Research: Addressable TV ads have greater impact
April 24, 2023
By Colin Mann
GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, has released research on the effectiveness of addressable TV advertising from Finecast, GroupM Nexus’s addressable TV solution, which shows that TV ads elicit more positive reactions and greater short- and long-term business impact among addressable audiences. The research, conducted in collaboration with advertising effectiveness specialist System1, involved more than 13,000 TV viewers in four countries. In addition, addressable TV ads that emphasise melodic music, people touching, a clear sense of place and humour produce more intense emotional reactions and long-lasting effects.
The report, Addressable//Advantage, applied System1’s Test Your Ad platform, which rates ads’ short- and long-term potential based on viewers’ second-by-second emotional responses, to creative from 46 of GroupM’s clients leveraging Finecast across the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Specifically, ads were evaluated according to three measures. A Star Rating measures positive emotional response to determine long-term impact. A Spike Rating, based on how intensely viewers reacted and how quickly they connected the ad to the brand, determines the short-term impact, while a Fluency Rating indicates how quickly viewers recognise the brand.
The report findings include:
- Greater long-term impact. The long-term impact of addressable TV ads was meaningfully stronger for addressable audiences. Ads shown to addressable TV audiences averaged 3.0 Stars, ranking them in the top 33 per cent of all ads. Conversely, TV ads averaged 2.4 Stars among the broad, nationally representative audience, ranking them in the top 52 per cent of ads. (System1’s IPA-validated Star Rating scale is from 1.0 to 5.9 Stars with +0.3 representing a meaningful uplift).
- Deeper emotion. TV ads elicited strong emotional intensity among the addressable TV audience, including more positive emotion, with 7 per cent greater happiness and 6 per cent fewer neutral reactions.
- Quicker response. Addressable audiences respond more intensely than the broader audience, therefore addressable TV ads are predicted to achieve better short-term business effects. Addressable TV audiences have an average Spike Rating that is 6 per cent higher than the broad audience.
- Right-brain features. Ads with melody, people, humour and familiar places – right-brain attributes that trigger broad-beam awareness – produced more positive reactions, which lead to long-term business growth.
“Brands that invest in ads for broad-beam attention are more likely to achieve longer-lasting business results among addressable TV audiences,” notes Jon Evans, Chief Customer Officer at System1. “Overall, the greater short- and long-term impact of addressable TV ads makes it a trusted and powerful medium for upper, middle and lower funnel marketing.”
“Our research outlines that addressable TV advertising has a direct impact on how consumers ‘feel’ and outlines important factors for maximising attention for greater business effects,” explains Kristian Claxton, Managing Partner, Global Innovation at Finecast, “This enables us to provide smarter and more robust solutions to our clients by helping them optimise the creative message of their ads while improving efficiency.”