Consumer Engagement Linked To Ad Memory, Sales
- by Wayne Friedman , September 12, 2013
Strong viewer
engagement with a TV program is closely correlated with the next-day ability to remember a TV commercial. A Nielsen study of 70,000 TV ads -- and more than 3 million advertising placements -- found that for every two-percentage-point gain in how well viewers remembered what happened on a TV show, there was a one-percentage-point gain in advertising memory.
The study also says this is a positive indicator when it comes to sales -- where strong consumer memory of 25 different consumer product consumer packaged goods categories is a strong lead-indicator of the ad’s in-market sales impact.
Some highly engaged TV shows include NBC’s “Parenthood,” Fox’s “The Following,” CBS’ “Elementary,” ABC’s “Revenge," The CW’s “Arrow,” Univision’s “Porque El Amor Manda” and Telemundo “El Señor de los Cielos.”
Joe Stagaman, executive vice president of ad effectiveness analytics of Nielsen, stated: “For publishers, the clear connection of program engagement and ad memorability reinforces the idea that some content deserves a higher price tag. And, for advertisers and agencies, they should be thinking beyond creative execution to placement.”
For the program engagement part of the study, 70,696 ads on 66,507 episodes of 6,777 English- and Spanish-language shows on 34 networks were analysis from 2009 to 2012. For the sales part of the research, 97 consumer program group creative executives were examined from over 25 different categories from 2010-2013.
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5 comments about "Consumer Engagement Linked To Ad Memory, Sales".
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Um ... what?
For the sales part of the research, 97 consumer program group creative executives were examined from over 25 different categories from 2010-2013.
wow! shows that "engage" (read: are of a high quality... show that resonate... shows that deliver on expectations... shows that respect audience intelligence) viewers induce higher memory of the overall experience (ie the program and the ads). holy moe-ly. w/o a 4-year study including nearly 100,000 ads... who would've thunk it.
No doubt, however, commercial recall suffered among those who use a two-tuner DVR to buffer live TV shows, thus avoiding commercials altogether.
This study seems to suggest that there is some validity to activity based "heat mapping." In short, when users are engaged with TV content they pay more attention. The same effect is likely to work for all types of communications.
We already know its better to pitch a story about local beaches in the summer time, but this study suggests that beyond typical topical triggers, actually messaging someone when they are engaged on a related or adjacent topic would increase message uptake.
When we think about PR 2.0 and technologies like Gaggle AMP and similar services that crowd synchronize social messaging, if those messages could be pre-approved and allowed to be triggered by engagement heat mapping, or just by giving incentives for real time amplification, Etc. professional communicators might very well be able to boost awareness and actions by their publics.
Beyond the mechanics of the study - the idea that the price of a spot would be determined by more than rating points has huge implications. It's well proven that attention and emotional response are factors that influence memory and recall in advertising. It has also been proven that when an ad runs during a show that contextually compliments the content of the ad, attention and recall are also higher. (Basically, just getting your ad in front of the right customers is not enough to optimize impact.) However, pricing media based on the engagement of the customer while viewing will inherently favor dramas and complex narratives and leave shows that are appreciated primarily for their entertainment value (like many reality shows) in the dust. Theoretically, it could cause a shift between publishers creating content based on advertisers goals versus content that cater to consumer tastes. Of course tune-in numbers would still be a factor, but do advertisers really want to make the leap that American Idol and Duck Dynasty are valuable placements because they require less attentional demand while being watched? Obviously this comment is just touching on the issue, but studies like this are addressing larger questions with larger consequences.