As usual, there was almost as much hype about the ads in the Super Bowl this year as there was about the game itself.  And one of the advertising storylines this year centered around Cryptocurrency Exchange ads.  This represented a coming-out party for Crypto Exchanges on the year’s biggest advertising stage.

While the four Crypto Exchange ads were superseded by the number of ads in some of the more traditional Super Bowl ad categories (automobile companies led the way with 7 spots), they still managed to steal much of the pre and post-game discussion about the advertising.  However, to a large extent the verdict was less than positive.

At Yahoo! Sports, Liz Roscher provided commentary and grades on all the big game’s ads.  While garnering some positive comments from Roscher, the FTX spot featuring Larry David only managed a D grade.  However, that made it the winner of the Crypto Exchange category as the other three spots all received an F.

Over at USA Today, Super Bowl ad meter results were based on the ratings of nearly 150,000 panelists.  The final tally again showed FTX as the leader in the Crypto Exchange category, with the brand’s Larry David spot finishing a very respectable 17^th out of a total of 66 rated ads.  Crypto.com rode LeBron James to a mediocre 49^th place overall, while eToro only avoided last place due to even fewer viewers liking the somewhat head-scratching bouncing QR-code approach taken by CoinBase.

While ratings are fun, ultimately the true measure of the success of an advertisement comes from what the ad does to bolster the business results of the brand itself.  MSW’s TBSM tracker incorporated the Crypto Exchange category in January, which provided a baseline read on the brands in the category.  Then the survey was run again in the week after the Super Bowl, with an aided advertising awareness question added at the end of the survey.  What were the results?

The 71% of respondents who indicated they had watched the Super Bowl were asked if they remembered seeing any ads for Cryptocurrency Exchange brands during the Super Bowl and if so, they were asked to indicate which brands they saw an ad for out of a list of 13 major Crypto Exchange platforms.   The ghost awareness level (average misattribution to unadvertised brands) was 10%.  All the advertised brands were able to comfortably surpass this level with the exception of eToro at only 10.4%.

It is also interesting to note that while claimed advertising awareness levels for Coinbase, Crypto.com and eToro are all highest among respondents aged 18 to 34, FTX really popped among those aged 35 to 54.  In fact, FTX ad awareness of 23.9% among those aged 35 to 54 more than doubled the level among the younger age group.  Chalk that up to the Larry David effect!

Next, the survey results showed an overall lifting of brand awareness levels for the entire category in the week after the Super Bowl versus the January baseline.  But the advertised brands in particular saw a very strong lift in the level of aided brand awareness.

However, the key metric collected by the TBSM survey is brand preference.  This metric has been shown to be strongly related to actual market share and

it underpins most of MSW Research’s primary research methodologies since movement in Brand Preference is validated and proven to corelate to actual in-market business results.  So, while awareness can certainly indicate that the advertising was having an effect, the true winner is that brand that sees the strongest movement in share of Brand Preference.

While all the advertised brands saw at least some level of positive movement in Brand Preference, FTX again is the winner with a jump in Brand Preference of 2.6 percentage points.  Again, this gain was driven by respondents aged 35 to 54 among whom FTX realized a Brand Preference gain of 4.3 percentage points.

Beyond the effect on the individual brands, these high-profile advertisements can have an effect on the category itself, particularly given the nascent nature of the Crypto Exchange category.  One sign of this can be seen in claimed category participation.  The percent of respondents claiming to not be buyers or sellers of cryptocurrency dropped 6 percentage points to 37% in the post-Super Bowl read.

In addition, there is evidence that the advertising and associated hype had a positive effect on branding in the category.  The TBSM survey asks respondents to select the one characteristic (from a list of eight choices) that is most important in deciding on a method to buy or sell cryptocurrency.  The only item to gain, with an increase of 4 percentage points, was “From a Brand I Trust.”

Despite the snap reviews of the Super Bowl Crypto Exchange ads which were not favorable, to say the least, TBSM tracking data suggests the advertising has been effective at raising awareness and building brands in the category.  This is particularly the case for FTX.  And the use of Larry David as spokesperson – that could never be wrong!

please contact us for more information on the MSW TBSM survey and what it can reveal in your category.

