Emotions Over Data: Why Advertisers Should Rethink Their Strategy Ahead of Upfronts

While big data has dominated the conversation around ad buying, a recent study conducted by research consultancy Magid suggests that advertisers would be better suited to focus on matching emotional context of the programming when looking to boost ad effectiveness. Rather than focusing ads that go for the “warm and fuzzy” feeling, advertisers would be better suited to create ads that do more to connect with the consumer, especially one that relates to the channel that the advertisement is on.

As part of its industry-wide eDNA study, Magid analyzed brand awareness, affinity and activation levels for advertisers among television viewers, focusing specifically on emotion. Specific research conducted on behalf of the Big 10 Network as part of the eDNA study developed a survey that was intended to explore the advertising effectiveness, consumer sentiment and intent to engage with ads across the Big Ten footprint. It was also designed to uncover and address specific challenges to identify and measure changes in brand metrics associated with a specific campaign.

Results from this specific study include:

• Advertisers saw an 18% lift in familiarity among Big 10 fans after being exposed to certain campaigns. Familiarity grew 24% among those that watched 10 or more games on the Big 10 Network
• Brands saw an average increase of 54% in perception if they were a conference sponsor. While having the conference mark drove an improved perception with a majority of fans, it had a limited value on the general market
• Most advertisers saw brand perception gain among users of their competitors’ products, even when compared against any brand gain for those competitors among their customers. For example, one company saw an increase of 87% in perception among customers of its competitor
• Big 10 Network advertisers have higher brand affinity among Big 10 fans than non-advertisers. Companies saw an improvement of 12 points in perception among Big 10 fan than non-fans

In this case, marketers benefited from the niche audience that the Big 10 Network presented, so they were more easily able to connect with the consumer on an emotional level. With an emotionally homogenous environment, marketers can better hone their advertisements to increase affinity, connectivity and perception among that audience.

Read the entire article here.

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