THE BUZZ AROUND VB&P’S VIRTUAL WATER COOLER.

Today, Venables Bell & Partners launched its Twitter Cooler MMX to house a virtual office environment that data visualizes the online conversations happening around our Super Bowl ads for VIZIO, Intel and Audi.

Say what you will about the death of the TV spot — the Super Bowl is still the biggest stage for brands to reach a mass audience, reaching 100 million consumers. And, the life of an ad won’t stop on Sunday. VB&P found that 41% of Super Bowl watchers plan to re-watch their favorite ads online and that Americans are just as likely to discuss ads as they are plays after the game.

“A Super Bowl spot is a pretty important marketing asset, but perhaps what’s more valuable is the amount of chatter and buzz that spot creates online. So, today, we’re unleashing a virtual water cooler – a data visualizer to track the conversations our three Super Bowl spots ignite,” said Paul Venables, founder and creative director, VB&P.

The Twitter Cooler is an extension of a project VB&P created last year to track the online chatter around its 2009 Super Bowl spot for Audi. The Twitter Cooler MMX builds on the idea but replaces the simple infographic approach with a retro videogame-styled office environment and pixel avatars to represent tweets related to the three, different Super Bowl spots it made for Audi, Intel and VIZIO. The visualizer tracks twitter messages from a week before the Super Bowl to a week after, and displays them in a time-lapse animation that the user can also control manually.

MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS.

Except when it comes to Super Bowl advertising. VB&P has found even though women (48%) are more likely than men (29%) to discuss their favorite ads after the Super Bowl, the sexes have a lot in common when it comes to brand memorability, preference and purchasing habits after the game. The study is part of a survey we did with 1,000 Americans to better understand the pulse of consumers on the economy, social networking and preferences according to gender, coming into this year’s Super Bowl.

Men (81%) and women (91%) both report that humor makes an ad more memorable, so it should come as no surprise that both sexes chose Budweiser as their favorite advertiser from last year’s game, with Doritos, Pepsi, E*trade and Bud Light all ranking high on their lists. In a split of the sexes, the majority of men (34%) admitted they were more likely to remember an ad if it had an attractive person in it, whereas the majority of women (51%) were more likely to remember ads with cute animals.

Men report they’re more interested in the game than women are, but the next day they are the ones who will be more likely to rewatch their favorite ads online (45% of men vs. 37% of women). However, women (34%) were more likely than men (27%) to pass along those favorite ads on popular social networking site Facebook.

When it comes to purchasing habits, women (75%) are only slightly more likely than men (71%) to buy a product after seeing it advertised during the game, despite men being more optimistic about the economy and feeling more strongly that spending ad dollars in a recession is responsible.

If there’s one thing the sexes agree exactly on, it’s what brands they would like to see in this year’s game that didn’t advertise last year. McDonald’s, Google and Apple are the brands Americans would like to see in the 2010 Super Bowl spotlight. Men and women ranked these three the highest on their list in this exact order, picked from Interbrand’s list of “Best Global Brands.”

For more information on the study or to schedule an interview with Lucy Farey-Jones, Partner and Head of Strategy, Venables Bell & Partners, please contact Meredith Vellines at meredith.vellines@venablesbell.com.

THE AFTERLIFE OF A SUPER BOWL AD.

Almost half (41%) of Super Bowl watchers will rewatch this year’s ads online, according to our agency’s survey of how Americans plan to interact with Super Bowl ads. This technology survey follows a prior study by VB&P that found Americans are just as likely to discuss ads as they are plays the Monday after the Super Bowl.

YouTube will be the online destination of choice for those who want to relive the Super Bowl’s advertising glory, over Google, Yahoo!, AOL, and USAToday’s popular Ad Meter site. 26% of those online watchers expect to pass along their favorite ads via e-mail or social networking sites. The majority (31%) will use Facebook to share their top picks over sending links of the spots to friends via YouTube, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Though Facebook was the preferred medium for sharing ads across all age groups, women (34%) were more likely to share their ad on the popular social networking site than men (27%). Men were more likely to rewatch the ads broadcast online and use Twitter over women.

Super Bowl watchers will also be busy communicating online while watching the game. With over half of respondents reporting they will have the ability to surf the Web during the actual broadcast, 44% plan to engage in some sort of technology communication tool (text messaging, search, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, IM, talking on the phone). Of those multitaskers, 20% plan to text message and 15% will either talk on the phone, e-mail or Facebook.

For more information on the study or to schedule an interview with Lucy Farey-Jones, Partner and Head of Strategy, Venables Bell & Partners, please contact Meredith Vellines at meredith.vellines@venablesbell.com.

OUR SURVEY SAYS: THE SUPER BOWL STILL SELLS.

Did you know three out of four Americans are still more likely to research or buy a product after seeing it advertised during the Super Bowl? VB&P polled 1,000 Americans and uncovered this stat and many others on consumer engagement in the big game.

Of respondents surveyed, 40% were optimistic about the future of the economy in 2010; 24% pessimistic; and 36% unsure. However, the majority of consumers state that advertising in the Super Bowl is responsible vs. irresponsible, and 64% would be disappointed if advertising during the game disappeared.

Advertising is still a key part of the Super Bowl entertainment experience, with respondents saying they’re looking forward to watching the ads more than the national anthem, half-time show or even spending time with their families, second only to the game itself.

When asked what they were most likely to discuss the Monday after, Americans are just as likely to discuss ads, as they are plays. In fact, 66% still remember their favorite brand advertiser from last year’s Super Bowl while only 39% remember who won the game.

Brands that incorporate humor will have the best chance of sticking in people’s minds and generating vital Monday morning water cooler buzz. VB&P found that a whopping 87% of participants think that humor makes an ad more memorable. Unsurprising, 60% of respondents say they were most entertained by beer ads last year.

Of the brands that didn’t advertise last year but who are on Intebrand’s top 20 brand list, McDonald’s, Google and Apple are those that people would most like to see advertise this year, while job placement and insurance brands are those that consumers would happily see leave the Super Bowl stage.

Please contact Meredith Vellines, at meredith.vellines@venablesbell.com, for more information or to schedule an interview with Lucy Farey-Jones, Partner and Head of Strategy, Venables Bell & Partners.