LOS ANGELES – Ace Metrix™, the authority in television advertising effectiveness, announced the most effective Back-to-School TV ads, a list led by Microsoft and dominated by technology companies and brands, including Best Buy, Staples, Dell, and Wal-Mart.

“Notably, apparel retailers did not make much of a splash with consumers this back-to-school season,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “JCPenney was a notable exception, winning big with consumers with their ‘pennies from heaven’ spot that promoted the company’s contributions to local after-school programs. This philanthropic tactic, which was used last year in the Number One back-to-school ad from Kohl’s, has been an effective way of getting consumer attention for apparel retailers.

“The usual reliance of apparel retailers on typically ‘in the box’ ideas like promotion of sales events are just not effective in breaking through to consumers in a cluttered advertising environment.”

Microsoft’s top-rated ad, achieving an Ace Score of 651, offered a free Xbox with the purchase of a Windows 7 PC, an offer also made by Dell, which had the 9th most effective ad with an Ace Score of 569.

Top 10 Most Effective Back to School Ads*

*Definition: Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads. Respondents are randomly selected and representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience. The results are presented on a scale of 0-950, which represents scoring on creative attributes such as relevance, persuasion, watchability, information, attention, etc.

In addition, five of the top 10 ads were focused on college students. By comparison, many of the poorer performing ads were focused on messages around children’s apparel. Crayola was a notable children’s brand to break into the most effective ads promoting its dry erase crayons and achieving an Ace Score of 589.

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix is the industry authority in measuring and understanding the impact of advertising creative. Through patent-pending Ace ScoreTM measurement technology, Ace Metrix collects and measures the consumer impact of every nationally breaking TV ad in near real-time. Through its Creative Lifecycle Management TM suite of products, Ace Metrix provides actionable creative analysis, from ideation through real-time in-market performance optimization, to many of the world’s leading advertisers and agencies. Ace Metrix works with leading global advertisers. For more information, visit www.acemetrix.com

The Ad-of-the-Week designates the highest scoring new ad of the week by Ace Score, a patent-pending measure of advertising creative effectiveness.

“The Windows Phone 7 is a new entrant in a fast-changing and fiercely competitive market dominated by Android, Apple, and RIM. Effective creative is critical to brands attempting to establish themselves, as well as brands that are attempting to defend their positions,” commented Peter Daboll, chief executive of Ace Metrix.

The table below shows smartphone percent of subscribers compared to Ace Score average by vendor.

1 comScore Reports October 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share
2 Ace Metrix 12/17/2010
3 Microsoft subscriber % prior to Windows Phone 7 launch

Using a mix of humor, real people and an Xbox avatar that joins the real world, Microsoft has created an ad high in “Likeability”, “Attention” and “Change”, all Ace Score components, that appeals equally to men and women.

Younger respondents rated the ad higher than older respondents, Ace Score 651 vs. 608, and caught on right away that the boyfriend/avatar was associated with Xbox.

According to Daboll, “We have proven that high Ace Scores drive sales and this is evident in the mobile category. Android and iPhone Ace Scores have dominated the category for the past several months, and their share changes reflect that. It is interesting that Microsoft, being the new entrant in the category with Windows Phone 7, has launched with competitive Ace Scores.”

As respondents put it, “It made me laugh with a great dovetailing of Microsoft products” and “Since the Windows phone is a new product and has a lot of competition, it was smart to make the ad appealing.”

To view the ad, please click here: http://www.acemetrix.com/events/ad-of-the-week.

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix is the industry authority in measuring and understanding the impact of advertising creative. Through patent-pending Ace ScoreTM measurement technology, Ace Metrix collects and measures the consumer impact of every nationally breaking TV ad in near real-time. Through its Creative Lifecycle ManagementTM suite of products, Ace Metrix provides actionable creative analysis, from ideation through real-time in-market performance optimization, to many of the world’s leading advertisers and agencies. Ace Metrix works with leading advertisers including Big Lots, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp., ConAgra, Nissan North America and others. For more information please see www.acemetrix.com.

New York, New York – A periodic analysis of global benchmarks released by MediaMind, the leading independent provider of integrated digital advertising solutions, reveals that when more consumers engage with an ad, conversion rate increases, showing a direct link between a high Dwell Rate and a high Conversion Rate. The full benchmark report is available from http://bit.ly/EB_Benchmark_Q1_Q4_09.

MediaMind analyzed the results of more than 13 billion rich media impressions served in 2009 and directly compared the relationship between Dwell and Conversion Rate.  Results show that when more consumers engage with an ad for more time (i.e. Dwell), they are more likely to end up converting.  On average, increasing Dwell from 5% to 15%, increases conversion rate by 45%, from 0.4% to 0.6%. Thus, ads that allure users to engage are more effective in generating conversions.

Furthermore, a recent research by Microsoft Advertising, comScore and MediaMind also confirms that digital campaigns with high Dwell are more effective for branding.  The study compared users who were exposed to campaigns with low Dwell and users who were exposed to campaigns with high Dwell. The results indicate that campaigns with a high Dwell triple brand related keyword search, increase traffic by 69% and increase brand engagement—number of page viewed and time spent on the advertiser’s site.

“It’s encouraging to see the same metric applicable to different marketing objectives” said Gal Trifon, CEO and co-founder at MediaMind. “The connection between engagement and conversions emphasizes the value of digital display as a response medium, while the joint research with Microsoft Advertising shows clear branding correlation.”

For more information on MediaMind’s latest benchmark report, visit www.mediamind.com. To download research, see http://bit.ly/EB_Benchmark_Q1_Q4_09.

About MediaMind
MediaMind is a global provider of digital advertising solutions that optimize the use of media, creative and data for enhanced performance. Our unique platform incorporates display ad serving, search, rich media, video, dynamic ads, mobile and emerging media; providing marketers with a cross-channel view of ad campaigns. Our leading Eyeblaster Rich Media and Video capabilities service the most innovative and inspiring global digital campaigns.
The company is committed to publisher-neutrality to assure the broadest range of media choices for its customers. MediaMind is certified and complies with the three IAB measurement guidelines: ad serving, video and rich media.

NEW YORK – ADTECH AG appointed Lou Severine, former Director of Sales North East at Microsoft Advertising, as head of Sales for ADTECH’s U.S. operations. Severine will take over the U.S. sales operations from ADTECH’s CEO Dirk Freytag, who has been overseeing those responsibilities since its introduction and will continue to lead ADTECH’s global operations.

ADTECH, a leading provider of ad serving technology, is an independently operated unit of AOL’s digital advertising business. As a well-established ad server provider in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, ADTECH expanded its business to the U.S. in mid-2007 and has already been successful in attracting a blue chip client base.

“With eight years of experience in the digital marketing world and a total of 18 years in sales management and customer service, Lou knows what the U.S. market wants and needs from an ad server, and we’re pleased that he recognizes our technology as the best out there,” said Freytag. “We’ve done a great job at making in-roads and a solid footprint in the U.S. in a short time, and we are now recognized as a major player. Our solution and technical support, coupled with backing from AOL, means that we can provide arguably the most comprehensive digital advertising package on the market. Lou is here to grow our presence even further and we’re delighted to have him leading the team.”

“I’m joining ADTECH at a really exciting time in the online advertising world,” said Severine. “Dirk’s done a phenomenal job getting the business off the ground in the U.S. and we have fantastic customers on board including Tremor Media, Gannett, The Weather Network and MétéoMédia. With established teams on the East Coast and now on the West Coast, we’re well equipped to give publishers and agencies a first class service. I’m looking forward to taking the business to the next level and expanding our reach and influence in the U.S.”

Prior to working at Microsoft Advertising, formerly Accipiter Solutions and aQuantive, Inc., Severine held relevant positions at Digital Impact, the provider of online direct marketing enterprise solutions as regional vice president of sales of its eastern region.

About ADTECH AG

ADTECH is a leading international supplier of digital marketing solutions and Platform-A’s ad serving platform. The company’s flagship product is an integrated ad serving platform. It enables networks, web publishers, advertisers and agencies to manage serve and evaluate virtually any kind of online advertising campaign including display, video and mobile formats. ADTECH’s ad serving solution differentiates itself via its scalable, enterprise-class infrastructure and user-friendly tools, providing users with increased efficiency, reliability and ROI for their online advertising business. ADTECH handles more than 125 billion ad impressions monthly and its customers include major players like Sky, Hi-Media, Gannett and Fox Networks. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Platform-A.

About Platform-A Inc.

Platform-A, AOL’s advertising business, is the industry’s largest digital advertising platform, offering the most comprehensive suite of marketing solutions, powered by the Web’s best advertising technologies. Platform-A includes AOL’s leading media properties – AOL.com, AIM, MapQuest, and more – and Advertising.com’s third-party networks. Platform-A also includes TACODA’s audience insights and behavioral targeting; Quigo, a site- and content-targeting solution; ADTECH, an international digital ad serving business; Third Screen Media, a mobile ad serving network; and buy.at, an affiliate marketing solution. Platform-A currently has operations in the United States, nine countries across Europe, including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, and in Japan through a joint venture with Mitsui. Learn more at http://www.platform-a.com.

LONDON – WPP announced a research project that is intended to explore the dynamics between search engine marketing and brand building. WPP agencies will work on the project with help from Microsoft Advertising.

“Today, marketers are spending billions on search engine marketing, primarily as a direct response mechanism,” said David Sable, vice chairman & COO of Wunderman, a WPP agency. “We think it’s time to better understand how search builds brands differently than traditional media. The connection between brand building and search marketing is at best, spotty and the research we will conduct may help shed light on how brands can tap into search as a brand and market share builder.”

WPP agencies Wunderman, BrandAsset Consulting®, and ZAAZ will be the primary drivers on the research initiative, which will delve into the developing interplay between brands and search engine efficacy. According to Sable, the WPP agencies are “intrigued by the next generation of search engine marketing, as evidenced by developments like Microsoft Corp.’s new search engine, Bing, and the opportunity it presents for consumers to embrace brands.” The study will encompass the impact search is having on WPP’s blue chip clients and consumers around the world.

“We’re pleased to work with WPP’s agencies on research in this area,” said Scott Howe, corporate vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “Coming on the heels of our launch of Bing, the opportunity is ripe to re-think preconceived notions about what search decision engines can and cannot do, and how the connections between search and display are becoming increasingly interwoven to drive brand awareness.”

The two companies will focus their efforts around the following areas:

* The correlation between brand awareness and search efficacy;
* How search engines are changing consumer behavior;
* How social marketing impacts the search for brands;
* The connections between paid search and brand development;

Research will be designed to uncover new findings on where and how search is working best: at what stage of brand development it generates the greatest impact and how the intersection of categories and consumer preference and purchase intent comes into play.

“Ultimately, we hope the findings that come out of this research will help inform media mix strategy for both direct response and brand building in the future,” Sable said. “We’re committed to helping clients improve their decision-making processes and better evaluate how their brands co-exist within the entire world of brands, and this research will us live up to this promise.”

This investigation will culminate in a report by WPP agencies on how the newly invigorated competition in search marketing is impacting consumers’ level of brand recognition – as well as the future direction of search. Initial findings are expected to be shared during Advertising Week in New York, in late-September 2009.

About Wunderman

Wunderman is the original architect of response-driven marketing, an estimated trillion dollar global industry. Today, with 50+ years of innovation, creativity, and insight, Wunderman stands as the first name in advertising that delivers measurable results. Throughout its network of 120+ offices in 50+ countries and 15+ specialized companies, Wunderman speaks the customer’s language—whatever the dialect—at the right time, creating profitable conversations that build brands and generate sales. Wunderman is part of Young & Rubicam Brands and a member of WPP.

About BrandAsset® Consulting

BrandAsset® Consulting helps business executives, investors and marketers assess and drive the strategic direction and intangible value of brands. We have created proprietary models and metrics using the world’s most comprehensive database of brands. Our BrandAsset® Valuator model has measured brands since 1993 and today over 35,000 brands have been evaluated among over 600,000 respondents in over 50 countries. Brand Asset Consulting is part of Young & Rubicam Brands.

About ZAAZ

ZAAZ employs a unique combination of logic and creativity to achieve positive business results for clients large and small. ZAAZ provides web strategy, creative design, user experience, web analytics, and site- and search-optimization services. The combination of strategic planning, smart execution and comprehensive analytics to scientifically measure and optimize the customer experience sets ZAAZ apart from other interactive agencies and its approach complements Wunderman’s “test and run” optimization philosophy. Founded in 1998, ZAAZ became part of Wunderman in July 2006.