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IN DIGITAL, YOU NEED TO BE PERSUASIVE TO BE IMPACTFUL (MOST OF THE TIME)

Millward Brown Digital April 2013

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

We analysed US data from the Link for TV, print and digital databases to understand how Link copy testing metrics relate to one another.

For print and digital ads, all measures are more highly correlated with each other, compared with correlations seen across measures for TV.

It is clear that there are many similarities between these media in the US:

• Branding will always be strongly related to impact

• Ads that are easier to understand tend to be better branded

• New information is strongly linked to persuasion

However, there are also some clear differences:

• For print and digital ads, a persuasive message is one route to impactful advertising. For TV, impact and persuasion are unrelated.

• For print and digital ads, virality is related to both persuasion and impact; whereas for TV, the relationship is much weaker

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THERE IS ALMOST NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMPACT AND PERSUASION FOR TV ADS, BUT A SIGNIFICANT ONE FOR PRINT AND DIGITAL ADS

0 10 20 30 40 50 600

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

TVBased on 5858 USA-English online ads

r=0.10

Persuasion top box

Aw

are

ness

index 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

80

90

100

110

120

130

PRINTBased on 578 USA- English online ads

r=0.54

Persuasion top box

Impact

score

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 5060

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

DIGITALBased on 837 USA-English online ads

r=0.47

Persuasion top box

Impact

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FOR PRINT AND DIGITAL, A PERSUASIVE MESSAGE IS ONE ROUTE TO HIGH IMPACT…….

…if you’ve got a persuasive message, focus on getting the message across clearly, rather than extra creativity.

Correlation betweenImpact/AI and

PersuasionTV Print Digital

0.10 0.54 0.47

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THE DEGREE OF INTER CORRELATION ACROSS LINK MEASURES BY MEDIA

Given the relationship between persuasion and impact, it is not surprising to find Digital Link shows the highest degree of inter correlation between measures; this level is also fairly high for Print.

TV

Print

Digital

0.43

0.55

0.62

Average degree of inter correlation

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Enjoyment and stopping power are key to impact for Digital ads and enjoyment is important for TV, whereas stopping power and difference are important for Print

Impact diagnostics

Correlation with Impact/AI

TV Print

Digital

Branding* 0.64 0.81 0.90

Enjoyment* 0.50 N/A 0.79

Involvement* 0.44 0.58 0.38

Understanding 0.23 N/A 0.71

Stopping power* N/A 0.74 0.85

Different to other ads

0.40 0.70 N/A

IMPACT

Note*: these relationships are dictated largely by the fact that these metrics contribute to our Awareness Index/ Impact summary metrics

BRANDING IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT FOR IMPACT

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A PERSUASIVE MESSAGE IS ONE ROUTE TO IMPACT FOR PRINT AND DIGITAL ADS

Relevance, believability, difference and virality contribute strongly to impact for print and digital ads

Persuasion diagnostics

Correlation withImpact/AI

TV Print

Digital

New information -0.03 0.51 0.50

Relevant 0.14 0.71 0.68

Believable 0.25 0.72 0.78

Brand really different 0.30 0.78 0.80

Brand Appeal 0.17 0.74 0.72

Tell other people 0.44 0.78 0.76

Saw online would send on 0.41 N/A 0.67

IMPACT

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NEW INFORMATION DRIVES PERSUASION STRONGLY ACROSS ALL MEDIA. PERSUASION MORE LIKELY TO IMPACT VIRALITY FOR DIGITAL ADS.

Brand appeal and Persuasion are similar measures for all media and correlate highly across each medium

Persuasion diagnostics

Correlation with Persuasion

TV Print

Digital

New information 0.70 0.72 0.62

Relevant 0.63 0.60 0.65

Believable 0.45 0.43 0.47

Brand really different 0.68 0.64 0.46

Brand Appeal 0.77 0.77 0.74

Tell other people 0.41 0.60 0.68

Saw online would send on 0.31 N/A 0.70

PERSUASION

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FOR DIGITAL, SOME MEASURES REGARDED AS IMPACT DIAGNOSTICS ARE RELATED TO PERSUASION ….

…notably enjoyment and stopping power

Impact diagnostics

Correlation with Persuasion

TV Print

Digital

Branding 0.23 0.30 0.26

Enjoyment 0.29 N/A 0.60

Involvement -0.01 0.34 0.26

Understanding 0.33 N/A 0.37

Stopping power N/A 0.45 0.64

Different to other ads 0.05 0.29 N/A

PERSUASION

APPENDIX - THE DATA

All data included here is based on USA – English online ads, and comes from the following databases:

- Link for TV, Link for Print and Link for Digital

Data used to look at correlations between measures has varying base sizes depending on the measures, but total data sets include:

- TV 8389 ads (2001-2012)

- Print 1528 ads (2000-2012)

- Digital 914 ads (2005-2012)

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IMPORTANT NOTES……..

This analysis is designed primarily to help us understand the Link research solution better, and the dynamics of different media on these measures.This is NOT a validation or a hierarchy of importance.We have NOT correlated Link measures against external success criteria (in-market performance or sales).Rather, what we have done is look internally to understand the dynamics of our own metrics better.Also, although correlations tell us where relationships exist, they do not tell us which measure “drives” the other. For instance we tend to see quite high correlations between branding and understanding. This is helpful, but we can’t say whether ads that are easier to understand tend to be better branded, or whether clearer branding makes ads easier to understand.Data is based on US only and could vary by country.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR HOW WE SHOULD ANALYSE LINK RESULTS ACROSS DIFFERENT MEDIA……..

Based on our strong TV testing heritage we tend to make certain assumptions about how Link tests “work” and which measures we should use to support and diagnose which other metric.This analysis makes it clear that there are variations across media so we need to analyse pre test results for each media with a different mindset, and we need to be prepared to take a different approach to our story-telling.• For print and digital ads , if the ad has done well it is more likely

to have done well on most measures. • For print and digital, a persuasive message is one route to get

impact (but there are others)• For TV ads we are more likely to end up with more nuanced

stories where Impact and Persuasion are not inter-related.

We know from CrossMedia that the overall impact for print and digital ads alone are unlikely to be as powerful as that of a TV ad, which currently has the ability to reach the biggest audience in one single showing. So TV advertising, as part of a campaign, can helpfully ‘prime’ the consumer for other media to reinforce and enhance the brand message.