Athlete endorsements in digital ads have a greater effect on brand awareness, MediaPost reports, citing a new study from Insight Express. The study, done on behalf of Brand Affinity Technologies, found that video and still-image banner ads on Web sites featuring athletes had a 180% jump in viewer brand awareness compared with those ads without athletes, the site says. Having an athlete endorsement also improved message association by 56%, as well as brand favorability (+39%) and purchase intent (27%), MediaPost says.
—Sergio Ibarra