The annual NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament has grown into the second most popular multi-program sporting event for advertisers, behind only the NFL playoffs. Last year’s March Madness tournament garnered 21.3M viewers (second only to the Super Bowl). TV advertising spend is projected to be $1.13 billion, up 10% from last year, a record for the month-long event.

March Madness is also very supportive of the changing viewing habits of sports fans. The tournament is offered on multiple digital devices including tablets, laptops and desktops. In 2014, Turner Sports produced March Madness Live and reported 70 million live video streams were recorded for the duration of the tournament.

CONCLUSION:

In this study, Extreme Reach Research has compiled data intelligence that illustrates which brands within dominant verticals ran the most effective March Madness ads. These insights are based on brand lift data using proprietary Extreme Reach brand effectiveness research technology.