THE CHALLENGE
Creating an ad that captures and holds our attention, tugs at our emotions, and stays in our mind, is an advertiser’s dream. But despite best efforts, few ads achieve such perfection, and predicting which ads are actually going to sell, still remains elusive.
THE RESEARCH
Taking advertising research to a new level of understanding, the team is undertaking the largest ever investigation into psychophysiological measurement tools, and validating how well they predict relevant in-market behaviours.
THE OUTLOOK
The new measures will help understand the journey from creative content to nudging sales. They will allow advertisers to more consistently produce great ads, as well as cull those that are destined to fail.
The latest research in advertising is testing if biometrics and neuroscience can improve advertising effectiveness. Is this the next big investment for business, or is the perfect ad really just an impossible quest?
Dachshunds dressed as hot dogs. A chorus of singing babies. A Willem Dafoe ‘Marilyn’, in that scene. They may sound abstract, but each is part of impeccably orchestrated advertisement, that has caught and held the attention of both audiences and industry experts alike. Aired at this year’s Super Bowl, these ads have each hoped to achieve that which is reserved for the select few: advertising success.
Success, however, is rare. To create ads that attract and hold attention, that tug at our emotions, and that consumers remember and want to watch again and again, is an advertiser’s dream. But despite the best efforts of the advertising agencies that create the ads, and the research companies that test the ads before they are launched, few ads achieve ‘perfection’. Predicting which ads are actually going to sell has remained elusive.
It is, however, an exciting time in the world of advertising. Much has been discovered about how our brains work—how we build, maintain and retrieve memories, what we pay attention to, and the role of emotions in decision-making.
Furthermore, a new suite of tools developed by brain and cognitive psychology scientists are enabling advertising researchers to measure our arousal, attention, memories and emotional responses to advertising. And this all without asking questions, but by measuring bodily responses like muscle movements or the level of sweat.
But while there is a plethora of different tools and analysis approaches, there is little robust knowledge of how valid they are in the marketing domain. The ability to measure how human bodies respond to an ad is not enough if we can’t use that knowledge to separate the good and the bad ads, in terms of how they influence actual behaviour (or ‘sell’). We can have exciting new tools, in the best labs, but unless we know which tools and analysis to use for which questions, our results will not translate into the industry making better ads.
To improve advertising success—for advertisers, governments, and the general public who have to watch these ads—the Mars Marketing Lab at UniSA’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, has conducted what is probably the largest ever investigation into the potential of biometrics and other psychophysiological measures in advertising effectiveness, measured by in-market sales.
Working with global partners—Mars Inc. (supplying over a hundred of their ads from around the world, plus validation data of in-market sales effectiveness), US-based MediaScience Labs (supplying two of the world’s best equipped labs), and UniSA’s own Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (using advanced measures such as electroencephalography) —the research will involve a series of studies to assess multiple measures that have been developed in medicine and neuroscience to quantify emotion and attention responses in the body and the brain.
The ads supplied by Mars Inc. have gold-standard measures of their in-market success. These have undergone further testing through the MediaScience Labs to measure biometrics, such as heart rate (an indicator of attention), facial expression (a good indicator of emotions such as joy), and skin conductance (a measure of arousal).
The new measures promise to reveal the intensity of attentional and emotional responses without, or in spite of, what people say in the traditional questionnaires. Theory suggests that no single method, in isolation, is likely to provide a trustworthy answer, which is why this project deploys a mixed-methods approach, whereby each measure is expected to deliver the insight for which it is best suited.
Over the long term, this ‘technology-agnostic’ project will better understand the journey from the creative content, to how it attracts attention and emotion during first and subsequent viewing, and ultimately, how it nudges sales.
So far, the team has found that different creative strategies require different assessment tools (for example, an ad that attempts continuous humour requires a different measure to an ad that uses a ‘set-up and payoff’ strategy).
And the world is taking note. This year, the research was presented at Rethink!, the leading US conference for advertisers, where it was voted in the ‘Top 10’ research submissions. Two of the team (Steven Bellman and Duane Varan) were also awarded best paper from the Journal of Advertising Research for other work in the field.
Finding a formula for the perfect ad may still be an impossible quest, but what this research can do in the next few years is provide insights into which of these new measures (or combinations of measures) are most promising for measuring attention and emotion; what combinations help advertisers to know that the ad achieved an objective (such as, made people laugh at scale); and systematic comparisons of how and what the new measures capture, compared to traditional measures and in-market responses.
Blending a range of innovations through key partnerships, the project will literally take advertising research to a new level of understanding of how advertising works.
The results are expected to allow advertisers to more consistently produce great ads, as well as culling ads that would otherwise tick all the boxes on questionnaires, but are simply boring, or lack the ‘chemistry’ that leads viewers to watch again and again. Watch this space.
