A one-page summary of ARF research, white papers, Knowledge at Hands, and perspectives on relevant topics.
Towards the end of 2018, the ARF issued a Knowledge at Hand report and a CMO Brief each called The OTT Revolution. Since then, the OTT revolution has not only continued but it has accelerated. Moreover, the pandemic acted as a catalyst, increasing the rate of this acceleration. At the same time, the meaning of the term OTT has changed.
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Product placements have grown in recent years and the practice is predicted to increase even further. According to a new “Global Product Placement Forecast” by media economists PQ Media, global product placement spending has rebounded at double-digit rates in 2021 and is forecast to do so again this year. What makes this strategy effective? Decades of research provide us with several useful insights.
Member Only AccessInfluencer marketing continues to grow ever more complex. Options are increasing and in today’s climate, striking the right tone with consumers is crucial. What consumers long to see is authentic relationships between brands and influencers. In just a few years, the paradigm has shifted away from a focus on major celebrities and toward niche, micro-influencers. So, while finding the right influencer is crucial, these complexities can make it challenging. Read more.
Influencer marketing has grown more complex over a short period of time, and Covid has accelerated its development. Options have increased significantly while setting the right tone with consumers is perhaps more crucial than ever before. What consumers want to see is authentic relationships between brands and influencers. And the focus has shifted away from celebrities and towards niche, micro-influencers. The following Knowledge at Hand and CMO Brief cover a recent Knowledge Center report looking into the current state of influencer marketing, what the trends are, how Covid has affected this phenomenon and best practices when putting together an influencer strategy.
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There are a number of different biases that can impact panel and census research and big data sets which utilize artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML). The attached Knowledge at Hand identifies over two dozen unique biases. It discusses how they might occur and what mitigation options researchers should consider to account for them.
Member Only AccessOne of the essential goals of advertising is to get customers’ attention. However, a lot of campaigns approach this simplistically. More “attention” does not necessarily mean an ad is more effective. Attention is a much more complex phenomenon than that. While attention is a prerequisite for ad impact, the term is ambiguous, complex and attention is difficult to measure. Moreover, “attention” does not necessarily indicate a positive response, and a high level of attention is not always a sign of a positive ad impact. Read more.
Data sets for STBs and Smart TVs have, up until now, been separate from one another, which has hampered the ability to accurately assess viewing habits. This data would be very useful for planning, buying and optimizing ad campaigns. Since the two are complementary, combining them can help us form scaled, granular, TV tuning data sets that are more nationally representative. Luckily, a new report from the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM)—a subsidiary of the ARF, outlines best practices for combining set-top box data and smart TV ACR data. Read more.
Surveys are an important tool to explore consumers’ behaviors, attitudes and intentions, and they can provide valuable data to inform business decisions. However, as with all research, quality matters and ignoring best practices impacts the validity and reliability of the findings, possibly to an extent that makes them unusable for business decisions. Read more.
Building a brand across multiple countries is challenging. Generic messages are less likely to reach consumers across the globe today. What’s more, recent neuro studies suggest consumers in different countries process creatives differently. On another front, the business environment is unique in each market, meaning a different strategy is needed to position the brand and take on the competition.
Neglecting differences between markets can mean missed marketing and business opportunities. Consumer privacy laws differ too, adding an additional challenge. Global insights research finds that similarities between consumers and universal emotions can serve as meaningful themes for a global campaign. This recent Knowledge Center report, turned Knowledge at Hand and CMO Brief, covers best practices in localizing global messaging. Read more.
No advertisement is seen in isolation. The impact an ad has depends on the context it finds itself in, including what type of ad or content preceded it or what it is adjacent to, in terms of digital or print. Today, there is a renewed interest in context effects, particularly in the COVID era, as advertisers worry about their ads rolling after or being adjacent to upsetting news. This newly updated Knowledge at Hand and corresponding CMO Brief explore all the latest research and insights surrounding context effects.
Further complicating the issue is the question, what do we mean by “context?” Today, the industry is taking a broader view of the term. This is due to multi-platform campaigns, which force the need to consider all characteristics present in each medium or platform an ad takes place in. Our understanding of context has also been affected by the current pandemic and the role target consumers’ culture and values play, in light of it. Read more.