ARF conferences always offer fascinating insights into
groundbreaking research, data and analytics.
At this year’s ConsumerxScience
conference, challenges such as fake news and Cambridge Analytica’s use of
Facebook data was alluded to in the opening remarks.
“Science, dispassionate, methodical, skeptical, collegial,
evidence-based and theoretically-grounded, is core to our mission,” noted Scott
McDonald, President and CEO, ARF. But, he added, “Facts are not the same as
values. Values arise from the shared understanding of what we regard as right,
ethical, decent or fair.” In these data-centric
times, we need a code of conduct applied towards any use of personal consumer
data and the insights that the data reveals.
Some of the takeaways from the conference include:
Stay Current. The Ad Ecosystem Is Changing
in Unexpected Ways
A range of
surprising results regarding the advertising business in general – from ad
length to the future of agencies – are challenging accepted historical norms.
McDonald listed the following:
·
Six second ads can work under some conditions.
· > Don’t dismiss Outlier behavior. It offers as
much valuable insights as the Average because of polarized and hyper-connected
populations.
·
> Agencies face competition not just from
consultancies, but also from media companies that bundle media research with
the media buy (despite worries about grading their own homework).
· >
Ad view time may not be as good a measure of
engagement. Research indicates that the relationship is not at all linear – and
may not be a good proxy for ROI.
· >
There will be new assessments of the caliber and
viability of return-path data and location data, but we are not sure whether
those will be big headlines at this time.
Radio is Surprisingly Popular, Especially
with Millennials
“Sound is
exploding,” stated Michele Mandansky, EVP, Research, Insights and Analytics,
iHeartMedia. In a recent study, Nielsen found that Radio has higher reach than TV
or Smartphones, especially among 18-34s (92%, 79% and 91%, respectively). To
further extend radio’s value to advertisers, iHeartMedia conducted a study on
radio creative with Veritonic to predict how a radio spot will perform. The
results suggest:
·
Jingles greatly increase the success of the spot
and that brands that advertised with a jingle had a higher performance on
purchase intent.
·
Clarity and focus on a specific product also increased
purchase intent especially when the product was clearly mentioned with its attributes.
·
Conversely, when multiple products were mentioned
in a spot, it diminished the ad impact.
·
Always emphasize your products and not your
competitors.
·
Disclaimers can work well when they are handled
well.
New Data Enables a More Nuanced Look at
Creative
There were several companies that presented research on how
to best craft creative for the greatest consumer response. Viacom, in
conjunction with The Family Room analyzed intra-family dynamics in making
consumer purchasing decisions. Theresa Pepe, VP Marketing and Partner Insights,
Viacom, noted that teens are developing brand loyalty at a much younger age.
“The family dynamic has changed,” she noted. To that end, they developed a set
of passion points to map the level of emotional importance for specific brands
and categories.
Messaging may tend towards Rational Drivers but it is the
Emotional Drivers that create the connection to consumer purchase intent. For
example, in the automotive category, Rational Drivers can include size,
mileage, storage and cost. But the Emotional Drivers, as George Carey, Founder
and CEO, The Family Room, explained, are, “The everyday care and love I have
for my child, our time together as a family, protection, love and security.”
When Emotional Drivers are included in the messaging, the connection is
strengthened and the purchase intent increases.
Brand Mission and Purpose Impacts Consumer
Loyalty
Emotional
connection that enters into the altruistic is another way for advertisers to
connect with their consumers. Sana Carlton, NE Group SVP, Kantar Millward
Brown, noted that a brand’s purpose is vital to customer loyalty. “Strong
emotional connections that customers have with brands are the irreplaceable,
meaningful differentiator of brand choice,” she stated. General product
differences like convenience or cost can be replicated. “It is the emotional
reaction that stimulates the immediate unconscious desire for choice and the
more thoughtful justification of brand choice that is truly unique for a brand
and irreplaceable by competitors,” she concluded.
Conclusion
In the ever
changing media research ecosystem, the more creative use of data can yield new
and actionable insights that move the business forward. The secret to success,
according to McDonald, is to “Get out of the comfort zone” by expanding beyond
the usual software and multivariate statistics and employing data science
techniques. Judging by this year’s ARF ConsumerxScience, the expansion into
this new data territory is leading to fruitful insights and successful applications.
This article first appeared in www.Cablefax.com
