Integrating a brand into the content of a television program has a significant impact on consumers’ intention to purchase the brand, according to a new research study released today by Network 10.

The study, which was conducted by Marketing Scientist Group, also found that consumers’ recall of a brand increased when the brand was integrated in a program and featured in a “regular” commercial during the program.

Network 10’s chief sales officer, Rod Prosser (featured image) said: “We all know that free-to-air television is a compelling, mass-reaching medium and what the research told us was how to effectively use the medium to make sure your campaigns are highly effective.

“It’s clear that brand integrations within television shows work and that the combination of integrations and standard commercials has a significant influence on consumers.”

Key findings from the research included:

• Brand integration works. Purchase intent increased 21 per cent when a brand was integrated into a program and increased further when it was the main focus of the program’s content (a 46 per cent increase).
• Brand integration and “regular” ads are a powerful combination: The average recall of a brand is 29 per cent higher when it is integrated into a program and appears in a standard commercial during the program.
• The more viewers like a program, the greater the ad impact. For viewers who said they liked a program, purchase intent was 54 per cent higher for brands advertised in the program, compared to those who were neutral or disliked the television content. Liking a program also correlated to higher attention to the content and to the commercial breaks.
• The more frequently a viewer watches a program, the bigger the ad impact. Purchase intent for advertised brands was 10 per cent higher, on average, among those viewers who claimed to be regular viewers of the program and even higher (14 per cent) for those who claimed to “never miss an episode”.
• Programs with strong positive emotions attracted higher attention to the content and advertising. Programs that attracted positive emotions such as “exhilarating”, “inspirational” and “hilarious” had claimed attention scores that were 15 per cent higher during the commercial breaks compared with the average.
• Programs with high levels of social media engagement and talkability produce bigger ad impacts. When respondents were more likely to talk about program or follow it on social media, they also gave higher ad likeability and purchase intent scores for the surrounding advertising.

Prosser said: “The research tells us that positive show engagement is key when it comes to ad impact.

“The more a viewer likes and engages with a program, the more likely they are to recall or purchase brands featured in or around it.

“This is great news for 10.

“We know that our programs perform very well in under 50s and we know that our under 50s audience is highly engaged with our content.

“The winners, therefore, are our brand partners.”