Matched Audiences Maximize Digital Audio Ad Performance. Engaging Results From a MAGNA SXM Study

A majority of Americans now are digital audio listeners according to Melissa Paris, Vice President of Sales Research and Analytics at SXM Media. To better understand this important population, MAGNA and SXM Media division of SiriusXM partnered on a research study, “Matched Audiences for Unmatched Audio Performance” that looks at the value of using advanced data to better target and reach digital audio listeners.

This study is the first of its kind for audio but it incorporates knowledge gained from previous studies on digital video, Kara Manatt, Executive Vice President of Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA explained. “We've never done anything like this with digital audio testing how the same ad is going to perform with matched versus demographic targeting.” But, she added, “It's not the first of its kind in the sense that we've done similar types of testing with digital video to understand how using these different methods of reaching people can affect ad effectiveness.”

The study used a combination of first party data from participating brands matched against a panel in a clean room and third party data curated by Axiom. Manett noted that brand customers within the first party data were those who have a high propensity to buy in that category, thus going beyond standard demographics. “To me that underscores the uniqueness of the study. The whole purpose of the study is to go beyond demographics and the fact that we are not just the age range we are in. There's much more nuance to groups and individuals than the age range.” Any skew was strictly brand and customer base related.

Among the key findings, Paris explained, was that, “People of all ages are receptive to digital audio ads in general. That was a baseline finding.” The study also found that digital audio ads have, “higher memorability and higher aided recall among matched audiences holistically when we compared them to demographic audiences,” noted Manett.

“When we break it down by audience types, we saw that both first party and third party data sets we used beat out demographics alone. When we looked at unaided and aided recall in both of those metrics, first party drove the highest lifts in general, followed by third party audiences, followed by demographic audiences. This underscores the finding that memorability is much stronger among match audiences,” Manett added.

In measuring the purchase phase, “We saw some interesting nuances. When we looked at people who were specifically new to the category, we saw that matched audiences showed a 3 times higher impact on purchase intent.” For her and of particular interest to advertisers, “We were able to prove that matched audiences are not only more effective, they're also more cost efficient. With their ability to drive purchase intent, we saw that on a cost per person basis that the match to audiences is actually cheaper or more cost efficient than using demographic audiences,” Manett stated.

“This is one of those studies where we saw a confirmation about things we had anticipated and that we were proven right in in terms of the hypothesis we set out to prove,” explained Paris. “But from an external perspective, I think the biggest surprise is the cost efficiency.”

For Manett, creative also impacted the study findings. When measuring audience reactions to the ads themselves, “and people are asked how they feel about those ads, we found if we can make some tweaks on what we know about these audiences, the ads perform much, much better. Even small tweaks in the creative based on the data used to reach these audiences help make the ads work harder. The big finding is making sure that we do our best to customize the creative based on who we're reaching.”

“There's a lot of evidence here for brands to do more exploration when it comes to digital audio. If they're buying digital audio and they're only using demographics this study will hopefully encourage them to try out first party or third party match audiences, and if they are already using matched audiences, this will encourage them to think more about the creative approach. Maybe it's time to start messaging these audiences uniquely more through customized creative if they aren't already,” Paris concluded.

 

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

 

Revealing the Value of Social Commerce for Brands and Marketers A Groundbreaking Global Study Advances New Technology

How can retailers better understand and harness the power of social commerce to better track the consumer journey? A recent study by MAGNA, Reprise and SNAP offers great insights and some advice.

Social commerce refers to those online activities that facilitate transactions. According to Glen Conybeare, Global President, Reprise Commerce, a  “post-pandemic new normal” has fueled greater participation in social commerce, so much so that it can now account for as much as 20% of sales. He noted that, “Brands are realizing that a significant double digit percentage of their sales are likely to be through e-commerce channels. That makes their life more complicated because most brands are very adept at selling through physical retail that has been structured for many years to optimize sales.” This poses a challenge to some retailers who are still grappling with how to best structure their online offerings to maximize profitability.

For Kara Manatt, EVP Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA, the study addresses what retailers must do to meet the needs of consumers. “What do consumers really want and need and what is their experience like on social media? We wanted to tap into what is currently happening with consumers on social media and the technologies they are using,” she explained.