OLD SPICE
Within six months, it earned nearly 1.2 billion media impressions, 2700% increase in Twitter followers, and a 300% increase in traffic to oldspice.com.
Advertisement:
‘Smell Like a Man, Man’, 2010
Brand:
Old Spice, Procter & Gamble
Concept
Featuring former NFL wide receiver, Isaiah Mustafa, as the handsome, witty and chisel- chested ‘Old Spice Guy’, this ad targeted women. In a single uncut shot, this cleverly conceived creative saw Mustafa transition from a bathroom, to a sailboat, to riding a horse, all the while addressing the viewer in confident, rapid-fire monologues which promoted the benefit of using Old Spice products.
Impact
Upon launch, the 70-year-old brand became an overnight
viral success. Month by month it strengthened its market position, and within six months, it had earned nearly 1.2 billion media impressions, a 2700% increase in Twitter followers, and a 300% increase in traffic to oldspice.com. The ad was later awarded the advertising industry’s highest honor, the Cannes Lion Film Grand Prix, as well as an Emmy nomination for the year’s Most Outstanding Commercial.
DOVE
A viral megahit, Evolution was viewed more than 40,000 times in its first day, 1.7 million times within a month, and 12 million times within its first year.
Advertisement:
‘Evolution’, 2004
Brand:
Dove, Unilever
Concept
Aiming to build stronger self- esteem and a positive self-image for women, Dove’s fast-tracked film, Evolution, depicted the transformation of a real woman into a model, using all the tricks of the trade—coiffed hair, heavy makeup, great lighting, and elaborate photo editing. Opening eyes to the narrow definitions of beauty, the ad ended with the statement, “No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted”.
Impact
A viral megahit, Evolution was viewed more than 40,000 times in its first day, 1.7 million times within a month, and 12 million times within its first year. Its exposure has been estimated at over $150M. It contributed to double-figure growth in sales of Dove product. Critically acclaimed, it received both the Film Grand Prix and the Cyber Grand Prix at the Cannes Advertising Awards, the first time ever that both creative advertising awards had been won by the one ad.
Advertisement:
‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’, 2010
Brand:
Snickers, Mars Inc.
Concept
Starring then 88-year-old veteran actress and comedienne, Betty White, the Snickers ad saw White move with hilarious creakiness in a local football game. Hurled into the mud by a brutal tackle, she is accused of playing like Betty White. She’s offered a Snickers bar, takes a bite and transforms into Mike, just a regular guy. The ad ends with, the famous catch phrase, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”
Impact
Ranked as the #1 Super Bowl commercial in 2010 by AdBowl, the ad earned loads of additional PR and even fueled a comedic comeback for White. Buzz from the campaign spread globally, with regional brand teams calling for similar ads. Six years later, the ad concept continues to run in more than 80 countries, featuring celebrities such as Danny Trejo as Marsha and Steve Buscemi as Jan in a classic Brady Bunch skit, and Willem Dafoe as Marilyn Monroe in the iconic subway grate scene.
Advertisement:
‘Hilltop’, 1971
Brand:
Coca-Cola
Concept
Considered by many as the ‘World’s most famous ad‘, this ad’s serendipitous start was conceived in an Irish airport. The iconic ad showed Coca-Cola, not only as a liquid refresher, but as a universal commonality between all peoples. The ad portrayed a positive message of hope through a multicultural collection of teenagers singing the famously infectious “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” song.
Impact
Upon its US release, the ad had immediate and dramatic impact, with Coca-Cola receiving 100,000+ letters about the ad. The song itself was recorded as ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’, and climbed to #1 in the UK, and #7 in the US record charts. To date, the ad is recognised as one of the most beloved in history. Most recently, it appeared in the closing scene of the hit TV show, Mad Men. Today, the sheet music continues to sell, more than 30 years after the song was written.
Advertisement:
‘Pick Them Back Up’, 2014
Brand:
Procter and Gamble
Concept
In the lead up to the 2014 Winter Olympics, Procter & Gamble lauched their inspirational Pick Them Back Up ad as part of their Thank you, Mom campaign. It followed the journey of four future athletes—from wobbly baby steps to Olympic debuts— but highlighted the dedicated mums who were always there, supporting them, cheering them on, and ready to pick them up, when they fell.
Impact
Premiered at the Golden Globe Awards, this two-minute ‘tear-jerker’ clocked nearly 3.3 million views before its launch. The campaign achieved $150 million additional sales worldwide, but also gained significant PR from their $1000 Visa gift card initiative, which P&G provided to 357 mums of US Olympians, to help offset the cost of travelling to see their kids compete. Today, the campaign continues its success, running again for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
