Welcome to another edition of “Know What Works,” a new feature on our blog in which we highlight TV ads that were highly successful in generating Search Engagement, EDO’s proprietary measure of the increase in search activity for a brand or product in the minutes immediately following a TV ad airing.
The weather is getting colder, but advertisers are just warming up! In fact, this past week EDO saw two great examples of advertisers, Chick-fil-A and Wayfair, using the holidays to successfully engage with viewers.
For the third year in a row, Chick-fil-A continued to tell the stories of Evergreen Hills through animated short films with the debut of its The Whoopsery ad on Food Network, followed by a grand appearance during The 95th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC. In a press release about the campaign, Chick-fil-A said it, “[encourages] viewers to embrace what’s wonderful inside of life’s unexpected and imperfect moments.” This heart-warming message obviously resonated with viewers. The short film creative generated a Search Engagement score 23% above the average Chick-fil-A creative. This means that a viewer was 23% more likely to search for Chick-fil-A in comparison to the average Chick-fil-A creative in 2021.
Wayfair, meanwhile, started running its Cyber Monday campaign on Saturday, November 27, and was one of the few big online retailers to promote its great deals. Our data shows consumers were hooked! The Cyber Monday creatives generated over 12% Search Engagement, meaning a viewer was over 12% more likely to search for Wayfair in the minutes immediately following the TV ad airing, in comparison to the average Wayfair airing in 2021.
Why did these holiday ads work?
EDO helped validate and prove that when TV ads air within or adjacent to relevant content, Search Engagement was higher for those brands. In fact, our data shows that a viewer who sees a contextually relevant ad is 56% more likely to engage online with the brand being advertised compared to someone who sees a standard TV ad airing on the same program.
Chick-fil-A astutely aired its short film, featuring The Whoopsery Bakery, during contextually relevant programs. The creative debuted during Christmas Cookie Challenge on Food Network, continued to air on other holiday-baking programs, and, of course, generated significant buzz during the family-friendly Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
While EDO data has shown that brands that advertise earlier for the holidays generate the highest levels of Search Engagement (see Know What Works: Walmart’s Deals for Days Holiday Campaign Gains Traction), Wayfair still had success despite starting its advertising only a couple of days prior to Cyber Monday. One reason why was Wayfair was able to piggyback off the momentum of Black Friday limited-time offers to continue engaging consumers through Cyber Monday with additional limited-time offers. This created immediate interest and urgency.
Chick-fil-A and Wayfair utilized different, but successful approaches with their holiday campaigns using other media factors to their strategic advantages. Advertising during contextually relevant programs worked for Chick-fil-A, while Wayfair used limited-time offers and the momentum of Black Friday interest to generate high levels of Search Engagement.
For more information on how EDO can help improve the timeliness and placements of your creatives or optimize ads for higher consumer engagement, contact us today, and #knowwhatworks.