Who won the Metro?

Have you ever wondered which ads placed in the national newspapers are the most effective at engaging readers? Newsline has partnered with Lumen Research to find out.

Remember the O2 ad that won Who won the Metro a couple of weeks ago? You know, the one with the different coloured iPhones and the heat-map that looked like someone had sneezed all over the page? No? Well this week we have a case of déjà vu…

With an entirely different sample of 80 nationally representative respondents, O2 has managed to win the study for a second time with the same ad; however, with slightly different results.

When appearing on page 2 of the Metro, the advert from 14 August achieved 92% standout and 4.5 seconds of engagement, while last week’s ad from 28 August, which appeared further back on page 8, achieved slightly less impressive results with 79% standout and 3.3 seconds of engagement.

“Engaging with ads builds and reinforces memory structures,” said Lumen. “This is why on 14 August recall of the ad was 57% as opposed to 32% this week.

“The fact that the same ad has won for a second time shows that the clear layout with bright contrasting colours is a winning formula.

“The level of engagement with the ad is particularly noteworthy; people are happy to read the copy in the ad when it is clear and succinct, requiring minimal effort.”