How do you know if you are getting the most from your TV advertising?

This event asked if agencies and advertisers are doing enough to understand TV's impact on audience behaviour - as well as looking at the impact of second screening and the rising value of a tweet and a ‘like’.

The breakfast seminar also investigated whether we are entering a new era where the majority of campaigns will be either micro targeted or mass market.

in association with

Wednesday, 29 January

...from companies such as:

Barclays

Channel 4

Thinkbox

Yo! Sushi

ITV

Channel 5

The Walt Disney Company

NBC Universal

50 delegates in total...

Chair

Torin DouglasMedia journalist

Panel

Agostino Di FalcoPartnerships director, Channel 5

Richard MarksDirector, Research the Media

Chris AllenHead of vision, Havas Media

Stuart CarnegieStrategy and propositions director, Sky IQ

@MartinGreenbank“Nice point by @RichardMlive 'second screen interaction has made smart TVs virtually redundant' #MTSkyIQ”Martin Greenbank, head of advertising, research & development, Channel 4

Visit mediatel-newsline.co.uk to watch the video interview

Video interviews: How data is shaping TV advertising

@alanbrydon“Great to hear a 'TV' person talking so eloquently about joined up TV communications with Twitter, FB etc.”Alan Brydon, head of trading, Havas Media

By David PidgeonNewsline Editor, MediaTel Group

Is industry ready for multi-platform audience measurement?

The cost of multi-platform audience measurement could act as a barrier for advertisers and agencies if it outweighs the potential bene�t derived, industry has heard.

Lindsey Clay, chief executive of Thinkbox, raised the issue at a MediaTel event on Wednesday - "How do you know if you are getting the most from your TV advertising?" - asking that with increased investment going into measurement, is the cost of such activity always in line with the potential bene�t derived? "Advertisers can now, potentially, get on TV for a very, very small amount of money," Clay said. "But in order to properly measure the e�ects of it and how it is really working could actually cost more than getting on TV in the �rst place."

The question comes as BARB becomes the �rst TV audience measurement organisation in the world to introduce multi-platform measurement - including mobile where the volume of viewing is signi�cantly lower.

"Understanding return on investment across channels will always be a priority to advertisers and agencies but a sensible approach should be taken when attributing value versus e�ort," Stuart Carnegie, strategy and propositions director at Sky IQ, told Newsline.

Carnegie also said that technology is now moving so fast that the industry needs to make sure it is looking at its long-term measuring requirements, as well as in the moment.

"We have seen viewing on these platforms grow at a tremendous pace, and while the numbers are not as large as traditional TV �gures, they could be a signi�cant proportion in the future," he said.

In the past, there has been pressure to invest unnecessarily, with Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) technology - a digital radio transmission developed in South Korea that sends multimedia to mobile devices - becoming largely redundant as other technologies quickly replaced it. Industry is now anxious to not repeat the same investment mistakes.

"Without a crystal ball it's hard to tell, but past experience tells us that investment should be based on sound judgement around the current and future value of a proposition," Carnegie said.

"Looking at this from another perspective, the investment required from broadcasters and media owners to develop and populate new platforms with content means that measurement and insight are vital to understand success and support decision making."

Research the Media's director, Richard Marks, said the timing is good. BARB's 'Project Dovetail', which is under development, but set to roll out in the next year, has seen all new BARB panel homes have software installed that allows the organisation to know what is being watched on desktop and laptop computers, with tablets and mobile set to follow.

"I don't think anyone can accuse BARB of rushing...but equally, waiting for something to reach critical mass can be dangerous," Marks said. "Even though mobile and tablets are never, I don't think, ever going to account for more than 10% of viewing...I do think the timing is about right to avoid a bun �ght in about �ve years' time."

@marioY_ISBA“Social media relationship with TV will deepen this year... #MTSkyIQ”Mario Yiannacou, media & advertising manager, ISBA

By David PidgeonNewsline Editor, MediaTel Group

How TV advertising should really be using social media

What is the value of a 'like' on Facebook?

There is no de�nitive answer - but if you take in the full sweep of estimates, it ranges from anywhere between $214 to zero, depending on who you ask and how they bothered to calculate such a value.

Now, with the rise of 'second screening', commercial broadcasters - and their advertisers - have been generating genuine online buzz, attracting tweets and likes in their millions, whilst in the process building up a better idea of who their viewers really are.

As Havas Media's head of vision, Chris Allen, said: "Social media has reinvigorated live entertainment programmes...and it has clearly had a positive e�ect for advertising as a result."

Yet question marks still remain say industry experts, including national broadcasters, agencies and audience measurement specialists.

Speaking at a Sky IQ sponsored seminar on Wednesday - "How do you know if you are getting the most from your TV advertising?" - an expert panel examined the role of the second screen in relationship to TV - and how Facebook and Twitter can o�er new levels of brand engagement.

However, advertisers were urged to not simply chase 'likes' or measure the volume of tweets, but rather leverage the data and insights they reveal about audiences.

For Channel 5's partnerships director, Agostino Di Falco, Facebook and Twitter are a "great barometer" for the broadcaster.

Yet noting that the latest Big Brother has generated 3.5 million tweets during its current run, Di Falco said he was still cautious about what that really means, in both the short and the long-term.

"Social media has allowed us to measure daily impacts on the current series and that can in�uence development," he said. "However, this is all well and good in numbers, but we need to remember that a very, very small percentage of people act upon a 'like' or a tweet."

The real value, he and others argue, comes from the database of users - or getting to know your audience better for future, micro-targeted messaging opportunities.

