By Mark McKee, General Manager, Videology
For years now in the media industry we’ve been hearing that the consumer is in control. But last week at the ANA Television and Everything Video conference it was clear that not only are consumers in the driver’s seat, they’re pushing the pedal to the floor. Viewers extreme acceleration in terms of television and video consumption trends has left marketers running to catch up, though by their own admission, not always sure in which direction to head.
Most marketers were candid in admitting that they are still trying to figure out their video strategies, testing the waters, while simultaneously trying to keep pace with the dizzying speed of consumer adoption. On a positive note, this paradigm shift has spurred a newfound willingness, if not eagerness, to look to those marketers who seem to be getting it right and learn from their success.
Similar themes and directional strategies permeated many of the speakers’ comments. Here’s a few that are worth repeating:
Consumers are no longer just viewing, they’re doing. New screens and platforms are popping up everywhere, making content truly accessible wherever and whenever a viewer is inclined to watch. The more important off-shoot of this multi-screen convergence, however, is the fact that consumers are not simply taking their old viewing habits to new screens, they’re dramatically changing their behavior on the new platforms.
One overriding theme of the conference was the fact that 2nd screen viewership is highly interactive, and often a complementary activity in relation to traditional television viewing. In the words of Chris Robison, Sr. Director of Product Management, Adobe, “multitasking is the new normal.” In a quoted statistic, 68% of Smartphone users and a similar percentage of tablet owners use their devices while watching television on a weekly basis. What are they doing? Any number of activities including co-viewing additional programming elements, “discovery” viewing of complementary programming, researching, sharing via social media, gaming, or even co-creating content when so engaged by a media outlet or advertiser.
Marketers should craft media plans to elicit a desired consumer behavior. According to Ralph Santana, CMO of Samsung Electronics NA, the attempt to surround a consumer at every touch point—so called 360° media planning—may no longer be effective, or in most cases, even possible. Instead, advertisers should determine which of consumer behavior would be most beneficial to achieving their brand goals, then choose those media and screens most likely to drive that behavior. These actions might include social sharing, doing additional brand research, spending extended time with a brand, completed a purchase, or any other chosen action.
Relevance drives engagement; engagement drives brand metrics. Bill Dugan, Group EVP of the ANA, opened the conference by pointing out, “I’m a man with teenaged kids. I don’t want to see diaper ads.” This is, of course, is tied to addressability, one of the key advancements available through targeted video advertising. We know that relevance drives engagement and produces stronger brand metrics than non-targeted advertising, and new data continues to drive this point home. According to new research conducted by the ANA and Canoe Ventures, those who interacted with targeted “request for more information” advertisements on iTV showed a 36% lift in purchase intent.
Another example of how engagement drives brand metrics came from Arby’s SVP Marketing and Advertising, Bob Kraut. Arby’s used television and online video to promote the wholesome quality of their food, soliciting entries for a “Casting Call Video Contest.” Entries surpassed their expectations, generating 1,400 video submissions, and even more impressively, the campaign produced a 60% lift in recall of their new tagline, “It’s Good Mood Food.”
Don’t be afraid to experiment: the world is moving too fast to sit and wait. If there was one overriding theme that emerged from last week’s ANA, it was that while no one has all the answers—start anyway. We all must be part of finding the new solutions and strategies that work best within a rapidly converging world. Trial and testing will be part of finding that solution. And while we don’t know everything, we do have an arsenal of evolving products, technology and measurement tools that are allowing advertising to amass strong results and invaluable learnings for future success.
And finally, this ANA conference recap wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the awesome lunchtime performance by Cyndi Lauper—she rocked it!