EDO

🏝️ Every mom knows the sound of "Mom, look!”, and Beaches Resorts (Sandals Resorts International earned a place on ADWEEK's Ad of the Week list by building a highly engaging ad around it. Set to Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds," the spot frames a resort stay through a parent's eyes: every parade, scuba dive, and pool game ends with the same proud shout, “Mom, look!” The idea is simple but universal, and it's exactly why parents book family vacations. More than five months after its April 1 debut, the ad was 136% more effective than the average Hotels and Resorts spot from September 23–29. 🏆

📺 For years, the average ad on Spanish-Language TV (SLTV) has driven stronger engagement than the average ad elsewhere on TV. In our latest TV outcomes report, we found that this advantage is actually becoming more pronounced. Over the past year, the average ad on Spanish-language TV (SLTV) drove 47% more total impact than the average English-language TV ad, up 34% year-over-year. Even when normalizing for audience size, SLTV ads were 24% more effective on a per-person, per-second basis. The World Cup took it further. The average hydration-break sponsorship on SLTV, a first for the tournament, generated as much ad-driven impact as 39 average TV ads, all without cutting away from live match action. Our third annual Spanish-Language TV Outcomes Report covers the brands, creatives, and genres driving results on SLTV, based on the ad-driven consumer behaviors that are proven and predictive of future sales. This year, it also includes new analyses of hydration-break sponsorships and how World Cup creatives performed once the tournament ended. Inside the report: 🏆 World Cup brand performance, including McDonald's, which was 438% more effective than the average SLTV World Cup advertiser. 📊 How SLTV outperformed English-language TV by genre, including News (+48%) and Scripted Entertainment (+44%). ⭐ Standout ads from Coors Light, Walmart, and The General, featuring Andrés Cantor, Stephanie Beatriz, and Shaquille O'Neal. Explore the full report: https://lnkd.in/gDF9Y_u6

📺 In the AI era, the context of a scene is one of the most powerful levers brands have for ad performance. That was the case EDO's VP of Media Analytics Matt Ulrich made on-stage at Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) Summit XV in New York, alongside Upwave’s Jon Stewart, CIMM’s Evan C., Publicis Media's Megan Browne Halscheid, and Shari Cleary. Matt shared findings from EDO's research with Wurl: placing an automotive brand's ads next to high-surprise scenes made them 124% more effective than the benchmark. Timing matters too: sports betting ads that aired during pregame NFL coverage outperformed in-game and post-game airings — because they reached viewers before bets were placed. As zero-click search cuts into marketers’ first-party data, combining contextual targeting with mid-funnel outcomes gives brands a durable game plan to measure, prove, and optimize performance. 📊 Read Matt's full take from the panel: https://lnkd.in/gV8PPKT9

🎾 Know what works at the U.S. Open, from a superfan who hasn't missed a tournament in 15 years. The Open is a big win for brands: EDO found the average ad during this year's event generated 15x as much impact as the average primetime spot. But with the right game plan, fans can come out ahead too. In the debut of our new "Know What Works in NYC" blog series, EDO's VP of Media Partnerships, Alison Yobage, shares her insider guide. She covers why an assigned seat in Ashe or Armstrong beats a grounds pass, why Fan Week is the tournament's best-kept secret, and which sponsor perks are worth seeking out. She also tells the story of her favorite Open memories, including a triumphant caper involving International Tennis Hall of Famer Pam Shriver. 🗽 Read Alison's full guide: https://lnkd.in/ejhnP3Yz

🍔 McDonald's’s lets emojis do the talking in a new ad announcing the return of its Spicy Chicken Nuggets, a spot that earned the brand a place on ADWEEK’s Ad of the Week list. The Golden Arches’ “Fire Emoji” ad rates the tempura-breaded, cayenne-flavored nuggets with fire and chili-pepper emojis, a fitting way to celebrate the fan-favorite menu item’s return. The ad turned up the heat in the Quick Serve category, proving 151% more effective than the average category ad from September 16-22. 🏆

🏀 The WNBA postseason starts Sunday, and brands have good reason to pay attention. Ads during this year's regular season were 35% more effective than last year's, even outperforming last year's Finals. As Caitlin Clark returns to the playoffs alongside headliners Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and Olivia Miles, we looked back at the brands that made a splash during this year’s regular season and last year’s playoffs. Restaurants took five of the top eight advertiser spots this season, led by Burger King, whose chicken sandwich spot was 658% more effective than the average regular-season ad. Meanwhile, last year's playoffs showed the value of athlete endorsers: DraftKings Inc.’s ad starring Lisa Leslie was 897% more effective than the average ad in the rounds before the Finals, and in the Finals, Nike's 60-second spotlight on A'ja Wilson was 582% more effective than the average ad. 📊 Know which brands and creative approaches won over WNBA viewers, and what to expect this postseason: https://lnkd.in/eiK_ygjP

📺 SNL kicks off Season 52 this Saturday with NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson hosting and KATSEYE as musical guest. If last season is any guide, advertisers are in for a big night. EDO found that the average SNL ad last season delivered as much impact as 8.1 primetime TV ads, a number that climbed to 17.7 for the Bad Bunny-hosted premiere. Star power and cute animals were reliable draws for brands throughout last season. Spotify's ad featuring Bad Bunny was 8,544% more effective than the average SNL ad, and Purina (Nestlé) notched five of the season's seven top-performing creatives.  📊 Read EDO's full breakdown of Season 51's top SNL ads before Saturday's premiere: https://lnkd.in/eJkthy2P

🏈 📺 What actually makes a Super Bowl ad work? EDO studied every spot from 2021–2025 to find out. Using AI to analyze five years of Super Bowl creative and media data, EDO found that roughly half of what drives a spot's engagement comes down to in-game excitement, score, and timing. The rest comes down to media choices (pod position, ad length) and creative choices (casting, narrative). A few standouts: ads that ran first in an ad break were about 70% more impactful than those placed later, and spots 45 seconds or longer outperformed a standard 30-second ad by nearly 150%. On the creative side, ads featuring comedians drove 80% more engagement than the Super Bowl average — and ads with a single celebrity lead consistently topped ads with an ensemble cast of three or more. 📊 Get the full breakdown of what drives Super Bowl ad performance: https://lnkd.in/e35EcVCY

🧗🍕 A pizza box was never built for a cliffside. Domino's’s “Pizza Can't – Rock Climbing” spot landed at #3 in EDO's NCAAF Season Top Ads leaderboard in the Restaurants category, outperforming the average ad by 364% during the week of September 14–20. While the climber's traditional pie slides off the mountain, another climber stays clipped in and ready to eat — pulling out an individual baked dish and showing off the real selling point of Domino's new handheld menu: it travels where a regular pizza can't. 📊 See how every other Restaurants ad performed in EDO's full NCAAF Season Top Ads leaderboard: https://lnkd.in/enKknstG