VB&P ON THE AIR.

This week our very own Paul Venables and Lucy Farey-Jones had television appearances on ABC news, talking about the Super Bowl. Watch Paul here and Lucy here. As you’ll see, the camera loves them.

Additionally, Paul, “I hang out with Jerry Seinfeld,” Venables appeared on KGO radio with Ronn Owens to talk about the game. Listen to Paul’s thoughts about Sunday’s ads here.

THE SUPER BOWL AND THE SOCIAL NETWORK.

Facebook is going to be a Super Bowl marketer’s best friend this year as the social network is set to edge out YouTube for ad searching and sharing, VB&P found in results from our third annual Super Bowl survey published in today’s Mashable.

“Facebook has been critical to game day and post game marketing for a couple of years now, but for the first time in our study we are seeing the site bypass YouTube and brand sites as the first place Americans search online for ads pre-game,” said Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and head of strategy, VB&P.

Almost one in five (19%) Americans searched for ads before the game in 2011, about double (11%) who did in 2010. Of that group, 48% searched for ads on Facebook, putting the site just ahead of popular video sharing site YouTube, brand sites, and media sources as the lead destination to find ads. As Audi of America’s agency of record and creator of five years’ worth of Super Bowl spots, VB&P is taking advantage of this trend in this year’s game. To learn more, visit Audi’s Facebook page on January 25th.

Facebook will also be the place where Americans share ads. More than a third (36%) of Americans plan to share their favorite ad via social media. Of that group, 87% will share via Facebook, which is more than emailing with a YouTube link (6%) and Twitter (4%).  Theoretically, this means that if 111 million people watched this year’s game, there could be 35 million posts on Facebook about Super Bowl advertising and with the average Facebook user having 130 friends, those collective posts could result in over 4.5 billion incremental impressions. Overall, digital engagement during the Super Bowl has experienced double-digit increases from 2010—2012, proving Americans are increasingly multitasking during the big event.

For more information on the study or to schedule an interview with Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and head of strategy, please contact Meredith Vellines at meredith.vellines@venablesbell.com.

DISTRACTED YET ENGAGED

In our second annual Super Bowl survey we reveal that America’s appetite for Super Bowl marketing is ravenous, especially that of young adult (18-34) game watchers.

Young adults told us they are looking forward to watching the ads more than spending time with their friends and family, the half-time show and the national anthem, in that order. In fact, of the 64% of young adults that would opt to watch the game with commercials versus commercial-free, 25% of that group would even pay a $.99 subscription fee to watch the ads during the game.

“Call it the ‘Mad Men’ effect, but young Americans’ intrigue with Super Bowl advertising seems to be at a steady increase, which is a great sign for marketers who’ve made the investment,” said Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and head of strategy, VB&P. “Take that passion – combined with their habit of multi-tasking on multiple technology platforms – and you get a consumer who is ready and willing to engage.”

According to VB&P’s survey, young adults’ technology habits are rapidly evolving. In fact, 44% plan to be texting during the game, double that of the average survey population, and 40% plan to be on Facebook (vs. the survey’s 22% average). Additionally, three times as many young adults report they will be tweeting during the game (vs. the survey average).

Despite this distraction across multiple technology platforms, young adults’ engagement in the advertising will be high before, during and after the Super Bowl. Prior to the game, 60% will pay attention to who is advertising (vs. 50% of the general population). Not only do 86% of young adults say they will talk about the ads during the game and afterwards, but they will also extend that chatter online. 34% of them report they’ll post something about the advertising to their social networking sites, while only 29% will post about an important play. 30% plan to post something about the Super Bowl on Facebook (vs. 15% survey average) and 59% plan to share their favorite ad on the popular social networking site (vs. 39% survey average).

Younger consumers not only look forward to watching the advertising, but also if given the opportunity, 48% would like to participate in a consumer-generated ad- making contest. 22% have also voted for their favorite consumer-generated ad to run during the Super Bowl game (vs. 11% survey average).

Watch Lucy discuss the study on ABC News and read about it in the San Francisco Chronicle, Yahoo, AdRants, MediaPost, Boston Globe, AOL Daily Finance, SHOOT Online, The SF Egotist, Boston.com and The New York Times.

For more information on the study or to schedule an interview with Lucy, please contact Meredith Vellines at meredith.vellines@venablesbell.com.

THE SUPER BOWL AND THE DIGITAL WATER COOLER.

The Super Bowl party isn’t just around the bean dip anymore. In our second annual Super Bowl survey, VB&P found that this year’s game watchers plan to be more engaged with the advertising than ever before and pass along that enthusiasm with exponential force via their own social networks during the game and after.

“The math’s pretty amazing,” says Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and head of strategy, VB&P. “15% of watchers plan to post something about the Super Bowl on Facebook alone. If Fox gets the estimated audience of 100 million this year, that means that there will be 15 million people come game day ready to send a message to a further average of 130 friends. That’s 1.95 billion potential impressions during and post game. Creating advertising that is engaging enough for people to talk about in their status feeds to harness viewers’ digital habits is more important and more potentially rewarding for marketers than ever before.”

During the game, 22% of Americans plan to be on Facebook (vs.16% in 2010) and 22% plan to be texting, while only 4% plan to tweet. These percentages nearly double for young adults (18-34), with 41% saying they’ll be on Facebook, 44% reporting they’ll be texting and 12% tweeting. When asked what they will be posting about on their social networks, almost a quarter of survey respondents said they would post something about the ads over plays, the half-time show, parties, players and coaches. Americans are also almost as likely to “like” a brand on Facebook that advertises during the Super Bowl (20%) as they are to “like” a team (24%), with 25% of young adults likely to “like” a brand.

Social networks will also benefit brands after the game, as 43% plan to rewatch their favorite ads and 31% plan to pass those along to others via email or social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, up from 26% last year. These numbers rise with younger adults, with almost 49% saying they’ll share and 55% reporting they’ll rewatch ads online. When asked which social network site people will use to share ads, 39% said Facebook with 59% of young adults using this site to share ads. Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and texting accounted for less than 10% of respondents.

To read about our survey in the New York Times, visit here. And, for more information on the study or to schedule an interview with Lucy Farey-Jones, please contact Meredith Vellines at meredith.vellines@venablesbell.com.

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.