TV continues to reign supreme, according to an updated Neustar research study commissioned by Turner and Horizon Media. This extensive research study — originally conducted in 2015 and updated this year — examines the effect of TV advertising compared to other forms of advertising in the marketplace. Given the rapid expansion of the media landscape and increased pervasiveness of programmatic and digital video in just two years, it is important to compare and contrast more frequently than ever.
According to the research, despite those advancements in technology, new digital platforms and changes in consumer behavior, TV remains the best vehicle for delivering a brand’s message to a mass audience. The report states that “the new findings from a fresh set of verticals (movies, QSRs and consumer electronics) closely mimic the findings from our original research, meaning that the effectiveness of TV advertising is essentially unchanged despite the explosion of online media over that time.”
The study confirmed four important takeaways:
- TV is Efficient. TV has the highest relative efficiency in achieving KPIs, compared to other media whether offline or online. This means that at a given level of spend, TV generates more business outcomes.
- Advanced Analytics Optimizes TV Spend. Marketers should leverage high-frequency data to quickly reallocate resources by TV type, network, creative and daypart to significantly impact results.
- Premium Streaming Content is More Effective than User-Generated. And, behavioral targeting required the fewest impressions to generate an interaction.
- TV Offers Significant Cross-Product Halo Effect For Advertisers. And, removing TV and implementing standalone digital strategy had an average negative halo effect of -18% on ROI. For example, TV advertising drives the highest increase of box office sales and online engagement activities surrounding movies with a 40% bump in overall ticket sales when compared to organic search and social media.
“We’ve seen a fair amount written about the demise of TV, but TV is not going away,” explained Steven Wolfe Pereira, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Neustar. “In fact, it remains a very powerful advertising vehicle and brands are realizing they need both digital and TV in their mix to drive business outcomes. While linear reach has declined and media consumption habits have changed over the last decade, TV advertising has maintained its effectiveness because it has innovated with better experiences, more targeted ads and anytime/anywhere access to your favorite shows,” he added.
“This research reaffirms that television continues to be the biggest driver of marketing success today, yet there remains a lot of room to grow even further as the industry and consumer habits shift,” noted Beth Rockwood, Vice President, Portfolio Research and Chief of Staff, Turner. “Recognizing that growth opportunity, Turner has been one of the industry’s biggest proponents for reimagining the experience of television — developing new audience targeting methods, as well as forging innovative content partnerships, to deliver highly engaging, unexpected experiences to fans.”
As TV becomes more connected, Pereira believes that, “We’ll move from it being a niche offering to more national coverage and more data-driven, audience-first solutions for brands. We need to shift the conversation from media planning and buying to audience planning and buying.
“Now more than ever it is all about content, content, content,” he continued. “TV has a competitive advantage in premium, quality content that meets brand safety needs. Brands will demand a better experience for customers in the form of more innovative ad units beyond the :30 spot. Ultimately, accurate reach with personalization at scale will ensure TV’s continued success in a data-driven world.”
The underlying methodology was based on econometric regression techniques that establish the mathematical relationships between marketing investments and sales outcomes by examining week-to-week sales volume shifts.
Review the full report here.
