New ad formats help live sports dominate Convergent TV ad engagement, driving business outcomes for retail brand advertisers

EDO, the TV outcomes company, reports new data detailing ad performance across live Thanksgiving weekend football matchups, including Amazon’s first-ever Black Friday game. EDO found that ads during live Thanksgiving and Black Friday NFL matchups outperform retail primetime ads by an average of 29%, and are 45% more effective than ad performance so far this NFL season.

The NFL’s first-ever Black Friday game served a strong start to the holiday shopping season thanks to new, innovative ad formats not previously seen in NFL broadcasts, especially for retailers. Consumers who saw a retail ad during the Black Friday game were 127% more likely to drive engagement than the retail primetime average.

Retail advertisers also saw success in live College Football matches. Ohio State vs. Michigan was the most effective Saturday College Football game for driving brand engagement for retail brands, with consumers 177% more likely to engage with brands compared to the retail primetime average, making it the top-performing game of the weekend at driving engagement for advertisers.

According to EDO’s TV outcomes data, the top brand advertisers, as measured by total TV-driven ad engagement indexed against the average brand’s ad impact during Thanksgiving and Black Friday NFL football broadcasts, were:

1. Walmart (49.4x*).
2. Dick’s Sporting Goods (42.7x*)
3. Toyota (19.7x*)
4. Meta (17.1x*)
5. Kohl’s (14.3x*)
6. Taco Bell (11.2x*)
7. Lowe’s (11.0x*)
8. Apple iPhone (10.7x*)
9. Target (10.5x*)
10. Verizon Wireless (10.5x*)
11. Acura (10.4x*)

Marketing Technology News: RTB House Introduces Generative AI Technology for More Precise Audience Insights

*Brand drove “##” as much engagement as the average advertising brand during Thanksgiving and Black Friday NFL football broadcasts.

On CNBC Squawk Box, EDO President & CEO Kevin Krim spoke about the impact of Black Friday football. “The NFL owns Thanksgiving,” said Krim. “Now, with a partner like Amazon, it owns Black Friday, too. What’s most fascinating is the ad innovation Amazon has introduced to the NFL. While I think it’s taken longer than anticipated to come to life, I can’t wait to see where it goes next.”

Top creatives, as measured by total TV-driven ad engagement indexed against the average creative’s ad impact during Thanksgiving and Black Friday NFL football broadcasts, were:

1. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Black Friday Starts Now ft. Kay Adams :15 (24.2x**)
2. Walmart, New Black Friday Deals :15 (22.1x**)
3. Acura, All-Electric ZDX – Unlock the Energy :30 (19.6x**)
4. Solo Stove, Giving Up Smoke ft. Snoop Dogg :30 (16.3x**)
5. Gillette, Gillette Labs with Exfoliating Bar :30 (15.9x**)
6. Old Navy, Toboggan Full of Buckaroonies ft. Natasha Lyonne :15 (15.6x**)
7. Porsche, The All Electric Taycan :15 (15.5x**)
8. Target, Holiday Deals Black Friday Bullseye :30 (14.2x**)
9. Walmart, 2023 Holidays – Find Your Thing V2 :30 (13.8x**)
10. Ray-Ban, Next-Gen Smart Glasses :15 (13.6x**)

**Creative drove “##” as much engagement as the average advertising brand during Thanksgiving and Black Friday NFL football broadcasts.

Live sports inventory is more valuable than ever. Hollywood strikes have driven more eyes to unscripted TV and live sports — the latter consistently ranking as TV’s most effective programming for advertisers. Last year, the NFL accounted for five of the top 10 TV broadcasts most likely to drive consumers to engage with advertising brands. Even the league’s pregame shows were 68% more likely to generate engagement than the broadcast primetime average.

Measuring this highly impactful programming is a must for results-driven advertisers, and EDO’s real-time engagement data empowers brand, agency, and network marketers to connect consumer behavior to business outcomes across their Convergent TV campaigns.

Krim continued, “NFL week 12 matchups highlighted the strength of retailers and automakers heading into the last weeks of 2023. Ads with discount messaging generated bigger engagement spikes than their typical promos in past years. Retailers Target, Walmart, Amazon, and Old Navy had the most innovative campaigns, while automakers such as Hyundai and BMW also experienced strong ad performance with Holiday Sales Event campaigns. And though it wasn’t a holiday-themed ad, Kia’s new three-row, all-electric SUV, the EV9, was electrifying as the second most impactful ad on Black Friday.”

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Janaka Fernando, Optimizely Practice Director at Valtech