The Persuadables℠;  the consumer segment with the highest ROAI.

Essentially, it’s a narrowing of your target from a broad-based approach to those consumers who already have a likelihood of choosing your brand.  And because they already have a predisposition towards your brand, they are more responsive to advertising, easier to move and ultimately return a higher ROAI.  Identifying those consumers and then what message will pull them towards your brand is the key.

The concept is relatively straight forward – of course, like most other things, the devil is in the details.

Fortunately, MSW has been doing this since the early 1960’s. The idea grew out of our early work on Brand Loyalty and is actually related to the old debate of which is a more efficient way to increase sales; a strategy of penetration (increasing your user base) or a strategy of increased usage (getting those who already use to use more).  The answer in most cases is increased usage.  Getting non-users, who express no interest in future use, to choose your brand is the least efficient strategy (they don’t use it, are not interested in using it and aren’t likely to be convinced, and if you can convince them it’s going to cost a lot).  The next least efficient strategy is getting loyal users to increase their usage (they already use it, how much more can they buy).  The most efficient way to target is in the middle; to get repertoire users (those who rotate through your brand and other brands) and non-users who are “attracted” to increase their use of your brand over others (increased loyalty or increased share of requirements) or buy for the first time.  It’s this last group that some people are now calling the “Movable Middle”, but what we refer to as the “Persuadables℠”.

The genesis of the thinking was that…  The nucleus of a brand’s franchise are the consumers who are loyal to it – but every brand also has a proportion of consumers who are “Persuadable”.

 And in order to bring about favorable sales results, the advertiser must accomplish two main objectives: 

1)  ATTRACT new buyers

2)  RETAIN possible defectors

Now, identifying who to ATTRACT and RETAIN is one thing – activating them is another.  Some people refer to this group as the “Movable Middle”; identify them using a traditional type of segmentation analysis, heavy on demographics, and then use that segmentation to target media buys.

While identifying and targeting is a good start, it doesn’t provide the most effective framework because it leaves out the most important piece.

At MSW, we do it different and better.  Our framework for a truly actionable and effective process is four-steps:

Yes, we identify and enable targeting of media buys, but we also inform our clients “HOW” to Persuade (or Move) this target – what messaging will have a positive impact on sales.

Including the “HOW” comes from our heritage in advertising and communications research –research centered on “HOW” to persuade these “Persuadables” to buy or buy more of your brand.

How we do it; Step 1, Identify Persuadables℠.

We have two techniques that we use in combination to identify the Persaudables℠.

• We don’t define the Persaudables℠ as others do, as consumers with a 20-80% probability of choosing your brand, as the result of purchase interest question. Purchase Interest, by itself,  is actually one of the least accurate ways of predicting brand choice.  MSW’s CC Brand Preference is the most proven and sales validated measure available to predict brand choice.
• We combine our proven and sales validated CC Brand Preference™ and our Brand Franchise Analysis™ to more accurately identify and segment consumers relationship with, and likelihood to purchase your brand.

How we do it; Step 2, Identify HOW to Persuade Them.

• Then we use our Persuasion Driver Analysis™ to inform HOW to move the Persaudables℠.

How we do it; Step 3, Test Messaging.

• Testing messaging and communications to ensure ad impact on future sales volume and market share.Messaging and Creative is the one thing that has the most impact on both short-term sales lift and long-term brand equity.
• MSW’s suite of advertising assessment and creative guidance tools used to test messaging and ensure impact on Persuadables.

How we do it; Step 4, Target Media.

• And finally, targeting the Persaudables℠ using the segmentation analysis completes the process. While MSW Research is not a media buyer, we do provide our clients’ buyers with segments, definitions, targeting and everything they need to effectively execute and buy.

Some final thoughts…

• Roughly 1/2 of category users are Persuadables℠
• 2/3rds of new penetration comes from Persuadables℠
• Only 1/3 of new penetration comes from all other segments
• Persuadables℠ are twice as important as all other segments; as they deliver 2/3rds of new penetration

 

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In What MSW Research Products/Services is this Persuadables℠ Segmentation Analysis available?

We offer the Persuadables℠ Segmentation Analysis throughout the communication development process.

