What do Richard Simmons, James Carville and Justin Timberlake have in common? This year's Super Bowl advertising featured all three in a showing that offered viewers an equally diverse roster of advertisers competing in the battle for buzz. In the end, Procter & Gamble's Tide to Go earned the title of champion. The laundry detergent brand earned an A, this year's highest score, from the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review panel.

"Overall it was a great year for Super Bowl advertising," said Kellogg School of Management professor Tim Calkins, who leads the Review. "Super Bowl is a unique marketing venue, and many advertisers created appealing spots that resonated with viewers on a broad scale. We saw a lot of creativity and variety tonight."

The Kellogg School Review panel awarded A's to four brands: Tide, E-Trade, Coke and FedEx. Tide won with an "entertaining," "memorable" spot which "clearly communicated the relevant product benefit." Runner-up E-Trade's ad was "attention getting" and "funny." The panel thought Coca-Cola was particularly effective in connecting with their audience.

"The top ranked advertisers know their consumers and play to their mindset," said Calkins. "Coke's spot with James Carville and Bill Frist was particularly relevant, likable and product-focused."

The panel had significant concerns about the advertising efforts for the lowest ranked advertisers: SalesGenie.com, CareerBuilder.com and GM's Yukon brand. Panel members said SalesGenie.com's ads were "offensive to some," and lacked a clear description of the site. CareerBuilder.com's "I Quit" spot received mixed reactions; members of the panel were "turned off" and found the spot "disturbing."

Professor of marketing Derek Rucker, who leads the Review with Calkins, noted, "Consumers don't have the capacity to remember more than a handful of ads long term. An ultimate Super Bowl success is when a consumer not only remembers your brand, but is called to action by the ad's message."

The 41-member Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review panel ranked each advertiser based on innovative criteria known as ADPLAN. The acronym, developed by Kellogg faculty, instructs viewers to grade ads based on attention, distinction, positioning, linkage, amplification and net equity. Unlike other reviews which may rank ads on likeability alone, the most entertaining spot may not be the panel's overall winner. This year, the panel members identified E-Trade which received an A, as the most likeable.

The brand successfully connected with the audience and communicated its position.