NEW STUDY BY MAGNA AND IPG MEDIA LAB QUANTIFIES HOW OFTEN NON-FRAUDULENT DIGITAL AD IMPRESSIONS ARE WASTED BECAUSE NO ONE IS PRESENT

Dissecting ‘Opportunity to See’ Reveals That When Digital Ads Appear on Screen, A Person is Present 99.2% of the Time, But That Begins to Drop After 2+ Seconds

 

NEW YORK – May 11, 2020 – Thus far, the advertising industry has primarily focused on only one of the factors that determines “opportunity to see” digital ads – whether the ad actually appears on the screen. What is often not discussed is the other factor that offers a non-fraudulent digital ad an “opportunity to be seen” – a person is present when the ad is on screen. To date, human presence has often been overlooked by the industry because it is difficult to measure, and because ads are served to personal devices like mobile phones. Thus, it is presumed that someone is present when a digital ad is on screen. While it seems logical, no one has actually tested this conjecture until now.

 

This concept of human “presence” is a common concern for TV ads given the fact that people often leave the room during commercial breaks. In fact, MAGNA, IPG Media Lab, and TVision recently quantified how often an ad airs to an empty room, which is 29% of the time. As a follow-up, a new study by MAGNA and IPG Media Lab, “Dissecting ‘Opportunity to See,’” tested the presumption that a person is present when digital ads appear on the screen, in an effort to quantify how often digital ads appear without the person present.

 

Presence is defined as a person in the same visual range (for >=1 sec) of a digital ad that fully appears on the screen (the person may or may not be looking at the screen).  A major finding from the study is that while presence is very high at first (99.2%), it does decline.  For example, 94% of non-skippable video ads reached six or more seconds of human presence.

 

For the study, participants used in-home POV cameras to record their digital viewing experiences across PC and mobile devices in a natural environment over the course of two weeks. In each instance, the camera was mounted to the participant’s head in order to obtain a view of where they are in relation to their digital device, and a screen recorder was turned on their PC and mobile devices to capture what’s on the screen. The study included 102 participants, with 1,004 hours of video recorded and analyzed.

 

“It’s crucial for marketers to accurately understand both of the components that determine whether ads have the opportunity to be seen”, said Kara Manatt, SVP, Group Director, Intelligence Solutions, MAGNA Global. “While the industry has a strong understanding of ‘ads on screen’, we’ve yet to understand whether we should expect a person to always be present. This research finally quantifies this for us and provides invaluable insight into consumer behavior.”

 

Additional key findings include:

  • There was nearly total presence regardless of device and for both digital video (98.4%) and display (100%).
  • All video positions are not created equally; digital presence for pre-roll video sat at 99.5%, compared to mid-roll video at 97.1%.
  • Overall, 97.7% of digital video ads had presence for 2+ seconds.
  • Presence, however, declines over time indicating the continued need for the industry to understand how to best capture and hold consumer attention.

 

The full study can be found  here.  As mentioned earlier, the study was a follow up to research conducted by MAGNA and IPG Media Lab, in partnership with TVision, “Quantifying TV Viewability,” which revealed how often people are in the room when ads air and how this varies by daypart, position in ad pod and ad length.

Download the report

 

About MAGNA

MAGNA is the centralized IPG Mediabrands resource that develops intelligence, investment and innovation strategies for agency teams and clients. We utilize our insights, forecasts and strategic relationships to provide clients with a competitive marketplace advantage.

 

MAGNA harnesses the aggregate power of all IPG media investments to create leverage in the market, negotiate preferred pricing and secure premium inventory to drive maximum value for our clients. The MAGNA Investment and Innovation teams architect go-to-market investment strategies across all channels including linear television, print, digital and programmatic on behalf of IPG clients. The team focuses on the use of emerging media opportunities, as well as data and technology-enabled solutions to drive optimal client performance and business results.

 

MAGNA Intelligence has set the industry standard for more than 60 years by predicting the future of media value. The MAGNA Intelligence team produces more than 40 annual reports on audience trends, media spend and market demand as well as ad effectiveness.