This global study of 8,000 respondents spanned four countries - U.S., UK, Germany and Saudi Arabia – and is the first of its kind for MAGNA. It revealed the following insights:

Social media is vitally important to consumers in making purchasing decisions. Manatt noted that she was surprised at, “how many people use social media to make purchases and use it as a tool to discover products. There's a really strong foundation of people using social media in that way across all the markets, especially Saudi Arabia.”

AR and VR are emerging as one of the important centerpieces in social commerce. For Conybeare, it enables consumers to better curate their purchases and reduce returns that increase costs to retailers. He explained that, “Consumers don't want twelve items and send ten back. It’s a hassle. They want to order something that works for them and not have to send anything back. AR and VR technology help with that.”

There is an enthusiasm for these new technologies. Manatt explained that, “People are really excited and leaning in to try new technologies. They use AR to try on clothes (for example). Brands need to make sure that we're meeting consumers where they are and taking advantage of those observations and behaviors that already exist.”

There is a great deal of disconnect in the current consumer journey to purchase. “It's about reducing the friction in the journey. We think is e-commerce is easy but actually from a consumer's point of view it's full of friction. It's a lot easier to walk into a physical store, try on a pair of jeans, buy the pair of jeans and it is unlikely to take those jeans back,” Conybeare explained.  Conversely, he noted, “When you buy a pair of jeans online, you’ll probably buy two. Maybe one fits. Maybe none fits. It’s the same with style. Technology reduces friction in the online consumer journey. That's why we've seen such a positive reaction to AR and VR in the study.”

Consumer appetite for new technology spans all age groups. “It's not a generational thing,” noted Manatt, “It's not just younger people who realize that doing things through social media is going to help alleviate some of that friction. It's all ages.”

Profitability drives retailer decisions and new technology helps. “e-commerce is not as profitable as physical retail for the vast majority of retailers,” Conybeare stated. Generous return policies eat into profitability. “If implementing AR or VR technology on your site means your returns go from 30% to 20%, that pays off very quickly. Increasingly, retailers are realizing that they can’t continue to offer amazing customer service with free returns free delivery for long because shareholders will not stand for it,” he added.

For brands and advertisers, the road to profitability lies in AR and VR. “This study shows the consumers really want it. If brands and marketers were thinking, ‘It's not going to move the needle. It's not required. We're selling our stuff today without it.’ That's true. But you have to ask yourself what are you potentially missing out on? Changing your onsite conversion rate from 3 to 3.5% is the equivalent of spending millions on media. It's huge. And it's just one way of reducing friction for online customers,” Conybeare replied.

All of this emphasis on social commerce begs the question – What happens to brick and mortar? “There's got to be a place for physical retail. We'd be in a very sad, lonely world if there weren't.  Physical retail just needs to reinvent itself and part of that is bringing back more entertainment to shopping that makes it fun,” he concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

What Drives Content? Interview with Kara Manatt of IPG

Kara Manatt, VP Consumer Research Strategy for IPG Media Lab, is in the epicenter of advertising receptivity research at the agency. 

Her department, which is the creative technology arm of IPG Mediabrands, conducted research for 74 brands globally, representing over 20 studies and covering 749,000+ interviews. “I fell into research,” she confides, “It was not part of my career plan.” But one of her professors encouraged her to go to graduate school where she attained a Masters in Social Psychology and from there, “research was a natural fit.”

In this interview, Kara talks about her work at IPG, the surprising results of some recent research studies, insights regarding viewability.  

Charlene Weisler: Tell me about the type of research you currently do.

Kara Manatt: While our goal is always to help inform better media buying decisions, my team’s work tends to fall into two buckets. First, we aim to answer our clients’ toughest questions as they relate to advertising effectiveness and changing consumer behaviors.  For example, we recently conducted a first of its kind, scientific study on viewability. Other topics include, the importance of contextual relevance in ad effectiveness, determining what consumers really want and expect from ad personalization, and developing a deeper understanding of ad avoidance behaviors. The second area of focus is on understanding the effectiveness of emerging ad products and strategies. We serve as a testing ground of sorts for new ad product innovations.  We’ve found that the best way to foster innovation for our clients is to bring the testing in-house.

Charlene: What type of research applications do you use?