1. It is available in early stage Foundation & Purpose research as part of our Brandscape℠ product which is a category and brand equity analysis that deconstructs equity into base pillars for marketing planning. It is the first step in our communications development process that includes rational and emotional measurement that’s hard-linked within our brand equity improvement paradigm.

We build the Persuadables℠ Segmentation Analysis into Brandscape as an integrated analysis to understand your brand’s position relative to direct and indirect competitors, as well as your place with regard to mission, vision, core values, niche markets, strengths and weaknesses.

Identify the strongest brand claims/benefits to find those which are worthy of building communications around.

Determine if you have the opportunity to leverage and/or increase existing brand equity by extending or spinning-off your brand.

Explore the interaction between a brand and it’s customers over the duration of the relationship.

Understand your customers’ state of mind, complete experience and interaction with every brand touch point they encounter from awareness and need generation to usage and loyalty.

2. It is available in Screening & Development research as part of all our Early-Stage Message Screening (Sifter™) and Copy Testing (TouchPoint™) products.

Again, we build the Persuadables℠ Segmentation Analysis into these products as a fully integrated analysis to bolster the actionability of the outputs – insuring in-market impact.

3. And finally Persuadables℠ Segmentation Analysis is built into our tracking services as a fully integrated analysis to; a) confirm that historical communications strategies are on target and performing as predicted and, b) be viewed as a leading indicator to guide future decision making with regard to messaging and targeting. 

​Contact us today to discuss identifying and activating your Persuadables℠ with one our senior executives.

Copy testing has been utilized by advertisers for decades to assess the quality of advertising copy. MSW’s TouchPoint™ copy testing system has been extensively validated, showing that test results on key metrics are predictive of subsequent sales results from airing the tested advertising. A partnership between MSW and predictive marketing analytics firm Keen set out to assess the utility of test scores from MSW’s Insight Rabbit DIY copy-testing platform at improving predictions from Keen’s MIDA decision support system.

The MIDA (Marketing Investment Decision Analysis) platform is designed to help marketers decide how to invest in marketing activities. MIDA users can develop optimized investment scenarios to meet specific business objectives such as hitting revenue targets or meeting budget constraints. It does this by applying a Bayesian modeling approach to a wide range of a brand’s historical marketing and performance data.

Could the use of copy quality metrics improve forecasting of business outcomes and hence, be used as an input to MIDI to improve the allocation of marketing dollars? To address this question, new advertising for a major packaged food brand was selected. This brand had developed two different campaigns with different communication objectives that tied back to the brand’s strategy. The brand intended to air both campaigns concurrently.

The television ads developed for each of the two campaigns were tested using MSW Research’s Insight Rabbit Pulse Lite copy testing solution. Results are shown in the graph below.

Both ads were adequate in terms of the secondary Break Through metric which assesses the degree to which an ad leaves viewers with a memorable and branded impression. However, Copy A scored much stronger in terms of the CCPersuasion™ metric which assesses the degree to which the ad positively influences preference for the advertised brand. Prior validation studies have shown CCPersuasion to be the strongest predictor of an ad’s selling power. Copy A scored significantly above the Fair Share benchmark with an index of 161, suggesting it is a very strong piece of copy. On the other hand, Copy B indexed 113 versus the norm and would be considered slightly above average at best.

Historical performance of the brand’s television investment was measured in MIDA to quantify the expected returns on investment for an average (or benchmark) ad for the brand. Then an initial forecast was developed before the start of the campaign using this historical performance enhanced by the MSW copy test results along with planned media delivery levels.

After the campaign had been running for six months, MIDA was updated with actual sales and television campaign delivery data. As seen below, the ROI for Copy A was approximately 90% higher than would have been expected from the historical benchmark ad performance level. On the other hand, Copy B’s ROI was only about 5% higher than the benchmark expectation.

This actual performance was extremely consistent with the copy test results which suggested that Copy A was a very strong ad, and that copy B was slightly above average. This result illustrates the utility of MSW copy test scores in the a priori forecasting of investment levels through integration with decision support systems. The integration of MSW copy test scores with a decision support system like MIDA would help steer marketing dollars toward more deserving initiatives, improve forecasts and bolster in-market effectiveness of brands’ marketing programs.