The Radio Advertising Bureau says flashy, new television ads aired during the Super Bowl may look cool, but do a poor job of linking the ad to a brand.
Citing research from Nielsen conducted for the RAB, the radio advertising lobby says the audio message in a radio ad is more direct, personal and the message is not “obscured” by video or a picture. Respondents were asked whether they recalled seeing the ad, could recall the type of product or its brand name.
The research showed consumer recall of brand advertising during the game was uniformly low, lower than 10% for half the 10 ads tested. “More importantly, when asked to name the brand of the product being advertised on an unaided basis, most viewers could not link the brand to the ad, even for the ads that had higher recall themselves,” according to the RAB.
Some 750 respondents, age 18–54, who said they watched the Feb. 3 game and saw any of the ads took part in the survey.
The ads not only generated low brand recall, but also had little impact on viewers’ perceptions of the brands, according to the research.
Companies paid an average of $4 million for a 30-second spot during this year’s game. Radio works hard to register a marketer’s message at a fraction of the cost, says RAB.