Kara: We aren’t beholden to any specific approach or methodology.  Every project we work on is different, so we customize our approach to answer the questions at hand.  That may include more traditional research approaches, but more often than not we are incorporating next generation technology into our studies.  Obviously, technology has drastically changed media, and we believe that same technology should change the way we measure it.  Because of this, we’ve even built our own tools to track consumer responses, such as ad avoidance, attention, and emotions.  I will also say that the keeping true to experimental design, which is the most rigorous form of testing, is extremely important.

Charlene: Are you working on any cross platform studies?

Kara: We’ve done a number of cross platform studies in the past and it will be an integral part of our work moving forward as well.  Our past studies have focused on understanding how consumers experience various platforms and how those experiences translate into ad effectiveness.  We’ve also explored best practices around the ideal timing for cross screen re-targeting and message sequencing across screens.  This year, we plan to focus quite a bit more on newer platforms, such as OTT or connected TV.  Our clients want to know more connected TV’s role in the media mix.

Charlene: Anything that you have found through your research that surprised you?

Kara: Yes, our studies are fairly comprehensive, so there’s almost always something surprising.  Those tend to be the most fun studies as well – when I’m wrong about a lot.  In a recent global study on branded content, I had several hypotheses in which I was proven wrong.  Going into the test, I thought that entertainment would be one of the biggest drivers of effective branded content.  It turns out that entertainment is really just table stakes.  There are many other aspects of branded content that are much stronger drivers of success.  For example, offering consumers valuable information in a way that is trustworthy and authentic for the brand.  Another recent surprise for me was from our research on contextual targeting.  It’s common sense that aligning with contextually relevant content is a good thing.  But, I was really surprised to see the power relevance can actually bring to the table.  The same video ad can perform dramatically differently based on the type of content is next to.  We saw a 63% increase in purchase intent simply by being next to contextually relevant video content.  That is fascinating to me.  Context can completely change the way consumers internalize ads.

Charlene: Is there a general rule to maximize effectiveness?

Kara: Having any sort of contextual relevance is a good thing, but I think the rules vary by industry vertical and your campaign objectives. For example, if you are a brand who has invested in creating ads that are aimed at eliciting emotions, you should be thoughtful about where you place those ads. Will an emotional ad work harder if you run it against emotional content? In general, no - It must be emotionally congruent. Run a happy ad next to happy, uplifting content.   So again, the general rule is context matters, but to truly maximize effectiveness, you have to treat each campaign differently.

Charlene: Trafficking ads on TV in order to better match context seems to be very difficult to achieve. How can an agency help networks make the right match?

Kara: Our recent test was with digital video and that technology does exist.  We worked with a company called Zefr to match ads with the right content on the digital platform. Their technology allows you to do this sort of matching at scale.  And that brings up a good point, we sometimes have cool ideas, but decide against working on them if they can’t actually translate into something brands can truly take advantage of in the market at scale. TV has less flexibility at the moment, but as it evolves, we should be able to try out these same concepts in the living room.

Charlene: Have you done any research on Viewability and if so, what did you find?

Kara: Yes, we recently conducted a large scale research project on viewability, in partnership with Cadreon and Integral Ad Science. Some of our conclusions are: 1. At a high level, there is a strong relationship between viewability and ad effectiveness. That is, as viewability increases, so does consumer attention and ad recall.  2. Of the two dimensions of viewability – time in view is more important than the number of pixels in view. They both play a role in effectiveness, but again, time in view is a stronger driver of effectiveness. We also explored what advertisers can do to have bigger impact even at lower levels of viewability. For one, they can take simple steps such as placing their logo at the top of the ad. When the logo is on top, it makes a big difference at lower levels of viewability. Advertisers can also run their ads on less cluttered pages and run video in places where consumers are more likely to have the volume on.

Charlene: Can you give me some predictions as to how you see the media landscape evolving in the next 3-5 years?

Kara: Some of the changes that are most exciting to me are changes that will take place in the living room with TV.  We are moving to a more flexible programming grid that will allow for more feed-based discovery.  This will be really exciting for brands because it means their custom curated content can appear next to popular TV shows.  Changes in the TV landscape also mean we will be able to do more media buying based on audiences instead of shows.  We will see the full flexibility of digital, including interactive ads in the living room.  From a research perspective, these changes are what I’m really looking forward to.

This article first appeared at www.MediaBizBloggers.com