I am partnering with my research friends at Advertising Benchmark Index (ABX) to bring you a series of monthly posts that measure recent ads from a prominent category -- in today's case, the beer category -- for recall, relevance, and purchase intent. We're reviewing television advertising and highlighting the three winners and three losers from spots that ran in May.
We'll look at the aggregate numbers for each ad (an Overall Index Score, Awareness, Message, Reputation, and Action -- click here for more detail on the methodology) and then I'll do my best to explain what went wrong or what went right for each from a creative standpoint.
The Good:
1. Budweiser: "This Summer Is In Your Hands" :30
2. Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders: "Patrick Stewart - Acting" :15
3. Sam Adams:"Why Are Some Beers Hazy?" :15
The Ugly:
1. Miller High Life: "Gentleman's Quarters" :15
2. Angry Orchard Hard Cider: "Somersault" :10
3. Bud Light: "Party Dock" :15
The Numbers And Analysis (The Good):
GOOD No. 1 Budweiser: "This Summer Is In Your Hands" :30
I admit when I first heard that Budweiser was temporarily renaming their franchise brew "America" I was a little skeptical. Would it come off as pandering or bandwagon hopping? I even wrote about the sudden patriotism of Bud and other brands in a recent post, "Brands Seize Opportunity In American Self-Loathing."
But according to the ABX Index, this particular spot scores well across the board. The message was clear, brand linkage was strong, and relevance was high. But the kicker was purchase intent, which was twice the norm.
Why?
Firstly, I think the spot was just plain well done. I love the double entendre of "America is in your hands" (the beer and the country) during election season.
But I think the real resonance with this spot hits on something more profound and something with which I go into greater detail in the article above: our politicians have forgotten to inspire our patriotism. It's not about what we can do for our country, it's about what Hillary and Donald can do.
This spot wisely tries to fill that patriotic hole in our unempowered hearts. It comes from an American brand (yes, I know it's owned by a foreign company, but still) and reminds us all that the future of America is in our hands.
I'll drink to that.
GOOD No. 2: Strongbow Hard Apple Ciders: "Patrick Stewart - Acting" :15
This one was another spot that scored very well according to the ABX Index. Strong brand linkage, clear communication, huge points for the brand's reputation and relevance.
The purchase intent (a sub-score under the Action category) was a little below the norm, however, which is a big deal since it's purchase intent! But the spot had huge numbers on other Action sub-scores like talk value (sharability), willing to recommend, and open to look for the brand.
If we consider the purchase funnel, this spot does a great job of increasing consideration, which is a short path to purchase anyway.
Why?
This Strongbow spot is one of a series of spots using actor Patrick Stewart and they are all funny. But they are funny in a strategic way. Most, like the spot measured by ABX, hit the point about the range of flavors pretty hard with Stewart woven is as the punch line, as a metaphor given his range as an actor. Nice.
But the editing is fantastic too. I love how Stewart is cut off mid-rant and the Strongbow logo and VO come right in, as if to rudely cement Stewart's punch line status, from Strongbow's point of view.
Just using Patrick Stewart at all (and so well) probably contributed to its strong reputation scores.
So good.
GOOD No. 3: Sam Adams "Why Are Some Beers Hazy?" :15
This spot from Sam Adams was a clear winner on one important aggregating attribute -- propensity for Action in any form (look for the product, purchase, recommend, talk). Its score of 160 means is well above the norm on that measure.
Within Action, it does score low on recommend, however, which I believe is because this spot is focusing on such a rational attribute: explaining/educating as to why Summer Ale is so hazy looking.
But I do like the way Sam Adams ends this spot: "For the love of beer." That gives this rational attribute for this one Sam flavor some brand context. In effect saying, we are educating you about this rational attribute because we can't help ourselves, we love beer.
The Numbers And Analysis (The Ugly):
UGLY No. 1 Miller High Life: "Gentleman's Quarters" :15
The ABX numbers tell a sorry story for this Miller High Life ad. People were confused by this ad, for starters, scoring well below the norm for clarity and understood (captured under the Message category).
Though ABX maintains that "likability" does not correlate to sales, they still measure it and this spot tanked. Twice as disliked as the norm. Which I believe led to the horrible numbers related to Action -- low on intent to perform a web search, look for the product, purchase and recommend. The only one that was relatively high was for talking about it.
Why?
I personally find the ad's sarcasm to be off-putting. I get the strategy: Millennials can be "rich" within the realities of their "unrich" lives. But the execution, to me, comes off as smug and perhaps only reminds millennials how "unrich" they are.
And that's a dicey place to play when it comes to being an aspirational brand. I miss the "High Life Man."
UGLY No. 2 Angry Orchard Hard Cider: "Somersault" :10
Description: A Millennial seemingly bounces up into frame and does a somersault as he looks at his smartphone. Three-quarters the way through the somersault, the logo comes up and VO says, "Angry Orchard Hard Cider."
It may be telling that I couldn't find a YouTube link to this spot on the Angry Orchard Channel, and I'm not going to spend too much time on it.
The ABX numbers were interesting, though. The likability scores were above average. But the numbers around Message (clarity, understood) were very low. Seemed like people enjoyed the provocative nature of the spot, but were still left confused.
As a result perhaps, purchase intent was very low as were consideration numbers.
UGLY No. 3 Bud Light: "Party Dock" :15
This one according to ABX was pretty average overall. Scored above average on likability measures, didn't really do anything for brand reputation, and brand linkage was average.
The Action numbers were all over the place. Low purchase intent and consideration measures, but above average for recommending the brand.
Why?
Creatively I think the spot is trying to do too much, which would explain the clarity issues. We've got the "Bud Light Party" as a political party. We've got a new look for the can. And we have a tag line, "Raise one to right now," that has nothing to do with the rest of the spot.
All in :15 seconds!
Further, and maybe it's just me, but I didn't like the way these "hard working Americans" (the fishermen) ran to the beers like kids after a pinata is broken. These hard working Americans deserve a little more respect than that, I think.
So there you have it. The Good And The Ugly for the beer category according to the ABX Index. Big thanks to ABX for providing these numbers and their expertise in understanding their significance.
Until next time...
