A survey carried out for digital entertainment solutions specialist Rovi has revealed a high consumer engagement with brands advertising on connected TVs in the UK

The Smart TV advanced advertising study, conducted in the United Kingdom with Decipher Research, evaluated connected TV audience segments, platform familiarity and usage, as well as advertising effectiveness and engagement. The study, which included online surveys of connected TV users and in-home interviews, tracked eight Smart TV advertising campaigns for leading entertainment and conventional brands.

The study categorised three main types of family households, which yielded varying patterns of connected TV purchase motivations and use cases. Understanding the varying types of family dynamics should help inform campaigns and enable brands to increase key audience engagement.  The three dominant family make-ups included:

• Technology-driven Couples: Couples with connected TVs were found to be extremely brand driven and use their connected TV as an integrated part of their busy lives.
• Entertainment-engaged Young Families: Connected TVs for this audience provided a way to synthesise quality family time. The key driver was entertainment choice and ease of use.
• Staggered-usage Mixed Families (defined with families with children over 13): Individuality was high within this group as each family member had his/her own connected TV usage preferences; however, there remained ‘touch points’ in early weekday evenings to watch TV together. Further, the connected TV became a platform to make the Internet accessible to older generations within a supportive family network.

Among the quantitative highlights of the Survey:

• Awareness:  68 per cent of users exposed to areas of smart TV platforms with ad placements noticed the advertisements; one in three of those clicked through
• Reach:  Connected TV advertisements on select platforms delivered a claimed 6 per cent incremental reach in addition to traditional media channels
• Brand Favourability: Exposed versus non-exposed brands on the Smart TV platform produced favourability rates twice as high
• Brand Association: 86 per cent uplift in association with key brand statements for brands exposed on the Smart TV platform versus non-exposed control samples
• Purchase Intent: 47 per cent of connected TV viewers exposed to Smart TV ads claim they will investigate the product in the future; intent to purchase was 2.5 times higher compared to a non-exposed control sample
• Engagement:  Two in five connected TV viewers exposed to Smart TV ads claimed to have watched the video featured on the brand’s micro-site, with 79 per cent of ad viewers claiming to have subsequently participated in additional product or brand-related activities

Among the qualitative findings relating to Smart TV advertising consumption:

• Approach: The current approach to Smart TV advertising, which includes a display ad that launches a TV-friendly microsite,  was found to be engaging across the family architecture
• Appeal: Smart TV ads were seen as non-intrusive because they were ‘contextually relevant’ to the platform. Providing content in the form of trailers, clips, etc. was seen as valuable content in its own right
• Content: Content apps were found to be the most popular, generating a great appetite for consumers to engage in additional content from the advertiser’s micro-site

“We are on a constant mission to further understand the in-home family dynamic as it relates to changing entertainment consumption habits, and to better acquaint ourselves with consumers’ preferences and engagement levels with interactive advertising,” said Jeff Siegel, senior vice president of worldwide advertising at Rovi Corporation. “As our survey findings help reinforce, advanced TV advertising provides new opportunities for brands to efficiently and effectively reach consumers in the living room.”

Rovi Advertising Network enables advertisers to make a consolidated media buy across multiple interactive TV platforms including set-top boxes (STBs), TVs and Blu-ray Disc players, media players, and game consoles. Targeting advertisers, agencies and brand marketers, the Rovi Ad Networks provides scalable and measurable interactive TV advertising options that are designed to reach an engaged consumer audience actively seeking live, recorded, on demand, cable or network programming.

Categories: Advertising, Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Research, Targetted