Estrella Damm, 13 Years in Love With Our Dream Summer

An IA and facial recognition research conducted among hundreds of people, reveals that the first advertisement of the #mediterráneamente series by Estrella Damm, from 2009, keeps arousing more emotions than the 2022 ad from the Spanish beer brand

1.Facial recognition and IA are key to understanding the emotions
2.The triumph of a classic
3.From joy to sadness, a kaleidoscope of feelings
4.
5.Are women from Venus and men from Mars?
6.Summercat, by Billie the Vision&theDancers, a large part of the success
7.The eyes, a window to the soul

Friendship, beaches and coves, sunsets, love, youth, maturity, party, joy, also sadness, dances, food, music, and, of course, beer. That’s summer, or at least, the summer Estrella Damm shows us every year through the legendary advertisement series of the #Mediterráneamente collection. Since 2009, this idyllic summer full of adventures, good vibes, and plenty of love comes up to our screens guided by the Catalonian beer brand, which masters the art of telling stories like no other. It’s true, their advertisements touch our hearts. They strike a chord. They make us smile or cry with emotion. In these 13 years in love with the perfect summer, Estrella Damm has brought us closer to this ideal vacation time with stories like “Formentera”, “Amor a primera vista”, “Alex and Julia”, “Serra de Tramuntana” or “Vale”, among others. The present summer, the Spanish brand beer has opted for “Aquí, ahora y así”, a story that encourages us, once more, to enjoy the present and leave the hard time behind. Has the new ad achieved its goal of engaging just as much as the first one of this legendary series? Has the music moved the spectators? What feelings has it triggered? We got all the answers thanks to Alyze, a facial recognition tool (supported by our AI engine) that analyzed the emotional reactions of more than 200 people watching both TV spots. Comparing them would help us put things into perspective.

Facial recognition and IA are key to understanding the emotions

Alyze analyzed the expressions of more than 220 participants while they were watching the first and the last #mediterráneamente advertisements: “Formentera” and “Aquí, ahora y así” Through our facial recognition software, we determined the average emotions spectators felt during the viewing of both advertisements, which moments of the footage were the most emotional ones, and which one caught their attention more constantly and intensely. We can also segment this data according to gender and age and complement the results from the facial recognition with the participant’s answers to a quick questionnaire about both advertisements. The results are really interesting.

The triumph of a classic

Like in every love story, the beginning awakes a lot of emotions in this one. What does it mean? In general, the 2009 ad, “Formentera”, boosts the emotions really intensely. Although both advertisements are positively valued, 80% of participants liked the one from 2009 vs 75% who chose the new one. Even more, when they were forced to choose one of them, 59% preferred the older one. The results about the age are also really interesting. Contrary to what you might think, the preferred advertisement for people between 18 to 30 years old is “Formentera”, not the new one. 64% of these people chose this, against 55% from people who were between 18 to 30 years old when “Formentera” was launched. It’s unmistakable that both of them prefer the old one. However, the highest emotional peaks registered by our facial recognition software for the 2009 ad came from the older generation According to gender, 62% of men prefer the first ad against 55% of women.

From joy to sadness, a kaleidoscope of feelings

What’s the key to this preference? Formentera has achieved a more emotional activation rate. The higher emotional peak occurs in the minute 2:39 of the 2009 ad, when both girls see their friend take a shower. Regarding the primary emotions, joy, as it should be, is the most important in “Formentera”, followed by nostalgia. Who doesn’t miss a summer like the protagonists of the advert? However, the 2022 ad awakes sadness and nostalgia in the younger generations, while the older one watches the video with some illusion, although at a lower rate.

Are women from Venus and men from Mars?

People may feel and interpret facts differently. Is this difference due to gender? In this analysis, and most probably because of the challenging times we’ve been the last two years, there’s not a considerable difference between the emotions felt by both genders. Just considering the facial recognition analysis women felt more sadness in both ads, especially nostalgia in the new one, while men also felt sadness in the 2022 one, but more happiness in the 2009 one. However, in the quick quiz to complement this study, women agree to have felt more joy than men: 56% against 46%. They’re similar feelings, moving from joy to nostalgia, shifting to sadness.

Summercat, by Billie the Vision&theDancers, a large part of the success

Music is, without a doubt, one of the singular characteristics of the films Estrella Damm creates for the #Mediterráneamente series. They take into account essential bands from today’s music scene. Most of them are from the indie scene. Artists that are committed to inspiring youth, transmitting values, and, overall, putting the customary good vibes to the adverts of this beer brand. Music is a large part of the success of the 2009 ad. Sweden band Billie the Vision & the Dancers added the soundtrack of “Formentera” with their song “Summercat”. Once the first chords are put in our head, "Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight/ I wanna be with you tonight", is impossible to take them out. Even today, 13 years later, we keep humming it. Music, together with the story, is the more valued aspect by the participants in this study. In the 2022 ad, the landscape, followed by the storyline, are the two most valuable aspects, while music ended up in third place significantly lower.

The eyes, a window to the soul

It’s clear that our emotions can’t be easily hidden. Least of all to facial recognition and an IA on which Alyze is built. Smile, sadness, our attention… they’re aspects we can’t fake. Especially if we watch a lot of advertisements that have turned into classics, reminding us of the importance of enjoying life, living the present, loving and taking care of ourselves. As the great Spanish artist Lola Flores said: “You can’t have an operation of the bright of your eyes”, and neither pretend otherwise. In Alyze, emotion can’t be faked either.