Place Your Bet for Best Super Bowl Ad during February First Friday Lecture
January 23, 2018
Humor. That’s the element that School of Business Dean Dr. Rama Yelkur says will help Super Bowl LII advertisers emerge as the most popular on USA Today’s Ad Meter. Yelkur has spent the last 20 years drawing up the game plan for Super Bowl ad success, and will share her research during the February First Friday Lecture on Friday, Feb. 2, at 10 a.m. in Cleary Family Auditorium.
The idea for Yelkur’s research began in the late 1990s when she was teaching a course on promotions at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. She tasked her students with watching the game to see if there were common characteristics in ads that could predict likeability. Her research has uncovered five predictors for what will make an ad consistently popular among viewers today: humor, animals, product category (food versus non-food), product information, and music. Ten years later, she co-wrote a follow-up study, which was published in the same journal. Beyond ad likability, Yelkur also explored the return on investment for Super Bowl advertising.
During the lecture, Yelkur will also discuss how she is collaborating with faculty colleague Ron Sicker and two undergraduate students to continue her research efforts for Super Bowl LII. In real-time, the team will watch the game, and code national ads against a scale, marking the presence of each predictor. After the game, Yelkur, Sicker, and the students will analyze the data and look for any emerging predictors. The team is conducting a day-after recall study of this year’s commercials, surveying respondents to see which ads resonated 24-hours after viewing.
Following Yelkur’s presentation, Dr. Kristin Picardo, associate professor of biology and director of the Center for Student Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work, will discuss how the College is engaging students in other scholarly research projects.
The First Friday Lecture Series, sponsored by the 1948 Society, is designed for individuals who are interested in hearing learned perspectives on a variety of topics from members of the St. John Fisher College and greater Rochester community. Parking is available in Lot A or Lot S (shuttle service will be provided to and from Lot S and the Chapel and Kearney Hall).
Register online for the lecture, or for more information, call Libby Pinti at (585) 385-7350 or email epinti@sjfc.edu.