There’s “news” about the “reality” of viewers
and ads: It’s that for engagement, Lifestyle programming outperforms everything
from Sports to News and Reality to General Entertainment. A study from Scripps
Networks conducted in partnership with Nielsen utilized both attitudinal and
neuroscience methodologies to better understand the power of programming
environments on viewers. The results were more a confirmation than a surprise
to Chris Ryan, Senior Vice President of Ad Sales Research and Strategy for
Scripps Networks Interactive, except perhaps the degree to which Lifestyle
programming drives ad engagement.
In
fact, commercials running in a lifestyle programming environment scored +22%
higher among all viewers across interest in products, attention to brands,
intent to seek information and purchase intent. And, brand favorability across
all categories measured - auto, consumer packaged goods, food and home, home
improvement, finance, restaurants, retail and travel was greater in Scripps
Lifestyle as well. This level of engagement was confirmed through the
neuroscience section of the study using biometrics. The amount of time participants were highly engaged with ads
on Scripps Lifestyle was 94% greater than the average of the four other genres. Dr. Carl Marci, Chief
Neuroscientist, Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience said, “While good ad creative
generates a strong emotional connection with the audience, this study suggests
that ads may gain an additional benefit in the context of lifestyle
programming.”
I had
the opportunity to discuss these findings with Ryan to gather more insights
behind the study and how Scripps plans to apply them.
Charlene Weisler: What was the
philosophy behind this study? What were you seeking to prove?
Chris Ryan: Scripps Networks has
always known there's a strong connection between our content and ads, so we
wanted to prove that where an ad is placed is as important as to who sees it,
maybe even more so. That concept drove the vision for this comprehensive
study to prove that, as we like to say, “Environment Matters.” We needed
to understand and quantify whether the same ads across the largest ad
categories are perceived differently in the lifestyle environment compared with
other major TV genre environments. And, it was great to see that findings from
the attitudinal research were confirmed by participants’ biometric responses in
a separate part of the study conducted by Nielsen’s neuroscience group.
Charlene Weisler: What is it about
lifestyle programs that are so engaging?
Chris Ryan: Our audiences are the
most receptive in all of television viewing because our programming provides a
trusted and engaging atmosphere for families. Our suite of brands provides an
optimistic environment where consumers act on the messages – they see
themselves as active participants. To our viewers, the ads are an extension
of the shows they’re watching – those ads also serve up ideas and inspiration,
just like our programs.
Charlene Weisler: And what benefit does
this engagement provide for advertisers?
Chris Ryan: If you only buy
audience, you run the chance that your ads may air in a place where people
don’t engage with the messaging. How people engage when they’re watching ads on
our networks is the key to success for Scripps and for our advertisers. In fact,
brands are more likely to be seen as high quality, trusted, reliable, and
credible within the lifestyle programming environment. For advertisers,
putting your message in front of an open and engaged audience makes too much
business sense to ignore.
Charlene Weisler: Does this have a
cross platform impact? On your content? On advertising? How?
Chris Ryan: Because we’re brands
first, not just TV networks or websites, the audience experience is equally
engaging across our TV, digital and print properties. Everywhere our
audience shows up, they are served ideas, information and inspiration within an
environment that’s safe and trusted.
Charlene Weisler: How are you using the
results on your networks in decision-making?
Chris Ryan: Now that we have these
results, we plan to work with our clients to develop better ROI metrics around engagement
from findings in this study, as well as to discuss the importance of lifestyle
as a media strategy, regardless of the advertising sector. It’s important for
clients and potential clients to understand that ads in lifestyle programming
produce the highest engagement, attention and purchase intent levels among all
top TV genres.
Charlene Weisler: Are some advertising
categories especially successful in your environment?
Chris Ryan: I think one of the
most exciting findings of the study was that our environment didn’t just
perform well among traditional endemic ad categories, but across all ad
categories tested. The Scripps lifestyle environment went 8-for-8, having
the largest impact on brand favorability, across all categories covering auto,
home, finance, food, home improvement, restaurant, retail and
travel. Those ad categories represent nearly 6 out of every 10 ad dollars
spent on cable.
Charlene Weisler: What are your next
steps?
Chris Ryan: We want to do more
work proving the importance of engagement and environment, especially in the
ever-changing media landscape. While the quality of the audience is key, and as
consumers migrate fluidly across their video content choices, demonstrating our
benefits and effectiveness at the platform-level becomes increasingly
important.
This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com
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