 

About IPG Media Lab

Part of the Interpublic network, the IPG Media Lab identifies and researches innovations and trends that will change the media landscape and how brands engage with their audiences. Since 2006, the Lab has worked with our clients and with industry partners who can help them best adapt to disruptive change. Its expertise, resources and consulting services also help to inform the learnings, strategies and business outcomes of all Interpublic agencies. For more information, please visit www.ipglab.com or follow @ipglab.

 

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Media Contact:

Zinnia Gill

IPG Mediabrands

Director, Global Corporate Communications

(646) 965-4271

[email protected]

 

WHAT ADVERTISERS HAVE PLANNED FOR THE NFL’S FIRST ‘VIRTUAL DRAFT’

By  E.J. SCHULTZ and JACK NEFF. Published by AD AGE on 23 April 2020.

P&G is running a ‘virtual red carpet,’ Pizza Hut and Frito-Lay are sending homebound players food, and Bud Light wants fans to boo the commissioner on social media

Gillette will use the draft to debut its ‘Every Day Is Gameday’ campaign.

The National Football League’s coronavirus-induced move to convert its draft into a virtual affair—instead of the originally planned glitzy production along the Las Vegas Strip—has forced advertisers to call an audible on their marketing around the event. But dozens of brands are seizing on the unprecedented “virtual draft” in hopes of reaching homebound, sports-starved fans that are expected to tune into the event in record numbers.

Disney Advertising Sales reports that it has lured some 100 brands to advertise during the three-day draft, which will air across ABC, ESPN and the NFL Network starting tonight. That includes more than 60 brands that have never before advertised in the draft.

The event, normally held in city venues that draw thousands of fans in a festival atmosphere, will take on a much different feel. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who normally greets first-round picks on an elaborate stage, will be announcing the picks from his home in Westchester County, New York.

Player interviews, which normally take place as they walk off stage, will also occur remotely. ESPN will keep a skeleton crew at its Bristol, Connecticut studio—including host Trey Wingo—where the network says everyone will adhere to social-distancing guidelines. But a majority of its analysts and commentators will contribute remotely from makeshift home studios. The production, partly handled by Disney’s direct-to-consumer and  international technology team, will include 150 different video feeds from nearly 100 locations around the country, according to Disney.

Despite the lack of glitz, the draft is expected to draw a record number of eyeballs. That’s because, quite simply, there is no other sporting competition with the Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association seasons on hold as a result of the pandemic.

Kevin Collins, senior VP of strategic investment, sports and events for Interpublic-owned Magna Global, pointed to the success of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary, as evidence of how much sports fans are craving fresh content. The 10-part series on the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls began with a bang Sunday, averaging 6.1 million viewers for the first two episodes, making it ESPN’s most-watched documentary ever.

“If The Last Dance’s success is any indication that there is lack of original content and the desire that viewers have for something or anything pertaining to or close to live sports, the NFL Draft should be well above last year’s numbers,” Collins says. “The production of it should be fine and the viewers will tune in to see how they pull it off as well as who their team is selecting.” The 2019 NFL Draft, which was held in Nashville, Tennessee, drew 6.1 million viewers across TV and digital, up 11 percent from the year prior. According to the NFL, it was the most-watched draft in the event’s history.

NFL sponsor Procter & Gamble is banking on big numbers this year. The consumer packaged goods giant is putting its biggest effort ever behind the event, including a “virtual red carpet” social-media event for prospects and the break of a new campaign for Gillette.

In-broadcast sponsorships include Verizon, which is backing a “Prospect Cam” that will feature shots of prospects at their homes as they wait for their names to be called. Bud Light is sponsoring a “Virtual Huddle,” which a Disney ad sales representative described as a “branded multibox showcasing numerous ESPN talent from their home set-ups.”

