super Bowl advertiser and luxury auto brand Audi ranks
third, with 4.4%, mainly driven by auto enthusiasts as well as general
consumers. Salesgenie.com rounds out the top 10 with 2.6% of discussion,
which is mostly negative buzz as consumers refer to the ad as "un-PC."
Top Advertisers, Categories, and Brands
This year's Super Bowl aired 50 minutes and 50 seconds of commercial time,
according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the competitive intelligence service of The
Nielsen Company. Fifty-two unique brands aired commercials that competed for
viewers' attention for a total of 84 advertisements.
The categories that advertised the most this year included Automotive,
Motion Pictures, and Beer. In the top slot, Automotive aired 5 1/2 minutes of
commercial time, adding one minute to its total from 2007. Motion Pictures
followed airing 4 minutes and 15 seconds of ads, significantly increasing from
under 2 minutes in the 2007 game. Finally, the Beer category, which has
traditionally led the Super Bowl, dropped to the third largest category with 4
minutes of air time, compared to 5 minutes last year.
Top Ad Categories
Category Minutes of Exposure
Automotive 5 1/2
Motion Pictures 4 1/4
Beer 4
Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus
The Automotive category increased time from last year by one minute
seconds to 51/2 minutes. Hyundai Genesis ran 2 ads at 30-seconds each; Audi R8
ran one minute-long commercial; Toyota Corolla and CarMax Auto Dealership each
ran a 30-second commercial; GMC Yukon Hybrid Trucks ran one 60-second spot;
and Acura MDX, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Toyota Sequoia each ran one 30-second
commercial to promote their truck brands.
After cutting back in 2007, Motion Pictures returned with 4 minutes and 15
seconds of commercial time. Eight movies were advertised this year, compared
to only 4 in 2007. During the 2006 Super Bowl, 9 movies advertised totaling 4
1/2 minutes. Buena Vista is the only studio to advertise more than one motion
picture (Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian and Walt Disney Wall-E). It is
also the only movie studio to air a 60-second ad (for Chronicles of Narnia
Prince Caspian).
The Beer category decreased its airtime from 5 minutes in 2007 to 4
minutes in this year's game. As has been the case for the last eight years,
Anheuser-Busch was the leading advertiser. The beer category included
advertising for Bud Light and Budweiser. As the brand did in 2006, Bud Light
aired three minutes of ads (six 30-second spots). Budweiser ran one 60-second
commercial.
Top Advertisers Commercial Time
Anheuser-Busch Inc. 4 minutes
Coca-Cola USA 2 minutes
Buena Vista Pictures 1 1/2 minutes
Frito-Lay Inc. 1 1/2 minutes
Pepsi-Cola Co. 1 1/2 minutes
Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus
Since 1993, Nielsen Monitor-Plus has been tracking Super Bowl advertisers
and is reporting the following Super Bowl advertising "rookies" for this time
period: Dell, Schering-Plough (Claritin) and Hyundai.
Top Sponsorship Brand Exposures
According to Nielsen's Sponsorship Scorecard, which measures exposure to
in-game advertising, Cadillac was the top brand in terms of gross impressions.
This was due in large part to Cadillac's sponsorship of the MVP award, won by
Eli Manning, and the corresponding graphic, that remained on-screen during the
entire post-game ceremony.
Tot.# Tot. Dur. Tot. Dur. Gross
Brand Occ. (hh:mm:ss) (secs) (000)
1 CADILLAC AUTOS & TRUCKS 13 00:23:11 1391 1,586,589
2 GATORADE DRINKS-ISOTONIC 107 00:06:39 399 632,750
3 MOTOROLA ELECTRONIC EQUIP 59 00:04:06 246 386,159
4 SOBE LIFE WATER BOTTLED WATER 11 00:03:44 224 341,635
5 BRIDGESTONE TIRES 8 00:02:29 149 219,620
6 UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX 19 00:01:47 107 165,265
7 BUDWEISER BEER 8 00:01:18 78 122,771
8 BUD LIGHT BEER 5 00:00:30 30 43,853
9 MYSPACE.COM WEBSITE 2 00:00:27 27 41,259
10 TOYOTA AUTOS & TRUCKS 7 00:00:26 26 40,713
Source: Nielsen Sponsorship Scorecard
Advertising and High Definition TV:
For the second year in a row, Nielsen Strategic Media Research conducted
an online study following the Super Bowl in order to learn more about Super
Bowl commercials and viewing in High Definition (HD). In this survey,
conducted between 7:00 a.m. on Monday and 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, 274 randomly
selected individuals over age 12 were asked about their Super Bowl viewing
experience. Highlights include: -- 41% of viewers watched the Super Bowl
in HD
-- People who viewed the game in HD could recall 21% more commercials than
respondents who did not view in HD
-- People who viewed the Super Bowl in HD were 80% more likely than non-HD
viewers to be watching the game in a group of 6 or more people
-- The Monday morning quarterbacks all have one question burning on their
minds: "How much is brand exposure in the Super Bowl really worth?"
Well, the week before the Super Bowl, 42% of respondents to Nielsen's
SportsQuest(TM) survey named Anheuser-Busch or a Budweiser brand as the
beer brand that first comes to mind. With its seven Super Bowl spots,
51% of respondents in our Super Bowl study named Anheuser-Busch or
Budweiser. Top of mind awareness for Budweiser was over 52% among HD
viewers and just under 50% among non-HD Viewers.
[Note: Meant to give a quick glimpse into commercial recall and HD
broadcasting of the Super Bowl, the results of this study are not necessarily
statistically significant but provide strong directional evidence of the
impact of HD and advertising as it relates to the Super Bowl.]
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading
market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information
(Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics),
trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter,
Adweek). The privately held company is active in more that 100 countries,
with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more
information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.
SOURCE The Nielsen Company
Gary Holmes, +1-646-654-8975, for The Nielsen Company
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved



