The Search is Over: Google Wins Both Brand of the Year and Ad of the Year, According to Ace Metrix

Kindle, Vizio and Netflix are Surprise Winners in Highly Competitive Tech and Telecom Categories

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--()--Ace Metrix®, the new standard in television and video advertising analytics, today awarded a Brand of the Year title to twenty brands from the most competitive categories* of 2013. The winning brands earned the highest average Ace Score within their category based on their entire portfolio of national television advertisements in 2013. Google had an exceptional year, earning the overall Brand of the Year award, the Software and Websites category Brand of the Year and the Ad of the Year for “Here's to 2013” (Ace Score 663).

“Google’s emergence as a storytelling force is not a recent phenomenon – they have produced outstanding creative for several years now – but 2013 represented a watershed moment for the brand,” said Peter Daboll, Ace Metrix CEO. “Their achievements over the last twelve months are a testament to Google’s ability to personalize technology and create an emotional connection to simple tasks such as search. In the process, Google’s television advertising reminds us that their technology doesn’t just connect us to the world around us; it makes us feel more a part of it.”

Advertisers that have achieved Brand of the Year status delivered a portfolio of work that set them apart from their peers – a remarkable achievement considering the number of world-class marketers contributing creative. Nearly 750 brands competed for 20 category titles, from over 5,000 creative executions. In the last year, Ace Metrix scored more than 6,400 ads from over 1,200 brands. Liberty Mutual is the only brand to return to the winner’s list from 2012.

Brands of the Year, 2013 – listed alphabetically by category

Category   Brands   Average Ace Score
Apparel & Footwear   Reebok   504
Auto – Luxury   Buick   558
Auto – Non-Luxury   Jeep   554
Beverages – Beer   Samuel Adams   512
Beverages – Non-Alcoholic   Tropicana   617
Beverages – Spirits   Bacardi   509
Candies & Snacks   Reese’s   571

Financial Services
Banking, Investment & Mortgage

  TD Ameritrade   541
Household   Dawn   610
Insurance   Liberty Mutual   564
Packaged Foods   Marie Callender’s   573
Personal Care   Oral-B   583
Restaurants – Casual Dining   Longhorn Steakhouse   618
Restaurants – QSR   Baskin Robbins   594
Retail   Hallmark   581
Technology – Hardware   Vizio   609
Technology – Mobile Devices   Kindle   578
Technology – Software & Websites   Google   570
Technology – Video Games & Consoles   Xbox   591
Telecom Services   Netflix   547
   

*To qualify for Ace Metrix Brand of the Year, a brand must have debuted five or more unique pieces of creative within a category containing more than 100 pieces of creative and five qualifying brands. The Brand of the Year winners earned the highest average Ace Score for their 2013 portfolio of work, outperforming all other qualifying competitors within their category. Data is based on ads initially aired between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013, from data available through January 5, 2014.

Ad of the Year: Google “Here’s to 2013”

Google’s “Here’s to 2013” (Ace Score of 663) outperformed every other ad in its category by 46 percent, the most of any other brand across every qualifying category.

“Here’s to 2013” debuted on Christmas day and is a reflective, inspirational look at the events of 2013 through the lens of Google Search. The :90 spot is signature Google – emotional and moving, yet manages to showcase their products from voice to Earth and from video to search. With towering scores across all components, what stands out is the Relevance score – 49 percent above the Websites category norm. The 706 Relevance score is also fourth highest overall among the more than 6,400 ads scored by Ace Metrix.

Google additionally earned the overall Brand of the Year award based on its 2013 portfolio of work which achieved an average Ace Score of 570, 24 percent above the category norm – the largest gap of any other brand compared to its category average.

Stunning Tech and Telecom Developments

Simplicity was the key theme on display for technology with Vizio beating out category rivals Samsung, Microsoft and Intel with a series of television ads elegantly displaying their commitment to simplify the increasingly complex television experience. Kindle’s customer service-centric ads disrupted the highly competitive Mobile Devices category swiping the top spot from previous winners Samsung and Apple – notably ranked 4th and 5th respectively. Xbox topped the Video Games and Consoles category with ads that introduced the Xbox One and successfully captured the more elusive female demographic. Netflix stunned the Telecom Services category by outperforming all the telcos and wireless carriers with a portfolio of ads showcasing their evolving subscription offering and content choices.

For more on each of the category winners and their ad portfolios, visit acemetrix.com.

Brand of the Year Qualifications

Ace Metrix scores every nationally airing television advertisement across 24 industries, 93 categories and is therefore uniquely qualified to report a brand’s overall effectiveness across the entire video advertising industry’s body of work over a year, as well as year-over-year. To qualify for Ace Metrix Brand of the Year, brands must have debuted five or more unique pieces of creative within a category containing more than 100 pieces of creative and five qualifying brands.

About Ace Metrix

Ace Metrix® is the new standard in television and video analytics, dedicated to delivering better, faster and more cost-effective solutions for evaluating video advertising within competitive context. Through the Ace Metrix LIVE® platform, companies can now access timely, actionable data wherever, whenever they need to, enabling real-time advertising campaign optimization. Combining leading edge technology and patent pending methodology, Ace Metrix is revolutionizing the way marketers measure themselves and their competitive landscape. The Company is privately held and is backed by leading venture capital firms and industry leaders including Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures, Leapfrog Ventures and WPP.

Follow Ace Metrix on Twitter for sustained insight: @Ace_Metrix.

Note: Ace Metrix®, the Ace Metrix logo design, Ace Score®, Ace Metrix LIVE® and Creative Lifecycle Management® are registered trademarks of Ace Metrix. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Contacts

for Ace Metrix
Michelle Robertson, 646-279-5775
michelle@kerlancomm.com

Release Summary

Brands of the Year awarded to 20 brands who outperformed their peers most in 2013 based on their entire portfolio of work.

Contacts

for Ace Metrix
Michelle Robertson, 646-279-5775
michelle@kerlancomm.com