Just over five years ago, The Traitors was getting its start as a Dutch murder-mystery-style reality TV show, called De Verraders. Now, the show has turned into an international sensation, with the U.S. version recently kicking off its fifth season of sleuthing and subterfuge.
But unlike past seasons featuring American celebrities holed up in a castle in Scotland, and airing only on streaming, The Traitors: New Blood premiered on network TV on September 17, with a cast of ordinary people competing for up to $250,000 and the glory of outwitting opponents. While the new format raised questions about whether its cult-classic following would come along for the ride, the premiere quickly proved audiences were ready for the twist, delivering big wins for advertisers who were early faithfuls.
Over the course of two back-to-back episodes, the average ad during The Traitors: New Blood premiere night delivered 8.5x as much impact as the average ad on primetime broadcast and cable TV — a performance driven by both a massive audience viewership and strong engagement. The average ad across the two episodes was 13% more effective than and average primetime ad on a per-second, per-viewer basis.
Here's a look at some of the standout advertisers, based on the ad-driven consumer engagement behaviors that are proven to predict future sales:
Valentino's 30-second creative for its Vendetta perfume took the top spot among the most effective airings during The Traitors: New Blood premiere night, delivering 1,600% more engagement than the average ad that aired during the premiere. The passionate ad featured Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson and Alexander Skarsgård of True Blood fame. Perhaps the scene's sense of tension and mystery intrigued viewers who were already locked into the suspense of The Traitors.
Inspire's 30-second spot for its sleep apnea implant also hooked viewers, to the tune of 1,076% more engagement than the benchmark. The ad featured the final couple from Season 1 of The Golden Bachelorette — Joan Vassos and Chock Chapple — indicating that some intermingling among reality shows can be effective for brands.
Carfax's 15-second creative set inside a treehouse takes a playfully spooky tone around used car shopping. With 824% more engagement than the average ad during The Traitors: New Blood premiere, this Carfax ad showed that finance-related topics can still pair well with a fun show.
Kohl's 15-second spot about the transition to fall styles, featuring The Office star Ellie Kemper, drove 692% more engagement than the benchmark. Compared to the previously mentioned top-performers, this ad was much more cheerful. While matching a show's tone might help in certain cases, a timely ad like this can also be an effective way to connect with audiences.
Come to the roundtable with investment-grade data
The Traitors is a game that often relies on subtle signals, but time and time again, we see that a lack of clear data leads the faithfuls astray as they try to banish the traitors.
But when it comes to TV advertising, you don't have to haphazardly search for clues. EDO's investment-grade TV outcomes data helps advertisers understand the immediate impact of their own ads and those of competitors, so you can optimize media and creative decision-making.
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