• by Aaron Baar , June 14, 2011

Marketers looking to buy programming based on "audience engagement" may want to think twice. A new study by Ace Metrix reveals there is little difference in advertising effectiveness among so-called engaged viewers and those who are not as involved with the program.  

"There's been a lot of talk about it [rather than buying] based on audience size, I should be buying based on audience affinity," Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, tells Marketing Daily. "There's no difference if you're a heavy 'Glee' watcher or an occasional watcher. The way you consume that ad is identical."

Leveraging its syndicated network of 12,000 ads covering 6 million consumer responses, Ace Metrix found there was little difference among people who were watching their "favorite show" (i.e., high engagement) and those who classified themselves as casual viewers of a program along six different variables (Desire, Relevance, Change, Attention, Information and Likability).

Thus, the most important factor in ad effectiveness is relevance. A product with high relevance to a given demographic will be more effective regardless of whether the audience is heavily invested in the program, Daboll says.

"This opens up the possibility of more efficient buys," he says. "You don't have to be part of that highly engaged programming. You might get the same level of reach and effectiveness on [programs with less engaged audiences]."

The study did not look at advertising that is integrated into the programming (à la Unilever's "Mad Men"-themed advertising that ran during the show last year). "Those are clever. They might work better. But there aren't that many of those to look at. Practically, program-specific ads are a pretty tough sell."

Buying time on programs with highly engaged audiences may actually work against the marketer's intention, Daboll says. The engaged audiences are also more likely to uwatch their program through a DVR, giving them the ability to skip the ads altogether. "You may think you have more engaged viewers and they're going to see the ads," he says. "[But] they're also more likely to skip right past them."