A video advertisement stands more chance to be viewed in its entirety in some media, with cinema and online being at opposite ends of the spectrum, and TV being somewhere in the middle. It makes sense for advertisers to consider viewing time in assessing and valuing media choices. Yet research shows that 100% complete exposure is not worth double that of viewing an advertisement for half of its duration, i.e., viewing time has diminishing returns, implying that effectiveness near equivalent to a 100% complete exposure could be achieved by a lower threshold.
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Key Question: What difference does muting make to the effectiveness of video ads?
Reports suggest most Facebook video is watched without sound (Patel, 2016). Facebook provides examples of ads that have been designed to work well when muted. For example, when ads are muted, information in the soundtrack can be provided by subtitles.
This study compares the effects of video ads seen normally (with sound) versus muted, or muted with subtitles, on smartphones or on a desktop computer.
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It’s long been said that one of the most important benefits of online display advertising is that it can be targeted better than most older media.
In this report we present evidence that shows the ability of data brokers to deliver accurate targeting information is far from impressive.
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Dedicated devices, such as AppleTV, can access internet TV services and stream them to TV or projectors.
Streaming devices make it easier for “cord cutters” to replace expensive premium cable options with cheaper subscription services like Netflix, and replace standard cable packages with free, commercial-supported TV from sources like Hulu.
This study investigates how internet TV device owners use them, by testing the usability of a selection of 20 typical tasks, such as watching movies or catchup TV, listening to music, and downloading apps.
These tasks were performed on four popular devices from Apple, Roku, Amazon, and Xbox.
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Key Question: Does program context affect pre-roll ads??
Background:
It has long been suspected that undesirable ad contexts might reduce the positive effects of ads and/ or harm brand reputation. In early 2017, programmatic buying errors had led to ads for famous brands running as pre-rolls in front of extremist (terrorism) videos. Which led to some brands boycotting YouTube ads.
This study investigates the effects of extremist and other videos on pre-roll ad effectiveness, measured by brand attitude, ad liking, and ad memory.
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Key Question: Can ads in social media on a second screen improve the effectiveness of TV ads on the primary screen?
Background:
Many TV viewers (6 million a day, according to Nielsen*) read the discussion about the program they’re watching on TV on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
In Beyond :30 Study 59, we found that banner ads on the second screen counteracted the distracting effect of social media on TV ad effectiveness.
This study attempts to replicate that result using native Twitter ads.
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Together with CNBC the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute has released a white paper on multi-platform media synergy.
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Our latest report is a good reminder of the realities of shopper behaviour. Most purchase decisions are quick and shoppers spend very little time deciding between brands. This is our first report to compare findings in-store with online shopping behaviour, and we observed important similarities.
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