Paging Peyton — Clever Ads Work Best, Survey Finds

American Banker    Monday, April 2, 2007
By H. Michael Jalili

Credit card advertisements that are both funny and clever give issuers a better return on their investment than those that are just funny, a marketing executive said.

"How you use humor can leave an impression on the consumer. Clever is more important than humorous," said Paul Zeman, a vice president of the communication and brand analytics practice at Phoenix Marketing International.

Since June 2005, his privately held Rhinebeck, N.Y., company has been ranking card issuers' television, radio, print, and online ads by their effectiveness. Its clients, which include issuers and networks, use the rankings to assess how their ads fare in comparison with those of their competitors, Mr. Zeman said in an interview last week.

Each month Phoenix surveys 2,000 random consumers, all of whom are older than 21 and have at least one card and a household income of at least $25,000.

Two scores are used to determine the rankings. An "in-market" score is based on how many people remember the ad, whether it improved their impression of the brand, and whether it persuaded them at least to consider applying for the card. A "creative" score measures how informative, relevant, and clever the respondents found the ads to be. The highest possible score in each category is 200.

Mr. Zeman said some ads could receive high creative scores but low market scores because they did not get enough air time for many people to remember them.

This year ads featuring celebrities have scored well in Phoenix's surveys. In the February survey, the most recent one, an American Express Co. spot starring Ellen DeGeneres got a creative score of 78 and a market score of 111, the highest of the month in each category. In January a MasterCard Inc. ad starring Peyton Manning got a creative score of 85, the highest for the month, and a market score of 108, a tie with a Visa U.S.A. Inc. debit ad.

"A celebrity — if used effectively — drives recall and … can also be an icon for the brand," Mr. Zeman said.

Another notably effective ad from MasterCard featured a runner using a contactless card during a marathon, he said. In addition to being funny, the ad grabbed consumers' attention because they can appreciate something that would help them when they are in a rush, he said. In Phoenix's October survey, the ad got the fourth-highest creative score, 60, and the third-highest market score, 90.

"This is another example that's funny, but it's more clever," he said. "When we talk to clients, we tell them the best practices when you go down the clever route is using a metaphor that people can identify with."

A research note from Phoenix singled out a print ad in which a girl visits her grandmother using reward miles accrued on JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Delta SkyMiles card. "The idea of seeing loved ones is motivating," the note says.

The ad received a market score of 34 and a creative score of 31. Mr. Zeman said those are high scores for print ads, which usually rank well below TV ads.