Not since the advent of the television ad in 1941 has the potential for new ad formats been so great. The emergence of digital platforms is enabling marketers to experiment with a number of new ad formats, each of which could revolutionize marketing as we know it. Throughout 2014 we have been highlighting the most effective techniques being broadly adopted.

Part VIII – Creative is (Still) King

The proliferation of new advertising formats has provided marketers with effective new tools to better optimize their media budgets in terms of such worthwhile goals as reach, targeting, engagement and recency.  At the same time these formats have opened up avenues for creativity in terms of use of technology, cross platform integration and enhanced production values.  But it bears keeping in mind an adage from a simpler time in the history of advertising:

If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.

–  David Ogilvy

What Ogilvy opposed was misdirected creativity.  Creativity for its own sake, rather than being employed to promote the brand.  Ogilvy recognized that advertising is not a commodity, but rather that ads vary in their effectiveness at selling the product – in a big way.

Results from advertising research studies have firmly established that the sales effectiveness of advertising can differ greatly among different pieces of copy.  The following graph shows the distribution of CCPersuasion scores indexed to norm from the MSW●ARS database for tests of all media types conducted in the past three years.   Less than a quarter of ads score within 20 percent of the norm, while a full 40 percent of ads score at least 60 percent above or below norm.  So the range in levels of creative quality is substantial.

This is also true when you look within brand and at different types of media, both traditional and emerging.  As displayed in the following tables, in three anecdotal case studies covering television, print and digital media, two ads for the same brand tested at the same point in time had vastly different levels of sales effectiveness as measured in copy testing.  A brand that assumes all ad creative is equally effective is taking quite a large risk.

Through the assembly of in-market sales results for brands whose ads had been tested before airing, MSW●ARS built a database of hundreds of cases that demonstrates just how important creative is.  Analysis of this data set has shown that 52% of shifts in brand market share are attributable to the quality of the creative.  In fact, creative is seen to be four times more impactful in influencing sales than key media planning variables.

This may seem hard to reconcile given the vast sums spent on media buys, but it reflects the range seen in advertising test scores.  In addition, a story related by comScore Co-Founder Gian Fulgoni a few years ago in MediaPost is illuminating.  Fulgoni describes a situation early in his career when he was involved in a project to see what would happen if a major brand increased TV spending by a factor of four.  After a year of exposing a panel to what he describes as “huge amounts of ad money,” Fulgoni was surprised to find no increase in purchasing of the advertised brand among exposed panelists when compared to a control group.  The answer was finally found in copy test results of the aired advertising, which showed this ad to be “particularly poor”.  The words of the client’s research manager stayed with him as an important lesson: “Gian, you need to remember that four times zero is still zero!”

So when it comes to the key advertising objective of selling the product, it’s undeniable that creative truly is king!  Recognition of this reality leads to the question of how brands can gain an advantage on this vital dimension.  Ogilvy again has succinct advice:

Never stop testing and your advertising will never stop improving.

–  David Ogilvy

Appropriate research can quantify an ad’s creative quality level.  MSW●ARS’s Touchpoint Plus^TM system is unique in that it has the flexibility to test the sales effectiveness of any type of media, including the emerging formats discussed in this series, either alone or as part of a cross media campaign – providing a consistent, calibrated and extensively validated metric of creative strength.  So, good research provides the key to maximizing the value of creative by identifying ads that will effectively sell the brand and projecting which ad is likely to produce the largest return on investment.  We can say this with confidence due to the extensive body of validation supporting advertising testing techniques.  As an example, the following chart shows how accurately advertising testing results predict actual sales volume impacted by the ad, as determined through marketing mix modeling.

In addition, research has more to offer when it comes to the advertising development process.  As the following clip shows, David Ogilvy had some pretty strong opinions on the best point of leverage.

Research done by MSW●ARS also vividly illustrates how getting the promise, or basic selling proposition, right before creative development commences will greatly improve the likelihood of an ad’s success.  Specifically, in studying more than 200 ads for which the basic selling proposition was tested before creative production, 70 percent of ads based on an above average proposition were also above average (vs. norm); while 65 percent of ads based on a below average proposition also were significantly below norm when tested.

Thirty years ago MSW●ARS teamed-up with Vanderbilt University and The Marketing Science Institute to identify advertising content elements proven to influence an ad’s potential selling power.  The “validated” content drivers identified by this study, which incidentally was recognized by the Journal of Advertising Research as an article that has “stood the test of time”, have been refined and updated over time and now provide important guidance to advertisers and their agencies when developing creative.  That these validated content elements can help a brand effectively deliver on a strong selling proposition is well documented, as the following chart demonstrates.  Inclusion of more of these content elements is seen, on average, to substantially improve an ad’s selling power.

