If you haven’t yet seen the video ad that has been all over our TVs and popping up online since just after Christmas last year, where have you been hiding? Whether you’re a fan of the insurance-loving meerkats from Russia or not, there is no denying that their introduction a decade ago has done wonders for the Compare the Market brand.

But why do adverts like this work so well?

We decided to use some of our cutting-edge biometrics and neuromarketing equipment, which we usually use for advanced CRO testing and analysis, to see if we could find out what our physical responses (which cannot lie) can tell us about why this video is a success story.

What we did?

We got 18 people (one at a time) hooked up to our eye tracker, galvanic skin response monitor and heart rate monitor and showed them the video. They had no idea, prior to this, what they were being asked to do, and we didn’t explain why until after the test was complete.

What data we gathered and why?

The eye tracking equipment we used was calibrated for each test subject to make sure it was accurately tracking each person’s eye movements, blink rate and pupil dilation levels. The reason it’s so important to see where people’s eyes are actually looking (and when) and how long they focus on something (known as a fixation) is because this can give valuable insight into how engaging people find particular things appearing on the screen or show that they favour one thing over another.

Pupil dilation can indicate that the watcher is emotionally involved or is experiencing something that is cognitively or mentally taxing. The more dilation, the more intense the response from the test subject.

A slow blink rate can be indicative that the watcher is concentrating and involved with what they are viewing, whereas a high frequency of blinking can indicate boredom or low concentration levels.

Galvanic skin response (which basically measures your perspiration levels) is an indicator of an emotional response to something, which may not be a conscious reaction. Used in this context, it can help to show which frames or scenes are the ones that evoke an emotional response from the audience, or the opposite.

Measuring heart rate whilst someone watches a video can help to show if they found any part of it to be particularly emotionally engaging, exciting or tense.

What insights did our tests give?

When combining the data of all of our test subjects, we were able to identify patterns and trends that indicate several parts of the AutoSergei™ video are more engaging to watchers than others. It is also interesting to note that sometimes the test subjects failed to focus on what you may think are the ‘important’ messages of the ad. Did Compare the Market do this on purpose to get us to focus on what they really want?

You can read our full review, see our findings and watch the complete AutoSergei™ ad with our eye tracking data overlaid by clicking image below!

For more information about our Autosergei review, please click here, or alternatively feel free to get in touch today on 0800 011 9715 or Enquire HERE!.