Study: Peaktime TV ads deliver costweighted uplift
October 25, 2023
ITV, in conjunction with ViewersLogic, has released a multi-brand, cross market study that proves the value of peak airtime for responsive advertising. Peak TV spots deliver direct responses in the short term, but their hidden value is in their longevity, generating responses long after other TV spot advertising has finished working.
Peak airtime spots are the premium TV advertising placement but are more costly than advertising at other times of the day. Short term ‘direct response’ measurements of TV effectiveness focussed on returns within a 5–10 minute window, tend to favour cheaper airtime because they only look at immediate results.
ITV’s research The Hidden Value of Peak, produced using ViewersLogic’s single-source data, is a market study that connects individual level advertising exposures to web visits and measures the effectiveness of ads over a longer, 90-day window. It proves peak airtime creates responses for a longer period than seen with other types of TV spot advertising.
ITV’s Measurement Innovation Team measured the impact of TV exposures in different dayparts across three time windows (0–7 days, 8–28 days and 29–90 days) using logistic regressions, analysing the web traffic uplifts from each. A set of 150 models was created, each one measuring the effectiveness of TV spot advertising for a single brand in one time window, from seven days to three months all including control variables.
The study shows:
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In the short term (0–7 days after broadcast), peaktime ads deliver a 3.7 per cent costweighted uplift in visit probability among people who see them, delivering additional web visits at similar cost per response to daytime.
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In the medium term (8–28 days after broadcast), uplifts from all types of TV spots naturally fall away, and in this window peak time spots create a 3 per cent cost weighted uplift in visit probability, but effectiveness drops even faster for daytime spots.
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In the longer term (29–90 days after broadcast), peaktime ads keep going and going, delivering a 1 per cent cost weighted uplift in visit probability long after other placements have stopped creating measurable uplifts.
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An advertiser that measures the effectiveness of their TV spots using a response window of 7 days or less, may be underestimating the benefits of peak time spots by 1.4x
Focusing on the short term (5–10 minutes) inevitably leads to underestimating the cumulative response to advertising and this is true of daytime spots as well as peak. Though both are affected, it is clear that such models incorrectly favour daytime over peak as they cannot accurately demonstrate the latter’s longer-term value.
Even an advertiser that measures the uplift from a TV campaign over the recommended 7 day window still needs to remember that the full effect their daytime adverts are generating is over double what has been reported, while the real benefit of their peak time spots is over 3 times higher.
Ronny Golan, CEO and Co-Founder of ViewersLogic, said: “Relying on short-term measurement of TV advertising only captures a narrow window of responses, but seeing the full story of campaign performance has not been possible — until now. Single-source data enables, for the first time, response windows to be confidently measured over whatever time scale the advertiser desires, deep into the long-term. Unshackled from arbitrary time limitations, brands can suddenly see the hidden value of peak slots, strengthening the data needed for strategic campaign planning and maximisation of TV budgets.”
Kate Waters, Director of Client Strategy and Planning at ITV, added: “The Hidden Value of Peak study sends a clear message. In the longer term, peak placements are more cost effective. Advertisers who focus on first-week ROI and ignore peak are shutting down the most efficient and long-lasting motor for customer response. Peak placement is like the Duracell bunny — its benefits go on and on.”