While Ogilvy clearly had an appreciation for research, he also had a sense that at times something was missing from the tools available at the time.

The trouble with market research is that people don’t think what they feel, they don’t say what they think, and they don’t do what they say.

–  David Ogilvy

Ogilvy perceived that consumers didn’t or even couldn’t rationally express their true feelings or reactions to a product or advertisement on a conscious level.  It is now widely believed that consumers’ choices are driven not only by conscious opinions but also by their subconscious reactions.  That is, our brains make snap judgments while in “autopilot” mode.  The veiled, behavioral methodology used to collect the CCPersuasion measure allows for this type of decision making.  Furthermore, a tremendous amount of scientific research has been published regarding techniques for measuring and understanding these gut-level, or System 1 responses to stimuli – and they are being used to provide a richer understanding of consumers’ reactions to advertising.  EEG, galvanic skin response, facial coding, reaction times and eye tracking are some of the techniques MSW●ARS employs to help marketers understand how consumers feel about an advertisement and its various segments on a sub-conscious level, adding a new dimension in understanding how great creative is achieved.

A contemporary of Ogilvy, the esteemed quality expert Philip Crosby, was fond of saying that “quality is free”.  Indeed, ROI calculations have shown that application of the research techniques cited above can move typical advertising quarterly returns from $0.54 on the dollar to $1.24!  This makes the research not only free, but a wise investment.  However, for this to occur the research needs to be applied in a manner that frees creative judgment, not displaces it.  It should give confidence to marketing teams to experiment with radical ideas knowing that the insights gained will remove the obstacles to implementing truly breakthrough creative.

I notice increasing reluctance on the part of marketing executives to use judgment; they are coming to rely too much on research, and they use it as a drunkard uses a lamp post for support, rather than for illumination.

–  David Ogilvy

The advertising landscape has been rapidly changing.  Technology has enabled new advertising formats to emerge and quickly develop, and advertising spending is shifting rapidly from traditional media to digital, mobile and other emerging formats highlighted in this series.  But despite these changes, one thing remains the same – the importance of creative quality in driving the brand’s return on its media investment.

Please contact your MSW●ARS representative to find out more about how our products and research findings can help your brand in its quest for great creative.

Not since the advent of the television ad in 1941 has the potential for new ad formats been so great. The emergence of digital platforms is enabling marketers to experiment with a number of new ad formats, each of which could revolutionize marketing as we know it. Throughout 2014 we have been highlighting the most effective techniques being broadly adopted.  Here in Part VII of our series we address Mobile ads.

Part VII:  Mobile Ads and the Recency Phenomenon

Everyone these days has a mobile device.  Or two.  Or three.  This rapid rise in adoption isn’t restricted to the developed world.  While a sad commentary on the lack of sanitation infrastructure in less developed countries, a UN report indicating that more people globally own a mobile phone than have access to a flush toilet is an astonishing testament to mobile penetration.  More vital than the fact that six out of every seven people in the world owns a mobile phone is that we take them nearly everywhere we go.

With the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 spurring the transition of mobile devices from a communication tool to a platform for digesting content, advertising inevitably followed to allow monetization of content.  As smart phone penetration built, so did mobile ad revenues.  In fact, ever since the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) started reporting mobile ad revenue in the US, growth has been explosive – more than doubling year-on-year for three straight years:

And in their 2014 mid-year report, the IAB indicated that in Q2 of 2014 mobile ad revenue constituted 24% of total internet ad revenue, confirming that mobile advertising has truly arrived!

This tremendous growth in the use of micro ads on mobile devices has been accompanied by remarkable innovation in ad formats.  There are numerous approaches to mobile advertising – static display, rich media, in-app, search, video, text messaging and branded apps.  Innovative formats such as the IAB “Rising Stars” are being designed to increase user interaction.  Add in the unique features of mobile devices (cameras, GPS, interactivity, vibration) that ads can leverage in creative ways and the potential for engaging users is tremendous.  In fact, a comScore study showed mobile ads having substantially higher engagement levels when compared to ads served to desktop computers.

But beyond format, the portable nature of mobile devices allows advertisers a unique opportunity to exploit a vital dimension in advertising effectiveness – the recency phenomenon.  Recency research suggests that the closer in time advertising exposure is to an actual purchase occasion, the more likely the advertising will influence the buying decision.  The impact of recency is well-proven in traditional media.  Perhaps a study of Nielsen data by Colin McDonald illustrates this best.  The impact of an ad on share change was shown to steadily decline as the time following ad exposure increased.  This includes a drop of 16% from the first day following exposure to the second day.

This decline can be partially explained by a rapid decay in advertising memories.  An MSW●ARS study showed that proven ad recall after incidental advertising exposure faded by nearly fifty percent in the first three days after exposure.

