• by Wayne Friedman , April 25, 2018

A survey conducted by Magna, IPG Media Lab and Roku says that for a select group of advertisers, Roku’s OTT platform can be more effective than linear TV.

Four IPG clients -- Applebee’s, H&M, McCormick and Truvia -- participated in the research. Roku said the video ads on its OTT platform were 67% more effective per exposure than linear TV ads.

Media investment strategy group Magna surveyed 4,621 consumers, including those exposed to the ads and an unexposed control group. Magna and IPG Media Lab are part of the agency holding company Interpublic Group.

The brands were tracked and measured, with the Roku platform used to identify households with exposure to linear TV and/or OTT ads. The survey consisted of traditional brand metrics such as ad recall, brand favorability and purchase intent.

In addition, Roku says the OTT flights for these marketers -- instead of using linear TV -- meant a 32% increase per exposure in perception that a brand has a unique story to tell. 

The ads on the OTT platform required less exposure than linear TV. For example, to drive comparable brand lift, advertisers would need 10 linear TV exposures, seven Roku exposures, or 6.5 exposures on Roku and linear TV together.

While realizing there is strong overall viewing growth for OTT platforms, media-buying agency executives remain concerned that the lack of Nielsen-like OTT measurement may hold back marketers from buying in.

For its new “Cflight” initiative, which offers a simple audience guarantee for all screens, NBCUniversal says it will include co-viewing measured on OTT platforms “where measurement is enabled,” including Roku and NBCUniversal content on Hulu.

NBCU says OTT represents more than one third of NBCUniversal’s long-form digital video audience.