Empire’s Engaged Audiences: The Advertisers Who Are Cashing In

Fox's Empire may be a hit with fans, but how does it fare with advertisers? Using data from iSpot.tv, we took a look at which brands are winning big when it comes to audience engagement. Since the show began airing new Season 3 episodes in March, it’s captured the highest digital share of voice for any non-sports/non-specials TV programming, making it a good bet for companies looking to connect with an engaged audience. (Digital share of voice, or DSOV, is a measure of digital activity and engagement that takes into account online chatter including social activity, searches, and video views.)Overall, 69 brands have aired 95 spots and spent an estimated $21.8 million during the last four episodes of Empire.The average view rate for commercials during the show is a respectable 91.51% (view rate is the percentage of an ad that, on average, was viewed across all airing of that ad), and 85.7% of the time, people watched the ads from the start all the way through to the third quartile-to-completion window. Looking at dollars spent, Lincoln Motor Company (est. $1.96 million), Warner Bros. (est. $1.05 million) and LG Mobile (est. $973,000) take the top three spots. Lincoln continues to rely on the rugged sex appeal of Matthew McConaughey to captivate audiences, while LG takes a utilitarian approach and Warner Bros. keeps pushing the latest installment of “The Fast and the Furious” franchise. When it comes to digital share of voice, soda brands win out with over half of the DSOV for commercials such as Coca-Cola’s ad featuring (in addition to the requisite drink shots) sizzling oil and garlic, grilling meat and other lip-smacking food. Coming in second place is the insurance industry — most notably State Farm’s socially conscious ad that will tug at your heartstrings and make you want to volunteer. So what do automotive, mobile/wireless, soft drink and insurance companies have in common? It may be that those marketers are looking to hit a female-skewing audience (that makes their family’s purchasing choices, enjoys sexy male actors and has a soft spot for issues-oriented advertising) — in which case advertising on Empire makes a lot of sense.