So what does this have to do with mobile?  First, despite the fantastic and on-going growth in e-commerce, we still buy a lot of stuff the old fashioned way – at a physical store.  But, mobile devices are often used as an aid in the process.  In fact, comScore has reported that “nearly 3 out of every 4 mobile phone searches that end in a purchase bring customers into brick-and-mortar stores.”  So with consumers using mobile devices as part of the shopping process, the potential exists for ad exposure in real time – recency taken to its extreme.

Using location-targeting methods, advertisers can utilize either geo-fence targeting (creating a virtual area around a specific location such as a restaurant or retail store and serving ads to mobile device users who are detected entering the area) or geo-aware targeting (using the mobile device’s current location to serve ads relevant to the device owner’s proximity) to target temporally relevant advertising.  The IAB lists eight location targeting technologies by precision, with GPS being most precise, though use of multiple technologies is recommended due to inherent limitations with each (e.g., GPS works best with clear skyward sightlines).

Given that location-targeted ads are intended for use in the moment, it isn’t surprising that store location and special offers/coupons are commonly leveraged in these types of ads.  A McDonald’s campaign intended to direct potential late-night customers to locations with extended hours won an EMMA (Effective Mobile Marketing Award) with such an ad:

This campaign was designed to drive downloads of a ‘restaurant finder … it employed location-based technology and geo-targeted above-the-line messaging, to avoid sending potential customers to a locked door. Banner ads were served to smartphones on sites that the target audience of late-night travelers and shift workers were known to browse, when the recipient was in close proximity to an open restaurant…The app was downloaded 1.3m times over the course of the campaign, and when the sales uplift was calculated, the campaign delivered an ROI of 2:1.

–              EMMA Summary excerpt

Another EMMA winner illustrates how global marketers can creatively take advantage of local targeting.  Colgate used the occasion of Kumbh Mela, a Hindu pilgrimage in India billed as the largest gathering of humanity in the world (over 80 million visitors), to promote the new Ayurvedic toothpaste.  A geo-fence was created around the festival’s Colgate promotional booth and pilgrims entering this radius were sent a message on their mobile phones encouraging them to visit the Colgate location.  Due to low literacy rates, a voice message using a well-known radio personality was employed.  Visits to the Colgate booth increased over 300% compared to pre-promotion levels.

Vincent Van Gogh once observed “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together”.  When it comes to mobile advertising this observation definitely rings true.

Please contact your MSW●ARS representative to learn about techniques for evaluating the performance of mobile advertising campaigns.

Not since the advent of the television ad in 1941 has the potential for new ad formats been so great. The emergence of digital platforms is enabling marketers to experiment with a number of new ad formats, each of which could revolutionize marketing as we know it. Throughout 2014 we will be highlighting the most effective of the techniques being broadly adopted.

Part V: Long-Form Video

In the early days of television, the 60-second ad unit was the standard.  But in the late 1960’s the trend to shorter ad lengths took hold and the proportion of 60-second ads dropped from 100% in 1965 to 21% in 1975 to less than 2% in 1980.  Driven by rising media costs, the majority of television ads in the United States have been 30-seconds with well over one-third being 15-seconds or less.  In many other countries the ratio of ads under 30-seconds is even greater, with 20-second and 10-second ads being popular.

However, longer video ads are staging a dramatic comeback.  Look no farther than America’s premiere advertising platform, the Super Bowl.  In 2009, 23% of Super Bowl ads were 60-seconds or longer.  Fast-forward to 2014 and this percent nearly doubled to 43%.  And in annual best ad lists from USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and AdWeek, videos of 60-seconds, 3-minutes and even longer dominated at the expense of the 30-second spot.  These lists reveal the true driver of the renaissance in long-form video – online viral video.

MSW●ARS research has shown that advertising effectiveness – both CCPersuasion and Related Recall – decrease for shorter ad lengths.  However, this is often more than balanced out by the lower cost of the media buy, making shorter lengths a smart play.  But with online long-form video, the cost variable can drop out of the equation.  An ad can be as long as you want, if you can get consumers to watch it.  The prize for doing so is potentially enormous – and growing.  In fact, comScore recently reported that online video now reaches 85 million daily viewers in the US alone.

While long-form videos are at their heart commercial advertisements in the same way as TV ads, they also fundamentally differ in their delivery mechanism.  While television ads to a large extent play to a captive audience, long-form videos must not only hold viewer attention to avoid being clicked away from, they must also convince viewers to share the video with others.  To do this, these videos must be highly engaging to their audience.

