Research shows the opportunity for addressable TV advertising

New report from Finecast demonstrates heightened consumer engagement from addressable TV adsSeptember 29, 2020, London — Finecast, a leading addressable TV provider, today released the full report and findings of its comprehensive research into TV viewing habits and addressable advertising in 2020. The “Thinking Inside the Box” study was conducted in collaboration with research and insight firm DRG, and was designed to understand both the viewer and the industry’s perceptions of the changing nature of TV and the opportunities it enables for advertisers.

Through a series of viewer ethnographic studies, a neuroscientific experiment, viewer workshops and consumer surveys, as well as interviews with advertising industry leaders, the research found that TV is a unique, trusted channel, offering a place to connect with consumers through storytelling and exciting new opportunities through video on demand. 74% of viewers consider BVOD to be high-quality content, and 85% think they will always have a TV in their house. However, findings also showed that definitions of TV are changing, as 60% of viewers felt their perceptions towards what TV is have changed over the past five years, with 74% including BVOD in their classification, and 53% considering SVOD content as TV now.

The report also established that, despite being increasingly subjected to personalised advertising online, consumers are more likely to engage with relevant TV ads with one in three explicitly stating they would be more likely to view TV ads if they were relevant to them and liked addressable ads almost four times as much in the neuroscience study. This demonstrates the potential for addressable TV as brands and advertisers recognise how it enhances TV advertising by extending the reach potential to market different messages to relevant audiences. An additional growth area is how addressable can also enable brands to advertise on TV for the first time by experimenting with focused strategic investments that target specific audience segments or geo-locations.

To understand viewers’ responses to addressable TV advertising at a subconscious level, a neuroscientific study was also conducted in partnership with a team of UCL professors. Measuring engagement through a combination of physiological markers and explicit and implicit behavioural measures, the research looked at how viewers psychologically process TV advertising. It found that people remembered ads more accurately and exhibited greater external focus when watching TV ads on a big screen vs smaller, handheld devices.

“It’s clear from the results of our “Thinking Inside the Box” research project that television is a powerful medium that will always have a place in the home,” said Harry Harcus, UK Managing Director, Finecast. “Both at a conscious and subconscious level, addressable TV advertising has the potential to positively impact viewers, but it needs to be done correctly. TV is an opportunity to tell a story, and the expectation from consumers is that it should be relevant to them too. Our research demonstrates that by marrying compelling creative with addressable capabilities, it’s possible to engage with a range of consumers in a variety of contexts and emotive viewing states through TV.”

Commenting on the top line findings Phoebe Casey-Miller, Research Manager, DRG, said: “The “Thinking Inside the Box” research demonstrates that consumer attitudes towards TV have and will continue to change. These changes mean exciting new opportunities to reach consumers in different states of need, viewing contexts and across different devices and platforms. However, execution is key. Viewers want relevancy, creativity and TV ads that they genuinely enjoy watching rather than find annoying and intrusive. There is a clear line between using data-driven advertising solutions to create relevancy and engagement amongst viewers vs making them feel as if they’ve lost all sense of control with creepy targeting. Viewers might not be clear on ‘What TV is?’ but from having the opportunity to enter their homes and observe their viewing experiences, TV continues to play an important and evolving role in the lives of consumers in 2020.”

Professor Joe Devlin, University College London, who led the neuroscience study, noted that: “From the neuroscientific study, we found strong evidence that addressable TV advertising is more compelling to consumers than non-addressable, demonstrating that relevance to the household increases engagement.”

Download the full report here.

Note to editors:

Key findings from “Thinking Inside the Box” research project included :

• 60% of viewers felt their perception regarding what TV is has changed over the past 5 years
• 85% think they will continue to always have a TV in their house, indicating that the medium is firmly embedded in consumers’ mindsets as a core TV viewing device
• 74% consider BVOD to be TV, while 53% include SVOD and 9% include YouTube within their definition
• Among viewers of the platforms, TV, specifically BVOD, is seen a high-quality source of content amongst users (74%), vs online video, which only 57% see as high quality amongst users,
• Quality and trust go hand-in-hand, as 75% trust BVOD, vs 57% for online video amongst users of each, as many see it as lower quality and a real mixing pot of non-regulated content
• 59% of those open to advertising trust TV advertising the most vs Press (11%), Cinema (9%), OOH (9%) Radio (6%) and Online (6%) – 50% told us they didn’t trust any key channels———————————————————————-

About Finecast

Finecast is a leading addressable TV company which enables advertisers to precision target viewers across on-demand, linear and live streaming TV environments. Finecast gives advertisers the ability to deliver targeted ads to audiences watching TV content across multiple broadcasters, connected devices, set top boxes, over-the-top providers and game consoles – all through a single point of access.

Finecast optimises delivery across the entire addressable TV marketplace. With access to hundreds of different targeting segments, from socio-economic to life stage, purchase and financial data, advertisers can identify and reach viewers whenever and wherever they are watching. Finecast is part of GroupM, the media investment group of WPP. Find out more www.finecast.com

About DRGFounded in 1996, DRG is an independent, full-service media research and consumer insight agency. We provide innovative research solutions to some of the biggest brands, media owners, agencies and public sector organisations both in the UK and across the world.

With expert researchers, a data science team, an in-house panel Panelbase with over 300,000 profiled members, and fantastic qualitative moderators, we have every angle covered. Find out more www.drg.global