Video Ad Report: Majority Of People Who Saw A Super Bowl Ad This Year Watched It Exclusively Online

Just in time for the first game of this year’s NFL season, video metrics company Unruly has released a Super Bowl XLIX report that shows more than half of the people it polled who had seen a Super Bowl XLIX video ad said they watched the ad exclusively online.

To evaluate engagement data for Super Bowl XLIX video ads that aired during the big game, Unruly polled 1,200 people. On average, 38 percent of the survey participants said they had seen a Super Bowl XLIX ad. Of the 38 percent, 51 percent said they had watched the ad online only versus seeing it on TV.

[pullquote]”For marketers who think the Super Bowl is a TV-only event, this should be a huge wake-up call.” — Unruly President, Richard Kosinski[/pullquote]

In addition to most people watching Super Bowl ads exclusively online, Unruly’s findings showed this year’s Super Bowl ads were shared online more than ever before, generating over nine million shares.

The spike in shares represents a 73 percent increase over the previous year and a new record for the number of Super Bowl ad shares.

Super Bowl Video Ad Shares

Unruly attributed the steep rise in shares this year to an increase in the total number of video ads released online, in addition to Facebook video entering the mix.

“There was a 32% increase in the total number of ads released online, as advertisers experimented with formats outside of YouTube, including Facebook’s video player for the first time, as well as Vine,” says Unruly.

The video metrics company found that 30 percent of YouTube shares and 70 percent of Facebook video shares happen during the first two days a video is launched.

Using Budweiser’s “Lost Dog” spot, the most shared video ad from Super Bowl XLIX, Unruly highlighted the stark contrast between shares gained on Facebook versus YouTube prior to this year’s game.

Budweiser “Lost Dog” Video Ad Shares on Facebook vs YouTube

The study found that 80 percent of the ads they evaluated evoked a strong emotional response from viewers.

Also, more than half of the official Super Bowl television ads were released online before Super Bowl Sunday. According to Unruly, 39 percent of total Super Bowl ad shares happened before game day.

Unruly’s full report can be downloaded here: The Science of Sharing 2015.