Telling a Story

But this is not necessarily a bad thing.  Being restricted to a 30-second or even 15-second canvas requires compromise.  Larry Dunst once wrote “it’s hard enough to tell a ‘story’ in 60-seconds.  It’s very hard in 30.  In 15 seconds, forget it!”  Long-form’s capacity for effective story-telling has led to the evolution of short films with high production values and top Hollywood talent.  An example is the Johnnie Walker video “The Gentleman’s Wager” featuring Jude Law.  This video entertains and engages while infusing the product throughout and presenting an aspirational lifestyle meant to resonate with target consumers.

Johnnie Walker, “A Gentleman’s Wager”

 

 

Building an Emotional Connection

Long-form is also ideal for incorporating emotion, as it allows for a gradual build-up of tension and can lead viewers to become involved with the characters in a way not possible in standard ad lengths.  An analysis of acclaimed ads from the 2012 Super Bowl revealed that viewers who did not experience an intense emotional connection disengaged from the ad, as seen by a drop-off in interest relative to those with an intense emotional connection.

 M&M’s, “Just My Shell”

 

 

Such a lack of emotional engagement can be fatal to the prospects of a viral ad.  But ensuring viewers don’t click away is not the only advantage of emotional engagement.  Ron Lawner once observed that “successful campaigns have two things in common.  They have the rational message right.  But when they succeed, they also have the emotional message right.”  MSW●ARS research backs Lawner’s observation with one study showing that 60% of “liked” ads out-performed their basic selling proposition in terms of sales-effectiveness, while only 7% of “not liked” ads did so.

 

Emotion is the currency of the greeting card industry.  Yet in their video “World’s Toughest Job”, cardstore.com was able to powerfully evoke an emotional response in a way that was not only fresh and original but also relevant to the brand’s business.

 

Cardstore.com, “World’s Toughest Job”

 

 

On the other hand, feminine protection advertising is more often defined by a focus on functionality.  But in “Like a Girl”, Always sought to associate itself with building girls’ self-esteem at a vulnerable point in their lives in a way that no doubt left a lasting impression on many viewers.

 

Always, “Like A Girl”

 

 

 

Going Viral

By its nature, long-form video must compel viewers to want to share it with others since it depends on viral spread rather than paid placement in order to get in front of consumers.  MSW●ARS has studied viewer engagement using a battery of questions based on Flow Theory.  This approach to measuring engagement rests on five key dimensions:

• Focus & attention
• Loss of self-consciousness
• Altered sense of time
• Intrinsic rewards
• Immersion

The derived engagement score not only explains between 80% and 90% of the variance in buzz metrics (intent to forward and intent to watch again) but also was indicative of actual views on-line as can be seen in the contrast between the highest and lowest scoring videos tested by MSW●ARS.

 

While the number of potential approaches is as unlimited as the human imagination, a novel idea underlies the most successful viral ads.  The idea is so original that viewers want to be associated with it by passing it on to others.  Evian hit on such an approach with its Baby & Me spot, which has registered over 92 million views on YouTube to date.

 

Evian, “Baby & Me”

 

 

 Influencing the Viewer

While it is apparent that long-form videos are not simply longer versions of hard sell approach televisions ads, ultimately they must be able to help the brand sell to justify their continued relevance in a brand’s media strategy.  They must do their part to aid in differentiating the brand in consumers’ hearts and minds.  An effective long-form video can do this through building on the emotional connection between consumer and brand, associating the brand with qualities important to its image, revealing the brand’s values and how they promote them, or even showing the brand in action by solving problems in a way that inspires viewers to share.

 

In the video “Christmas Miracle”, WestJet sets themselves apart from competitors not by touting lower fares, on-time arrivals or network of direct flights.  Rather, the airline goes to amazing lengths to show their care for their travelers in an industry often perceived as heartless (who hasn’t had a frustrating air travel experience?)

 

WestJet, “Christmas Miracle”

 

Through its video “The Scarecrow”, Chipotle not only created a visually striking world for its main character to inhabit, it also infused the story with values the brand wished to be associated with, such as respect for animals, whole foods, initiative and hard work, and doing things the right way.

 

Chipotle, “The Scarecrow”

 

 

To understand whether a long-form video is effectively motivating viewers, MSW●ARS’s Touchpoint Plus platform can be used to assess sales effectiveness.  In fact, one long-form video in excess of 4 minutes in length achieved a 99^th percentile CCPersuasion result indexed versus benchmark.  And given the importance of an emotional connection and effective engagement throughout the length of the video, evaluative techniques based on neuro-scientific research are particular valuable.  For example, facial coding or EEG techniques can give a read on emotional engagement that is temporally discriminating to allow assessment of engagement in the critical early seconds of the video and to identify any segments where there is potential for viewer disengagement.

Please contact your MSW●ARS representative to learn more about techniques for evaluating long-form video formats.