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Copernicus Marketing Consulting Studies Whether Advertising During Super Bowl XXXVII Was Worth The Investment

February 3, 2003 (Newton, MA)—For the advertisers who paid $2.1 million for 30 seconds of air during Super Bowl XXXVII, the question still remains: was it worth it? To answer this question, Copernicus Marketing Consulting, a Newton, Massachusetts-based firm known for its scientific approach to marketing, worked with Dr. David Lloyd, co-author of Uncover the Hidden Power of Television Programming…And Get the Most From Your Advertising Budget, to calculate the "impact"—how much an ad moved people to think and/or better yet behave in ways favorable to the advertisers (buying the product, investing in the stock, etc.)—of each of the 55 Super Bowl XXXVII national spots.

According to Copernicus, "impact" is a much better measure of advertising effectiveness than "popularity," which is used more frequently by the media and others to evaluate advertising performance, particularly advertising during the Super Bowl. Copernicus points out that popularity ratings provide little insight into whether the commercial "worked" (i.e., has impact).

The impact score Copernicus used is a function of two independent measures: "brand registration power" and "action orientation." The underlying notion is that advertising must be remembered and persuasive to be successful. "Brand registration power" reflects the entertainment value of the spots. Among other things, it is captured by:

Water Cooler Score: Will everyone be talking about this commercial around the water cooler tomorrow?
Remember Me Score: Will you remember this commercial a week from now?
Name Game Score: Did the spot clearly communicate the brand name of the product, service, or company it represented?

"Action orientation" is very different. It taps into a commercial's ability to move people to act upon the advertising or, at the very least, to think about acting on it. Two key indicators of this measure are:

GPS Score: Did the spot "position" the advertised brand, product, or service making it appear distinctive and uniquely preferable to alternatives and competitors?
Gotta Have It Score: If you were in the market for a product or service in this category today, did the spot make you want to buy the advertised brand?

Copernicus looked at how "impactful" each of the 55 national Super Bowl commercials versus popularity scores.

To do this, Copernicus contrasted its impact ranking with USAToday's Ad Meter popularity ranking, one of the leading post-game popularity rating scales:

From these results, Copernicus drew the following conclusions:

• Be wary of traditional popularity scores for TV ads. An ad that's popular isn't necessarily one that works. Only 5 of the USAToday's Top 15 most liked ads had one of the better impact scores on the Copernicus scale.
• Be wary of creative hype. Many advertisers and their agencies seek out the Super Bowl as a vehicle for showcasing creative talent. As a result, we see very entertaining ads which people may talk about around the office the next day, but the advertiser is misremembered and the call to action subliminal.

Based on their findings, Copernicus does not believe Super Bowl XXXVII was worth the investment for many of the advertisers and plans further research into the relationship between the impact and popularity scores.

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