Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Engagement key in TV Advertising

Exposure to 3,000 advertisements each day does not guarantee that the average person saw the ad or was engaged with the advertising.

Copernicus Marketing writes in its monthly newsletter that in the space of television advertising:

“…the vehicle influences effectiveness at least as much as the commercial itself.”
When I started in technology advertising, the model was simple: buy the lowest cost per thousand (CPM) and watch the product fly off the shelves. Advertising space for consumer software was dominated by Ziff Davis’ PC Magazine, IDG’s PC World. If you owned a computer, or wanted to own a computer you read these magazines.

The overall spend on television advertising by companies in the USA is about $50-70 billion. With that much at stake, CPM is only one criterion for selection. Copernicus goes on to say:

“The best measure of involvement included a mix of…three types of indicators and confirmed that viewers highly involved in a program are far more likely to recall the advertising.”
The indicators they cite are:
  1. Behavioral – size of room, distractions, number of people, previous view experience
  2. Attitudinal – enjoyment, reflection of personal beliefs and values
  3. Summary – rating of show, comparison to previous shows

The full article is available online:
http://www.copernicusmarketing.com/about/mzine/monthlyeds/jun07.html