Fresh Numbers: Honda Won the Super Bowl Before It Even Began

There will be a lot of stats released over the next few days on what people remembered, liked or just tweeted about during the Super Bowl. At some point, the instant stats on "buzz" and the like will give way to more meaningful measures: did it improve long-term perception of the brand, or lift sales? One hoped-for metric over the long-term is that consumers will choose to watch an ad again, and perhaps over and over again, on the web. That was the genius of Volkswagen's "The Force" campaign last year, which earned more than 90 million views on the web over the past year and why a dozen or so marketers attempted to emulate it this year by releasing their campaigns before the game began. After asking Visible Measures to update its figures on web views, we have a winner by that measure: Honda. The teaser for Honda's "Ferris Bueller" ad dominated going into the Super Bowl, and the extended version of the ad is still drawing viewers. But not by much: VW is a very close second with "Dog Strikes Back." Honda's Acura division also did well with its Jerry Seinfeld/Jay Leno spot, meaning Honda has two spots in the Top Five. Why is this important? Partly because Super Bowl ad time is so expensive. By reaching almost as many viewers on the web as during the game last year, VW was able to extend the reach of "The Force," spreading out the cost of its Super Bowl buy over many more impressions. Here are the updated numbers as of Monday morning:

Fresh Numbers: Honda Won the Super Bowl Before It Even Began

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