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Nike’s Rio Games TV spots ranked high in recall by consumers.
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Automakers flooded the airwaves during the Rio Olympics but came away with comparatively little to show for it, according to research by brand strategy firm Kantar Millward Brown.
Chevrolet, BMW and Ford poured more than $155 million into television advertising during the Games, making them the second-, fourth- and sixth-biggest spenders, respectively. But when consumers were asked whether they remembered the spots, the carmakers finished only in the middle of the pack of brands studied.
| Advertiser |
Olympic spend |
Ad recall |
| Coca-Cola |
$37M |
40.9% |
| McDonald's |
$33.8M |
37.7% |
| Visa |
$47.4M |
32.5% |
| Nike |
$27.1M |
31.6% |
| Geico |
$54.5M |
22.2% |
| Samsung |
$82.8M |
21.6% |
| Subway |
$20.3M |
20.3% |
| Toyota |
$32.8M |
19.7% |
| AT&T |
$224,000 |
19.7% |
| Chevrolet |
$61.4M |
19.4% |
| Budweiser |
$17M |
19.1% |
| United Airlines |
$21M |
18.2% |
| Reese's |
$6.2M |
14.8% |
| BMW |
$53.6M |
14.1% |
| Procter & Gamble |
$5.8M |
14.1% |
| Ford |
$40.5M |
13.9% |
| Citi |
$33.8M |
12.3% |
| Bridgestone |
$17.8M |
10.3% |
| Enterprise |
$17.7M |
10.2% |
| GE |
$25.1M |
9.7% |
| Gillette |
$5.2M |
8.8% |
| Omega |
$5.1M |
7.2% |
Note: Ad recall measured by a survey of 1,005 people, asked whether they remembered seeing a brand's commercials.
Source: Kantar Millward Brown
Conversely, Nike, Subway and AT&T got relatively good bang for their buck. Nike spent $27.1 million, or 11th overall in spending, but rated fourth highest in brand recall, at 31.6 percent — behind only Olympic stalwarts Coca-Cola (40.9 percent), McDonald’s (37.7 percent) and Visa (32.5 percent).
“One of the things you see going on there is that the creative really matters,” said Joline McGoldrick, vice president of insights and product marketing for Kantar Millward Brown. “Two things that are important: the creative theme, how much the creative theme is leveraging something like the Olympics … and some brands that are just a more natural fit for these type of events than others.”
By far the largest TV spender during the Olympics was Samsung, which launched its now-recalled Galaxy Note 7 two days before Rio’s opening ceremony. Samsung spent $82.8 million, with 21.6 percent of consumers claiming to remember the ads, or sixth highest.
McGoldrick gave Nike credit for its “Iron Nun” and “Just Do It” spots from the Games for keeping tied to the common Olympic theme while varying the target audience. Samsung, she said, had several great spots but lacked a clear unifying theme.
To gauge consumer response, researchers asked 1,005 people from Aug. 23-25 if they remembered seeing particular companies’ commercials. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Spending data came from Kantar Media.
It’s worth noting that the spending includes only television dollars, while consumers might have had a variety of advertisements in mind when they answered the poll questions.
Poll respondents were also asked to list what they remembered from Olympic commercials, unprompted. All age groups tended to recall athletes best. Generally, all age groups liked humorous and upbeat ads, though older viewers want practical information, while younger viewers responded best to emotional stories.
