What this means is if a brand placed a TV ad on Tuesday during
the Olympics, it was overwhelmingly seen on Tuesday -- not recorded
and zoomed past on Friday or decoupled from the programming in VOD
after three days.
Audience retention increased view rates
What's more impressive about the Olympics TV ad data coming in
is that people weren't flipping the channel as much as they
normally do, either. View rates (the percentage of an ad that, on
average, has been watched across all airings) for TV ads for live
sporting events can be hit or miss, depending on who is playing,
what else is on, the score, etc.
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Not so for the Olympics. After 400 brands ran 815 different
creatives more than 15,000 times across the six Olympic networks,
all of those ads combined averaged a view rate of around 90%.
Basically, people put the Games on and put the remote down. That
could be for a few reasons: NBCU accentuating cliffhangers, or a
lack of other worthwhile programming -- or maybe the Olympics just
has a leave-it-on sensibility.
Everyone wins -- some by
more
Despite a high average view rate for the Olympics, there were
definitely winners and losers. Quick-serve restaurants, for
instance, can't seem to break past a 78% average view rate, and
wireless carriers advertising during the Olympics have hovered
around 81% since day one.
Brands that can claim
victory
These are the brands (with a minimum of 10 airings and a spend
of over $1 million during the Olympics) leading in general when it
comes to keeping viewers' attention:
1. Folgers (98.76% average view rate). Folgers'
only ad, a charming tribute to the people
behind Olympic athletes, has had the best showing by a brand during
the Games so far.
2. General Electric (98.56% average view rate).
GE is seeing view rate success with a series of ads featuring
Sarah, a good-natured employee who's shown giving tours and answers
the questions of curious company visitors.
3. Google (98.14% average view rate). Google
has been advertising Google Photos with two ads: One that shows the
frustration of running out of storage on your phone at the most
inopportune times, and another funny look at the risks
of spontaneously jumping into a pool.
4. United Airlines (98.13% average view rate).
United Airlines has had two different approaches to its Olympic
advertising: One
catchy spot takes a look at an action-packed day of Olympic
athletes in an airport, while another
illustrates the luxury of taking a business class flight.
5. Mini USA (98.12% average view rate). Mini's
sole commercial for the Olympics, "Defy Labels," is an
inspiring look at the diverse faces and personalities of Team USA
athletes.
Top ads
And here are the top individual spots (with over $1 million in
Olympics spending and at least 10 airings) with the highest view
rates. This ranking differs a bit from the brand list, with General
Electric dominating:
1. General Electric "Sarah Explains:
Digidustrial?" (12 national airings, 99.60% average view
rate)
2. Citi "Why Does Citi Sponsor Team USA?" (11
national airings, 99.41% average view rate)
3. General Electric "Sarah: Building Advanced,
Robot-like Machines" (27 national airings, 99.24% average
view rate)
4. Twentieth Century Fox "Trolls" (25 national
airings, 99.15% average view rate)
5. General Electric "Sarah: Just Like PB&J"
(19 national airings, 98.77% average view rate)
For details about how iSpot measures and calculates view
rates, click here.