Quantifiable Lift With The Addition of Social Media to Advertising

A recent joint study from Nielsen and Facebook, titled "Advertising Effectiveness: Understanding the Value of a Social Media Impression," analyzed survey data from more than 800,000 Facebook users with regard to more than 125 Facebook ad campaigns from 70 brand advertisers. The report provides quantifiable data that can be mapped to trusted advertising benchmarks: Ad Recall, Brand Awareness, and Purchase Intent.

Studies have shown that consumers trust their friends and peers more than anyone else in making a purchase decision. The authors acknowledge that it's critical to understand advertising not just in terms of "paid" media, but also in terms of how "earned" media (passed along or shared among friends) and social advocacy contribute to campaigns.

Percent of Respondents Trusting "Completely or Somewhat" in Selected Forms of Information
Form of Information	% of Respondents
Recommendations from people known	90%
Consumer opinions posted online	70
Brand websites	70
Editorial content	69
Brand sponsorship	64
TV	62
Newspaper	61
Magazines	59
Billboards/outdoor advertising	55
Radio	55
Opted-in Emails	54
Ads before movies	52
Ads fromSearch engine results	41
Online video ads	37
Online banner ads	33
Text ads on mobile phones	24
Source: The Nielsen Company, April 2009

The study took a close look at 14 Facebook ad campaigns that incorporated the "Become A Fan" engagement unit and sliced the effectiveness results three different ways, by each of the types of ads available on Facebook:

· Lift from a standard "Homepage (Engagement) Ad"

· Lift from an ad that featured social context or "Homepage ads with Social Context"

· Lift from "Organic Ads," news-feed stories that are sent to friends of users who engage with advertising on a brand

For those Homepage engagement ads at the top of the marketing funnel, awareness increased on average by 4% between exposed and control audiences. Purchase intent also increased on average by 2% following ad exposure on Facebook.

Variance Between Control Group to Homepage Ad
Benchmark	% Lift Change vs. Control
Ad recall	10%
Awareness	4
Purchase intent	2
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010

Comparing the responses of those users who had seen ads with social context against users who saw ads with no social context from the same campaign, there is a measurable lift in lift.

Relative "Lift" between Homepage and Homepage with Social Context Added
Benchmark	Homepage Exposure Lift	Homepage with Social Advocacy
Ad Recall	10%	16%
Awareness	4	8
Purchase intent	2	8
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010

While exposure to the homepage ad itself increased ad recall, those users exposed to both the "paid ad" and the organic impression remembered the ad at three times the rate of those just exposed to the paid homepage ad.

We saw a similar effect for the other two metrics evaluated. Homepage ads increased awareness of the product or brand by 4% on average, but exposure to both homepage ads and organic ads increased awareness by a delta of 13% versus the control group. Exposure to organic impressions also impacted purchase intent as well, increasing the impact of the ad from 2% to 8%.

Variance in Lift Between Homepage Control and Homepage Ad With Organic Context Added
Benchmark	Homepage Ad Exposure	Homepage Ad + Organic
Ad Recall	10%	30%
Awareness	4	13
Purchase intent	2	8
Source: the Nielsen Company/Facebook, April 2010

Now... That's a Great Social Loyalty Program

Pizza chain Papa John's is launching a social-media campaign at its Facebook site, called "Papa's Specialty Pizza Challenge," asking its fans to suggest a new pizza.

And in an unusual twist, the company is offering the winner of the promotion a portion of the profits from sales of the top pie, which will join the menu list at restaurants, and $1,000 to help market the pie during the month when the finalists compete for sales volume.

When people go to Facebook.com/PapaJohns, in addition to entering the toppings list they have devised, they also have to write a brief rumination of 250 words or less what makes their pizza unusual, special, or generally audacious for a chance to win. The company is judging the pies on appeal, taste, creativity of the name and the quality of the back story on how the contestant dreamed up the pie.

While the company says all entries will be featured in a gallery on Papa John's Facebook page, the company's president, "Papa" John Schnatter, and associates will choose 10 semifinalists, whose recipes will be cooked and tasted-tested by Schnatter and other judges at Papa John's Louisville, Ky., headquarters.

The top three recipes will be showcased on the chain's menu through August. The highest-selling pizza wins, and the winner gets free Papa John's pizza for life and an appearance in a "Papa's in the House" TV commercial.

A Papa John's spokesperson explains that the contest winner gets 1% of sales, up to $10,000 for the 12 month period that his or her pizza is offered following the contest. The winner also gets free pizza for life (based on 50 years of pizza at $480 per year). "The winning pie will actually become a part of Papa John's specialty menu, but the start date is yet to be determined," says the spokesperson.

As for the $1,000 that the finalists get to promote their pizzas during August, "They can use the cash to create viral videos in support of their pizza, buy advertising, rent a billboard and so on, or just keep the money and hope the popularity of their pizza catches on in other ways," says the spokesperson. This is the first time in company history that Papa John's has asked consumers to name and create a pizza and share the story of their pizza.

Last May, the company launched the "Papa's In the House" campaign, whose central conceit is that Schnatter might actually show up to homes as the delivery person. The ads have him driving a replica of the Chevy Camaro he purportedly sold to fund his initial foray into pizza. The ads, via Z Group, use real customers and are shot around Louisville.

The international chain is the third-largest pizza company globally, after Domino's and Pizza Hut.

Some TV Viewer Loss Blamed On Video Games

Television's prime time is video games' prime time.

Television viewer erosion is the result of a fractionalized viewership -- which is due, in large part, to cable viewing and Internet usage. But a lot of video game usage is also contributing, especially in the evening hours between 7 and 11 p.m.

A new study by the Nielsen Games measuring division says Xbox 360 usage, for example, hits nearly 25% between 7 and 11 p.m, with men around 23% and women's usage at around 17%.

Xbox 360 users are comprised of 45% 18- to-34-year-olds, 31% 12- to-17-year-olds, 13% 2- to-11-year-olds, 7% 35- to-44-year-olds and 3% 45- to-54-year-olds.

Nielsen also looked at Xbox 360 popular live game "1 vs 100" -- which comes in two versions -- one with a live host; the other where players could practice among themselves.

The live-host version play averaged 87 minutes, while the practice verison was 71 minutes. That's equal to about one TV drama and one sitcom. Both types of Xbox play offer advertising integration during the "game breaks" after each set of 10 questions.

Carolyn Fuson, senior audience and analysis manager for Xbox Live advertising, said in a Nielsen Wire blog: "In one specific case, an advertiser who placed ads within the games saw notable brand recall and lift. Our ability to learn more about the audience can only be a positive to those brands looking to make an impact on the growing gaming community."

Bayer Launches Diabetes Management Game for Nintendo DS

Pharmaceutical company Bayer announced the release of DIDGET, a blood glucose monitoring system that connects with Nintendo DS systems and rewards consistent testing with unlockable minigames.

DIDGET is a fully functional blood glucose monitor, and does not require a Nintendo DS to operate. The device reads and records blood sugar concentration levels determined by Bayer's prescription CONTOUR test strips.

When connected to the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot on Nintendo DS and DS Lite systems, DIDGET converts blood glucose test results into reward points.

Players can redeem these points to unlock new levels, minigames, and items in Knock 'Em Downs: World's Fair, a Nintendo DS adventure game bundled with the DIDGET device.

DIDGET additionally features an online community with score leaderboards, web games, and player profile pages that can be customized by redeeming DIDGET reward points.

An online demonstration is available at Bayer's website.