Apple has by far the best-selling tablet on the market. And the company is known for its glossy, well-produced ads backed by (sometimes annoyingly) catchy tunes. But according to analysis of consumer reaction to all the tablet ads aired on TV this year, the most effective tablet ad produced so far is not from iPad maker. Rather, it’s from Apple’s frenemy Samsung for its Galaxy Tab.
AceMetrix produced the report, which scores ads based on elements of persuasion (desire, relevance, likeability, attention, information, and change) and “watchability,” or how engaged a person feels with the product after viewing the ad. Samsung’s “Feel Free” ad, scored the highest with 650 points. Apple’s best-scoring iPad ad, “It Becomes Delightful, Even Magical,” is next closest to the Tab ad, with a score of 640. Research in Motion’s Playbook ad, which focuses on the tablet’s multitasking and Adobe Flash support, was the third-highest ranked with a score of 636. HP’s TouchPad TV spot follows with 633. See the rest of the list here.
HP actually aired the most TV spots so far this year, with eight different versions of TouchPad ads. Samsung was next with six for its Android-based tablet, according to AceMetrix. Apple is close behind them with five iPad ads aired this year, but received consistently higher scores. Averaged together, Apple’s five ads scored the highest of tablet makers with 627, while Samsung’s six averaged scores of 607.
If you’ve been following the progress of other tablet makers that are not named Apple, you’ll note that the Samsung ad judged “most effective” is not translating to the best sales. Android tablets in general, of which the Galaxy Tab is one, are being outsold by the iPad, by some accounts, by a ratio of eight to one. Apple sold 9 million iPads in its most recent quarter. The PlayBook shipped (not sold) a mere 500,000 units in its first quarter, and we don’t know exact figures yet on the TouchPad, but Best Buy is reported to be sitting on a stack of them, unsold.
Conclusion: A slick TV ad has yet to make much progress toward diminishing Apple’s lead.
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