Anti-Trump Ads Move Independent Voters, Finds Ace Metrix
While Voters Don’t Like Negative Ads, They Are Effective at Grabbing
Attention
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ace Metrix, the leader in measuring the impact of video advertising, has
found that recent anti-Donald Trump TV ads are effective at swaying
Independent voters away from Donald Trump. However, this may not be
impacting the Republican field during primaries because out of all
recent Presidential campaign ads (not limited to anti-Trump ads), those
resonating the most among Independents are ads from Bernie Sanders.
These findings were based on examining the effectiveness of 24
anti-Trump ads, mostly funded by Super PACs, that have aired since late
January. Other findings include:
-
“TALK TALK TALK” earned the highest Ace Score among Independent voters
with a score of 559, well above the norm of 420. Created by the
pro-Kasich PAC, New Day for America, the ad blasts Trump and the other
Republican candidates for engaging in angry rhetoric, in contrast to
Kasich as the only candidate who has taken action, more specifically
creating jobs. The ad also earned an impressive Impact Score of 56,
well above the norm for this audience of 44. The Impact Score directly
measures the ad’s influence on the voting decision by asking the
question “after seeing this ad, how likely or unlikely are you to vote
for the candidate?” -
The most effective anti-Trump ads included themes around being scammed
by Trump University, his past history of employing illegal immigrants,
and general mistrust of Trump based on past support on issues like
abortion and Obamacare. The three highest-scoring of these ads among
the swing voters are sponsored by the pro-John Kasich PAC, New Day for
America, and two strictly anti-Trump PACs, American Future Fund and
Our Principles PAC. -
In exploring the viewer verbatim responses of the top performing
anti-Trump ads, while voters express distaste for negative ads, they
do work according to the components scores of Agreement, Attention,
and Credibility. -
Looking at performance of all Presidential campaign ads from the past
14 days among this swing group, four of the top six are from the
Bernie Sanders campaign, and one is from Hillary for America. Two
anti-Trump ads reach the top ten, “Talk Talk Talk” and “For Our Jobs,”
but the prevalence of Sanders ads among this group indicates where the
swing votes may be heading.
Mark Bryant, VP at Ace Metrix, is available for interviews about
political findings and as a resource on specific campaign ads, overall
ad themes and what is resonating with the public.
About Ace Metrix POLITICS
Launched in 2012, Ace Metrix POLITICS provides video ad effectiveness
metrics and data to political campaigns, PACs and advocacy groups based
on 500 respondents per ad and a sample of national registered voters
balanced to the U.S. Census. The data collected provides insights into
the effectiveness of the ad, verbatim responses and the likelihood the
ad changed the way respondents will vote.
About Ace Metrix
Ace Metrix provides technology, tools and insights that enable the
advertising ecosystem to understand how and why video creative works
with viewers. Advertisers, agencies and publishers rely on Ace Metrix to
provide qualitative and quantitative measures, normative data and
competitive insights that inform each phase of the creative lifecycle,
resulting in advertising that consistently delivers results. The
Company’s comprehensive suite of tools map to ad objectives, including
the creative impact of persuasion, breakthrough, emotional connection,
and indicators of shareability. The Company is privately held and is
backed by leading venture capital firms and industry leaders including
Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Palomar Ventures, Leapfrog Ventures and
WPP.
Contacts
Kerlan Communications
Dori Busell, 917-689-3415
dori@kerlancomm.com
