• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 18, 2001

Intermedia Advertising Group reports that changing viewer habits and declining attentiveness have created an environment in which only half of the television audience ever sees the ads because of channel changing or leaving the room. In addition, they point out that only about 20% of viewers who see the ads can recall the message, and less than 10% understand the message.

IAG says that advertisers currently use a variety of copy testing and post-advertising survey methods, none of which actually measure the effect of the ads as actual viewers see them.

As a consequence, IAG has introduced an "ad effectiveness system," which measures the performance of primetime advertising on the major broadcast networks to report declining attentiveness and increased demand for accountability.

The Company claims that advertisers and agencies can:
- pinpoint ad "wear-out" (the point at which an ad loses its effectiveness),
- understand how different ad creative works on individual programs and with specific demographic groups
- target their ads toward the most effective shows and time slots, while their campaigns are still in progress.

"This is a powerful new system which has the potential to dramatically increase accountability in the marketplace. In combination with other traditional measures, I think this product can make a significant difference in how advertisers measure the efficiency of their ad spending and increase ROI," said Carl Spielvogel, former Vice Chairman of IPG.

Debbie Myers, Taco Bell's Vice President, Media, Entertainment and Licensing, said, "IAG has developed a system that provides a promising application to the way we measure the effectiveness of our television advertising. We're pleased with the results we've seen so far," said Debbie Myers, Vice President, Media, Entertainment and Licensing for Taco Bell Corp.

The Industry Need

IAG's offering has significant financial implications for advertisers, particularly in an environment characterized by continuing audience fragmentation and unprecedented demand for accountability by brand managers.

Philip Guarascio, former vice president of Corporate Advertising and Marketing of General Motors, said: "Advertisers spend $50 billion annually to reach consumers via television - yet, they have very little information about which ads on which shows actually reach the target audience and have an impact. While I was at GM, we spent over $1 billion/year on TV ads, and had nothing that compares with IAG's system. I believe it will become known as a significant step in helping advertisers and networks understand their advertising and programming, and importantly, in this dynamic marketplace, help clarify the relationship between ads, content, attentiveness and sales."

Find out more here.