What if they don’t hear your $4 million ad?

With an average segment of the Super Bowl audience watching the game in large noisy groups, communicating a message without sound is critical. And with a $4 million price tag, a lot is at stake if advertisers get this wrong. By Darren Hamer, Managing Director UK, EyeTrackShop

The first weekend in February saw one of the key dates in the US sporting calendar, the Super Bowl. And although the Super Bowl may not grab the attention of most of the UK’s population in the way our home grown sporting events might do, the frenzy and furore that surrounds the commercial opportunities has become a media event around the world.

It’s not simply that those adverts have a massive united viewership, but it’s also now because there is an enthusiasm and excitement around their consumption.

In 2011 the VW Darth Vader kid ad went viral around the UK immediately following its premium slot in the half-time break at Super Bowl XLV and gained global recognition. When one of these adverts is successful, there is a massive peripheral interest and follow-up.

That platform comes with a cost, and with a cost of up to $4 million for a one minute slot it means the need to be more impressive increases every year, while the burden of expectation on performance and return are also increasingly heavy.

Which made the results of a new performance study, released last week to coincide with this international renowned event, all the more fascinating.

The study, which measured the effect of sound on a Super Bowl advert’s effectiveness and return on investment (ROI), showed that performance could fall by as much as 28% if the advert was run without sound.

With an average segment of the Super Bowl audience watching the game in large noisy groups, communicating your visual message without sound is critical. Advertisers need to understand that if you can’t communicate your message without sound, you’re losing money. And with a $4 million price tag a lot is at stake.

The study performed on an advert that is a finalist in the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl 2013 contest. The ad, “Goat 4 Sale,” was in the lead at time of selection. “Goat 4 Sale” was tested with audio and without audio in two different test groups of 165 consumers.

The consumer’s visual attention was broken down into fractions of a second using our biometric online based eye tracking platform, to measure what was seen, in what order and for how long. In the test group that did not have sound, the product consistently received less attention as the advert played.

Data from the test group with sound also reported a significantly stronger brand recall as well as higher ratings on how funny the ad was perceived to be, the probability of it resulting in positive word of mouth, and the extent to which consumers then craved Doritos.

While the story of the Super Bowl adverts is what makes them stand out and become global phenomena, in the end the key issue is how they play out to consumers on the ground. The much debated question as to whether the creative or the campaign is the most important aspect for Super Bowl ads – or any visual ad – pales against the potential loss of up to a third of the audience’s attention at the time of play.

And if lack of sound means less attention, it means that advertisers must remember to focus on how to combine the best ways to get attention. If the sound might not be there – then make sure that you’ve still communicated your story and ensured that you’re continuing to engage consumer attention.