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TV ads still most effective, even on FF

August 24, 2011

Television advertising had the greatest impact on consumer behaviour in 2011 according to a Deloitte report, with fieldwork by GfK, on behalf of the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

The UK’s appreciation of television advertising continues to go from strength to strength, with 58 per cent of respondents ranking it among the top three most influential advertising formats. Since 2009, the TV advert has been consistently rated by respondents as the advertising type with the most impact. Deloitte/GfK’s survey of 4,000 UK citizens, found newspapers were the second most influential with 15 per cent of respondents, magazines were in joint third place at 14 per cent alongside solicited emails. In contrast, banner adverts polled poorly again in 2011 (4 per cent), online video adverts, also underwhelmed (3 per cent) and adverts or sponsored links on Internet search engines failed to capture consumers’ imaginations (3 per cent)**.

Popularity of television advertising with the young

Television advertising’s appeal, consistent with previous years, is strongest amongst young respondents, with 18-24 year olds rating television advertising’s impact the highest at 69 per cent, an increase from 63 per cent in 2010. Over a third (38 per cent) of those aged over 55 consider that no form of advertising has an impact on them, compared to only 9 per cent amongst 18-24 year olds.

James Bates, Deloitte media partner said: “Television advertising has continued to go from strength to strength in 2011.  This can be attributed to television excelling at brand building and raising awareness and audiences are appreciative of television advertising, with younger viewers being television adverts’ strongest supporters.

“Television adverts’ number one ranking is due to many factors including high production values for many television adverts and the fact that the UK public spends a quarter of its waking hours watching television.” PVRs and television advertising

In 2011, Personal Video Recorder (PVR) penetration is forecast to exceed 50 per cent for the first time. As PVRs reach into the majority of UK homes, its actual impact on advertising has been largely counter to initial expectations. The ad-skipping forecast has come true only as far as PVR owners’ perceptions are concerned.  51 per cent of viewers with access to a PVR reported that they always fast forward through the adverts at maximum speed. However, TV advertising is being consumed in greater quantities than ever before, with an estimated 47 adverts per person viewed daily in the first half of 2011, up from 33 in the first half of 2002.

Deloitte/Gfk’s research also shows how the PVR may be changing the value of the position in an advertising break. Almost half of all PVR owners “always” (20 per cent) or “frequently” (27 per cent) stop fast-forwarding adverts when the programme’s sponsorship appears. 80% of 25-34 year-olds stop fast-forwarding through ads at some point if they see an advert or trailer that interests them.

James Bates adds:  “In cases where all advertising is fast-forwarded, there can still be an impact from advertising as viewers’ recognition of just a single image from the advertisement can aid recall.”

When respondents were asked what would encourage them to watch the entire advertising break, they cited shorter advertising breaks (50 per cent), more memorable advertisements (29 per cent), advertising that focuses on one theme, such as cars or food (6 per cent), or personalised advertisements (11 per cent).

Categories: Advertising, Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Research