The Benchmark Series, the largest cross-media advertising effectiveness study ever conducted in Australia, finds advertising in premium digital media creates superior recall and brand uplift.
Advertising in premium digital channels is more effective than run of the internet* and Facebook.
These findings come from The Benchmark Series, the largest cross-media advertising effectiveness study ever conducted in Australia. Overseen by Dr Duane Varan, CEO of audience research lab MediaScience, the study included more than 5,350 participants and ran across 252 websites.
The study set out to understand how placement in premium digital channels stacks up compared to run of the internet and Facebook by measuring key metrics across short- and long-term memory as well as brand lift.
ThinkPremiumDigital General Manager Venessa Hunt said: “It’s logical that the content surrounding advertising affects its results. In plenty of media channels, we know this to be true and buy accordingly. However, when it comes to digital, there wasn’t the evidence to demonstrate it.”
“Finally, there’s proof that premium digital is a better choice for advertisers; that premium content – and context – actually does matter. This ground-breaking research is exactly what we’ve been waiting for as it also highlights premium digital’s ability to encode memories certifying the ability to build brands.”
Findings of the research include:
Premium placement outperforms other digital media
Across display and short-form video, premium delivers 2.4 times better recall and 1.6 times the brand lift compared to run of the internet.
Premium placement is even more effective for light buyers
For light buyers, the most important category for brand growth, premium placement of display and short-form video delivers three times better recall than run of the internet and 2.8 times the brand lift.
Premium display delivers premium impact
On its own, display advertising drives 3.5 times more recall in premium environments versus run of the internet.
Premium short-form video outperforms run of the internet and Facebook
Short-form in premium environments offers 1.8 times better recall and 2.8 times the brand lift than short-form video on run of the internet. Furthermore, short-form video in premium environments delivers 1.8 times higher recall than Facebook video.
MediaScience’s Dr Varan said, “the findings of this study are consistent with studies MediaScience has conducted in the US which have found premium content activates people’s cognitive resources. Consuming premium content opens the mind and memory pathways and this creates a halo effect for the ads in these channels leading to greater memory and brand preference.”
Hunt added, “we can now answer the age-old question, ‘does advertising in premium actually deliver better results?’ And the answer is a resounding yes.”
* Run of the internet refers to niche and non-premium sites including but not limited to TechRadar, The Daily Mail, Mamamia and Buzzfeed.
