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The IFTF Blog
Measuring the brain's response to good advertising
Of the 72 commercials aired during the 2009 Superbowl XLIII broadcast, which was your favorite? If I asked you why you picked a particular ad, your intuitive response might be that the storyline caught and captured your attention. Makes sense. And now, neuromarketers claim they can support that answer by measuring your brain activity.
Sands Research Inc. uses EEG (brain wave) activity from proprietary software and algorithms that measure viewers' attention levels to determine a commercial's Neuro-Engagement Factor (NEF). Using this scoring system, Sands determined that Coca-Cola`s `Heist` spot (animated insects stealing a bottle of Coke) provided an overall strong and sustained brain response. Turns out that the members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences liked the ad, too. It recently won the 2009 Emmy Award for outstanding commercial at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Dr. Stephen Sands, Chairman and Chief Science Officer ar Sands Research, reports:
In hundreds of commercials with thousands of participants tested by Sands Research to date, we have seen that a good ad will always have a large spike in brain activity within the first 800 milliseconds of the ad and sustain a high plateau across the length of the commercial, keeping the material interesting and the viewer engaged until the very last second.
Most people probably would agree that Coca-Cola has a long history of making memorable commercials (sing along: "I'd like to buy the world a Coke . . . "). Now, we have the ability to show what's going on inside our brains while we watch these ads. This seems fairly trivial, but I think it indicates the tip of the iceberg. As more sophisticated, affordable, and pervasive neuro-imaging technologies become available, new opportunities to understand and work with brain activity will emerge. They may continue to be used by marketers as a measurement of public opinion, but more importantly, they will thrust the brain squarely into the center of the health and health care ecosystem.