"Having people on a database means you can re-target preople," said Havas Media's Allen. "And my suspicion is that this relationship between TV and social media is only going to deepen...even if there is a question mark over the absolute value of a 'like'."

Similarly, Research the Media's Richard Marks said the real value in Facebook and Twitter, in terms of o�ering broadcasters and advertisers an added bene�t, is not just in the nature of the conversation or the number of likes, but the shift in living room behaviour.

"I think the jury is still out on the relationship between Twitter and advertising," Marks said. "But what is important is that people are using social media during the ad break - and that means they are staying in the living room - which is precisely what BARB measurement is about."

Marks also said that combining Twitter's user data with Facebook's o�ers some serious potential, noting that the hit US show South Park has a million followers on Twitter, and 50 million 'likes' on Facebook. Similarly, Converse has 350,000 Twitter followers and 38 million Facebook 'likes'.Facebook, Marks said - noting some industry cynicism in the past - is most certainly an advertising medium now and if the two databases are combined, the potential for advertisers is "incredibly high".

@SkyIQ“Panel agrees it's great that TV advertising can now be more targeted but mass broadcast TV still holds enormous value #MTSkyIQ”

By Emma Holden Strategy and Propositions, Sky IQ

Opinion: Have your TV advertising cake and eat it

Sky IQ's Emma Holden explains why there is no need to choose between long-term communications and short-term wins when it comes to television advertising.

Debate around the merits of long-term brand building versus short-term customer acquisition continues to rumble on in TV advertising circles. It reared its head again at last week's MediaTel event, with con�icting views between panellists and the audience on which approach brands should be focusing on.

Some were concerned by the perceived detriment of taking a short-term view - but is this caution justi�ed? Why can't we bene�t from both approaches, depending on the circumstances?

TV advertising has always been about winning the hearts and mind of consumers. Not only do advertisers want to create emotional connections - viewers respond warmly too. At times of national unity and celebration like Christmas, the Olympics, or the World Cup, many of the accompanying ad campaigns are enjoyed as integral aspects of the public's experience, and remain embedded in our collective memories.

That's what is great about TV advertising. It allows you to build a brand on a long-term basis. It allows you to weave a story, to engage with your audience, and to create a bond with them. That's why we can all recall a favourite TV ad from childhood, such as Beanz Meanz Heinz for me.

But as well as brand building, TV advertising sells products. And now with new technology, and unprecedented levels of customer insight available, brands are able to create campaigns in a much more targeted way for short-term gain. They can also track and prove the e�ectiveness of such activity.

"Hurrah!" shouted some camps; we can now be as granular as online and show that our budgets are fully justi�ed. But others raised fears that advertisers might go too far down the road of digital marketing, focusing excessively on each and every click and metric at the expense of long term brand value.

But I think these fears are doing our industry a disservice. TV is a very powerful and e�ective medium; this is well-documented, and it explains commercial TV's ongoing success. Television is a broad church, and it is commercially e�ective in multiple ways.

Huge blockbuster ads in the run-up to Christmas and across the Super Bowl over the weekend are part of the overall fabric or vocabulary of television. They enhance the contemporary, 'happening now' feeling of broadcast, but that is not to forget the long term e�ectiveness of TV. Quite the opposite, in fact.

New technology and customer insight doesn't just give short-term insight; complete data-sets can help us to understand how to create and build long-term brand performance. It can enable agencies and brands to make informed decisions for both the immediate future and beyond.

As one contributor pointed out on the day: "The more you de�ne an audience, the more e�ective your communications should be."

TV advertising campaigns should remain aspirational, brand building and story-telling in the long-term. However, the brands that succeed will be the ones that employ newly available data to improve their short-term campaigns that will, in the long-term, build a brighter brand than ever before.

By Ellen Hammett News Reporter, MediaTel Group

Is second screening damaging the smart TV market?

Second screening has made smart TVs largely redundant before they've even begun to be understood, according Research the Media's Richard Marks.

The comments were made at a MediaTel event this week - "How do you know if you are getting the most from your TV advertising?" - with Marks suggesting that tablets and smartphones have made one of the key selling points of an internet connected television less likely to be used.

"I suspect that the potential consumer demand for a lot of smart TV functionality may have been diminished by the arrival of the tablet and the development of smartphones - the second screens," Marks told Newsline.

"This means that a lot of the activities that viewers could have been doing on smart TVs - additional information, purchasing and browsing - are already able to be done more conveniently on second screens on viewers' laps or in their hands, rather than than having to learn how to get the TV to do it."

The fact that the main television in a household is often viewed in a communal, 'lean back' experience, has also had an impact on consumer behaviour, Marks argued.

"The second screen is more suited to individuals 'interacting' on a personal level," he added.

However, Marks said he does not think this will necessarily impact sales of smart TVs.

"I don't think that means that people won't buy smart TVs as the advantages of having a connected TV are obvious in terms of accessing TV services, but I think manufacturers need to be realistic about what consumers will actually use them for," he said.

"I think they will want to access TV services in as simple and convenient way as possible, not to use their TV screen like a giant tablet for other services.

"It's all about which screen is best suited for which activity."

The news comes just a week after Nigel Walley, MD of Decipher, said that the smart TV revolution has "failed" because proprietary operating systems, from manufacturers such as LG and Samsung, have created a market that leaves app developers little scope to experiment or keep pace with change.

Walley told Newsline that the key organisations making apps for smart televisions - such as ITV and Channel 4 in the UK - can't a�ord to keep experimenting alongside smart TV operators. In some cases it requires developing and releasing a new app each year, making it an expensive and slow venture for media owners.

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