CINCINNATI, Ohio (August. 18, 2005) -- The National Football League's preseason activities are focused on the field, but advertisers are already beginning to make decisions about whether to buy multi-million-dollar 2006 Super Bowl ads. Will their pricey ads generate "buzz" around the water cooler?  If thousands of highly attentive bloggers ignore or badmouth an ad, will sponsors get their money's worth?

According to leading buzz-monitoring firm Intelliseek, part of the answer lies in the volume, tone, and velocity of consumer-generated media (CGM) before and after the ad is placed. And based on the success of its 2005 Super Bowl initiative, the Cincinnati firm will again monitor online consumer "buzz" about the multi-million ads that will air during the Feb. 5, 2006 Super Bowl.

Auditing advertisement effectiveness
"Quantitative analysis of online word-of-mouth behavior is an excellent way to audit the effectiveness of offline advertising, including television ads," said Pete Blackshaw, Intelliseek's chief marketing and client satisfaction officer. "In theory, Super Bowl ads are designed to engage and provoke conversations, but do they? In 2005, we found that some ads had great traction and others fell short, especially on brand recall or celebrity recognition."

Intelliseek specializes in tracking and measuring consumer "buzz" on Internet discussion boards, forums and blogs. It offers the ad-monitoring service to help major brands and advertisers track and analyze consumer word-of-mouth behavior and opinions about the multi-million 30- and 60-second spots during the prime-time Super Bowl event.

In 2005, for example, the controversy surrounding the yanking of a GoDaddy.com ad that mocked the 2004 Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" incident overpowered some of the other advertising messages and campaigns. “Brands were ill-served by the network’s indecisiveness over the ad’s content," Blackshaw said. "The 'watercooler effect' was compromised when buzz shifted to this incident, not the ads themselves." 

The buzz factor
Intelliseek’s Super Bowl program includes real-time analysis of messages and opinions expressed in millions of blogs, message boards, online communities and sports enthusiast sites to determine whether the ads are sufficiently creative, memorable, and engaging to trigger consumer discussion. The analysis ranks buzz by volume, emotion, appeal factors, and penetration among influential consumers

Intelliseek again will deploy a panel of consumer bloggers to critique the ads and commercials during the game. Their commentary will be accessible to participating clients. Intelliseek manages BlogPulse, a blog portal that has identified more than 15 million blogs for daily analysis and tracking.

Media contact: 513-618-6716

Press Contact: Sandra Parrelli; Sandra.Parrelli@nielsen.com; 646-654-7772

Sales Inquiries: sales@buzzmetrics.com; 1.877.999.7335

About Nielsen Online:

Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, delivers comprehensive, independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising, video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumer behavior, and includes products previously marketed under the Nielsen//NetRatings and Nielsen BuzzMetrics brands. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen Online enables clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet, digital and marketing strategies. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-online.com.

About The Nielsen Company:

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.