OTX (Online Testing eXchange), a leading global consumer research and consulting firm, released the results of a study testing whether consumers respond more favorably to Super Bowl ads than other TV advertising. Given the intense media attention on the Super Bowl advertising blitz, researchers expected to see a higher emotional response to Super Bowl advertising. Instead, respondents actually found the ads to be less informative, less factual, and less emotive.

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"We wanted to see if the Super Bowl hype helped ads," said David Brandt, executive vice president, managing director for OTX's Marketing Insights division. "What we found was that respondents took a much more critical view of the ads when they were told they were Super Bowl ads. They hold them to a higher standard than ads in other venues. So not only are advertisers already paying much more, they also have to work much harder to make an impact."

The study was conducted with two groups that each saw the same six ads. The ads used in the study were created for this year's conference playoffs with a football audience in mind. The first group wasn't told anything about the ads. The second group was told the ads were going to be aired in the 2006 Super Bowl. When the ads were associated with the Super Bowl, they consistently scored lower:

-- The emotional response to the ads dropped an average of 11%

-- The perceived informational value of the ads dropped an average of 22%

-- A soft drink ad used in the study lost 87%, or nearly all, of its informational value when it was believed to be a Super Bowl ad

-- The same soft drink ad scored very well in the emotional measures among the first group, but its emotional score was cut by about a quarter when viewers were told it was a Super Bowl ad

"The findings may suggest that there's an expectation among viewers that Super Bowl ads aren't meant to be informative. Instead, perhaps they should just be entertaining in order to elicit an emotional response and reinforce the brand," said Brandt. "In this study the respondents said that not only are these playoff ads not worthy of the Super Bowl, but they actually created a negative reaction when they were associated with the big game."

It is no surprise to advertisers that they have to work harder to deliver a successful ad during the Super Bowl. The OTX findings support the thinking that today's Super Bowl viewers have come to expect much more from brands during the big game and advertisers will constantly have to build upon their strategy to get noticed during the largest sports entertainment event of the year.