• by Larissa Faw , July 11, 2014

With millions of eyes focused on the World Cup, it's no surprise that advertisers have clamored for viewers' attention.

Yet among the multitude of brands, two advertisers illustrate that effectiveness is in the eye of the beholder and ad executives and regular viewers are polar opposites when it comes to successful World Cup campaigns. 

Indeed, Beats by Dre created six athlete montages that were a thematic five-minute trip around the world to showcase pre-match music rituals known as "The Game Before The Game."

These spots, highly praised by ad execs, featured several big name football (soccer) stars, as well as superstars LeBron James and Serena Williams.

Among viewers, however, these ads struggled to reach the audience, delivering an average Ace Score of 482 out of a possible 950, according to Ace Metrix, which evaluates the creative effectiveness of ads with consumers. By contrast, an ad from Clorox brand Glad that showcased the strength of its Forceflex trash bag with a young boy soccer-kicking the bag out to the garbage truck measured an Ace score of 636.

In fact, even though fans who intended to watch more than 10 World Cup games ranked Beats by Dre spots more favorably, the headphone brand still didn't break the Ace Metrix list for top 10 World Cup advertisers. 

At the same time, Beats by Dre was the big winner among advertising executives.

"It's Beats by Dre beating Nike and Adidas at their own game," says Howard Hunt, executive director, client service at consumer engagement agency MXM. "If they are the kings of sports marketing, a young prince has come of age. Secondly, the star of the short film is the Brazilian Neymar Jr, whose dad delivers inspirational pep talks willing him 'to not hold back' and 'to wear God's armour.'"

Joost Dop, CEO EMEA of global agency network Project: WorldWide, agrees, "One of the most interesting advertisers was Beats by Dr. Dre stereo headphones. Not only was their guerrilla ad a great way to be associated with FIFA without being an official sponsor, but also creatively they've shown how brands are crossing boundaries. Beats used the same stars and scenery as Nike and Adidas, but the ad felt more edgy and contemporary. Above all, it was a real step up from the simple but highly effective and memorable product placement on the heads of famous athletes we saw in London 2012."

Viewers and executives also disagreed on the brilliance (or lack thereof) of an automobile spot. Viewers rated a Kia spot the top overall ad with a World Cup tie-in. The car brand’s “Close Call” ad added the FIFA tag to the end of an ad from December of 2013. In fact, this is the only ad from an official sponsor to make Ace Metrix's top 10 list. 

Todd Drake, Chief Technology Officer at digital agency Organic, says Kia's World Cup ad was a big loser. "Kia’s car commercials were all over the U.S. broadcasts of the game, but they were tone-deaf and managed to offend pretty much everyone. They looked really out of place, like a U.S. football beer commercial."

Overall, effectiveness of advertising during the World Cup is highly dependent on someone's passion for the game, according to Ace Metrix. Those that plan to watch at least one World Cup match scored World Cup ads 57% higher than those who don’t plan to watch the World Cup at all.

Gender plays a role in advertising effectiveness, as well. World Cup ads under-perform standard ads with men by nearly 2%. With women, however, the under-performance of World Cup ads was greater, and close to 8%, per the ad tracking firm.

Ultimately, Project: Worldwide's Dop believes the biggest winner isn't a brand, but a country. "So far, the brand Brazil is the big winner. Despite all the negative PR in the run up, and now with their big loss, we've seen a proud country being the perfect host."