2008 OSCARS: Students Poll Thousands During 80th Annual Academy Awards

- Simultaneous voting from Facebook, the iPhone, and the website
VoteOscars.com -

EVANSTON, Ill., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Using a technology called MIMIEO,
students at Northwestern University will poll thousands of people during the
February 24th ABC broadcast of the 80th Annual Academy Awards.
Participants will be asked to rate each Oscar nominated movie ad, as well
as rate how likely they are to go see the movie. Graduate student Rohit Bhat
feels, "MIMIEO will provide insight into measuring both the entertainment
value of the ads, and the viewer's preference for going to see the movie".
On Oscar night, a panel of graduate students will analyze the data from
the polls and publish a report on the findings.
The students previously conducted research during Super Bowl XLII and
released a report called the EnMark Survey. The survey evaluated Super Bowl
advertisements on two key dimensions: entertainment value and marketing value.
The entertainment score reflected the degree to which viewers liked the
advertisement. In contrast, the marketing score reflected the extent to which
the ad influenced the viewers' perceptions of the advertised brand.
Key findings from the study revealed some advertisers, such as Pepsi with
their Justin Timberlake ad, ranked high in entertainment score, but lower in
marketing score. Alternatively, advertisers such as Coke with their Charlie
Brown ad, ranked higher in marketing score, but lower in entertainment score.
Graduate student Bryan Tabiadon indicated, "Viewers found the Pepsi ads to be
entertaining, but when it came down to the ads ability to influence preference
for a brand, more people preferred Coke!"
The survey methodology was created in collaboration with students and
faculty from Northwestern University. The students are enrolled in the Master
of Science in Information Technology program. Based in the Department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the McCormick School of
Engineering and Applied Science, courses are taught by tenured faculty from
the McCormick School and the Kellogg School of Management.
Additional details regarding the research can be found on the student
website http://www.mimieo.com.
SOURCE MIMIEO

Glenn Allison of MIMIEO, +1-847-456-8726, glenn.allison@mimieo.com