Super Bowl Ads Meet Brain Scans

Mon, Feb 6, 2006

An article in the LA Times, Researchers Get a Super Handle on Ads That Work, describes how neuroscientists at UCLA used brain scans to see which Super Bowl ads affected viewers the most. The surprising winner was Michelob, whose funny “touch football” ad had the biggest measured effect.

The ads were evaluated by having the subject view them on goggles while inside an fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine. fMRI machines allow researchers to measure brain activity at specific points in time.

Not surprisingly, the subject’s reported comments on each ad didn’t always match up with the brain scan. Potentially, that’s a major benefit of neuromarketing technology – getting beyond inaccurate self-reporting to see what’s really going on. What’s not known at this point, unfortunately, is how well ads that produce higher levels of brain activation will perform in the real world, i.e, cause viewers to buy a product, visit a website, etc.

It seems likely that in the near future, though, we’ll have a better understanding of what kind of brain activity is most likely to result in the desired response. At that point, it’s likely that an advertiser about to spend a few million bucks to produce and air a commercial might well choose to do a pre-game fMRI session or two. We could be seeing “brain scan optimized” ads by the next Super Bowl.

Roger Dooley (author of 559 posts on Neuromarketing.)

Roger Dooley writes and speaks about marketing, and in particular the use of neuroscience and behavioral research to make advertising, marketing, and products better. He is the primary author at Neuromarketing, and founder of Dooley Direct LLC, a marketing consultancy.

5 Responses to “Super Bowl Ads Meet Brain Scans”

Daria Says:
February 10th, 2006 at 5:24 am

I think it is great such attemps are being done. It gives us valuable knowledge about human’s brain and its reactions to advertising, however I do believe there is need to compile fMRI data with other traditional quantified data. I am very enthusiastic about neuromarketing but we need more integrated multi-source data before we draw any conclucions. “Brain scan optimized ads”…hmmm sounds like distant future, but as they say: future comes more immediate than you expect it. ;o)

NeuroGuy Says:
February 10th, 2006 at 9:45 am

>>sounds like distant future

Don’t worry, some ad agency will be pushing this even before the science is fully developed or proven. Thanks for stopping by, Daria.

Daria Says:
February 11th, 2006 at 3:00 pm

I am sure you are right Neuroguy. It is often when ‘money talks’ instead of ‘common sense’ talks

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

Neuromarketing Blog » Super Bowl Ads: GoDaddy Girl 1, Neuroscientists 0 says:

February 17, 2006 at 9:54 am

[...] Shortly after the big game (and big advertising extravaganza), we reported on some interesting, if not highly scientific, research in Super Bowl Ads Meet Brain Scans. The experiment, in which neuroscientists measured brain activity using fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) equipment is described in detail in an article by researcher Marco Iacoboni: Who Really Won the Superbowl? Some bloggers found the experiment of dubious value. Sandra of the Neurofuture blog sums up some of the questions. Vaughan of the MindHacks blog is also skeptical, noting The difficulty is that the functions of these areas are still controversial. For example, with the Super Bowl ads, Iacobini claims that activation in the ‘mirror system’ is a measure of empathy. This is still highly contentious and is presumably based on conclusions from an earlier study of his. Because of this uncertainty, it is difficult to know that any difference is not due to one advert having more movement in it than the other. Or perhaps more people. Or happier people. Or even something unrelated like a faster tempo in the music… despite the advert being otherwise rubbish. [...]

BRAINETHICS » Blog Archive » Neuromarketing says:

March 18, 2006 at 3:37 pm

[...] Now, in connection with the American super bowl, Marco Iacoboni has conducted an “instant-science experiment” where he and his colleagues imaged 5 subjects in an fMRI scanner while they watched the ads run during the breaks in the game. He then published a preliminary report on the http://www.edge.org website which has prompted a slush of comments. The New York Times referenced Iacobon’s short article, and a number of bloggers have made their thoughts public in the days since. See for instance the Neuromarketing blog’s positive reaction here, and then compared it to the Mind Hack guys’ much more negative reaction here. [...]

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