From the TV in your living room to the mobile in your hand, a social media newsfeed or the full-screen experience of Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD); an ad placement in each of these environments is considered a viewable impression. However, research released today by ThinkTV shows attention paid by the consumer when viewing advertising in each of these channels or devices is vastly different.
The Benchmark Series, an independent, large-scale in-home study that looks at how Australians engage with advertising across different platforms and devices, seeks to challenge common assertions as to how video advertising works. The study involved the observation of more than 2,500 Australians as they viewed in excess of 18,000 advertisements.
In today’s release, Benchmark highlights the disparities in paid reach for various forms of video advertising. Through measuring the same advertising execution across devices, the research shows that while attention is high and remains that way for BVOD and linear TV, the same cannot be said for social video such as YouTube and Facebook.
Video advertising is in demand with the IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure report valuing the category at $1.7 billion, an increase of 15.4 per cent compared to the year prior making it the fastest growing form of digital advertising. Yet Benchmark proves that not all reach is equal, and that quality reach delivers bigger business impact.
Utilising a visualisation that brings to life the consumer response in real-time, the research concludes that across media platforms, TV commands more attention. BVOD generates the most attention with the consumer’s eyes on the screen and on the advertisement 65 per cent of the time. Linear television follows closely with eyes on the screen 58 per cent of the time.
Attention strongly correlates to sales impact with Benchmark finding TV in all of its forms generates the highest short-term advertising strength (STAS). TV’s lowest STAS device significantly outperforms the best of online with linear TV and BVOD commanding STAS scores of 144 and 161 respectively. The next highest STAS is YouTube on mobile which commands a STAS of 137.
ThinkTV CEO Kim Portrate (main photo) said: “To be effective, an advertisement must be seen and it’s a simple fact that some platforms do this better than others. Of course, being seen is just the first step; the ad must also command and hold the consumer’s attention.
“Some platforms will tell you that the percentage of real estate an ad commands is irrelevant, but this research clearly demonstrates the opposite. An ad that fills the screen does a significantly better job of commanding attention than one that doesn’t and ultimately leads to greater sales impact. In short, not all reach is equal.”