Bud Light is also trying to uphold the draft day tradition of fans booing Goodell, even though the commish won’t be in front of a live audience. The brand, which is plugging its new seltzer variety, is asking fans to record a video of themselves booing, and then post it on social media tagging it with @budlight and #BooTheCommish. Bud Light even convinced the commissioner to have fun with it. A TV ad that will run on ESPN, NFL Network and ABC prior to the first pick shows Goodell sitting on his couch at home while inviting fans to keep the booing tradition alive. The campaign is from Wieden+Kennedy New York.

Pizza Hut’s name will be on a segment called “Draft Moment” that will feature flashbacks to previous drafts, while Lowe’s is presenting sponsor of the ESPN and NFL Network telecast. (ABC is running a separate telecast for rounds 1-3, before joining the ESPN/NFL Network simulcast for rounds 4-7.)

Lowe’s, which became the official home improvement retail sponsor of the league last year, will run ads touting the value of home—playing off the fact that most Americans are homebound. It also partnered with players, including expected top pick Joe Burrow, on a social effort. The former L.S.U. quarterback recently called Lowe’s associates in his hometown of Athens, Ohio and promoted the initiative on his social channels.

P&G’s virtual red carpet will feature videos of 40 draft prospects shot by family members, roommates and girlfriends, then edited by PR shop Taylor Global and posted to the athletes’ social-media accounts, as well as those of sponsoring brands and the NFL. The athletes, in some cases, will wear suits they already had tailored but couldn’t wear in public because of coronavirus shelter-in-place restrictions, or in other cases simply their everyday wear, as part of an effort P&G developed in cooperation with the NFL Players Association.

P&G brands Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Old Spice and Braun will participate in the virtual red carpet, with the first three brands also airing ads on ESPN during the show. In addition, Gillette will use the draft to break a new “Every Day Is Gameday” campaign from Grey New York, featuring draft prospects Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, Ashtyn Davis and Cole Kmet, with a 30-second spot to air each day of the draft on ESPN and on ABC Thursday. The campaign will be amplified on Twitter through a FirstView buy on Thursday and a Promoted Trend on Friday.

Gillette celebrity barber Mark Baysinger will be interviewed as part of the NFL’s live-streamed Draft-A-Thon for charitable COVID-19 relief efforts that runs alongside the draft. He’ll highlight shaving product and personal protective equipment donations Gillette is making, including face shields it recently began making at its Boston plant.

“As soon as we learned the NFL Draft would be entirely digital, Gillette pivoted to create a spot that we believe is relevant to this shared experience, with help from the rookies featured in it, and still reflecting the ‘Every Day Is Gameday’ spirit we’ll be showcasing for the NFL season to come,” says John Claughton, brand director for Gillette North America. The campaign extends the personal responsibility idea in keeping with the “Best a man can be” campaign Gillette launched last year—but with an NFL emphasis.

The Old Spice effort includes an appearance by brand pitchman and former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa during the Draft-A-Thon, in which the brand is donating $320,000, or $10,000 on behalf of each NFL team, to the United Way. Old Spice is working with draft prospects Chase Young, Isaiah Simmons, Henry Ruggs III, CeeDee Lamb and others for the virtual red carpet. Those four also are doing media interviews with 20 national sports and lifestyle media outlets about the brand’s donation. And Old Spice is airing “Men Have Skin Too” commercials on ESPN all three nights of the draft, and on ABC the first two nights.

Read the article on Ad Age

IPG Units Find ‘HVAs’ Work Better Than Conventional Targeting, Rival Contextual’s Premiums

By JOE MANDESE.  Published by MEDIA POST on 8 April 2020.

 

“HVAs,” an increasingly popular new acronym being used by marketers and agencies to describe methods of targeting only “high value audiences” via various identity-based data schemes, appears to perform better than conventional methods of targeting media audiences, especially Madison Avenue’s stock-in-trade: the demographic. That’s the conclusion of a rigorous test conducted by IPG Mediabrands’ Magna and IPG Media Lab units.The test, which utilizes IPG’s proprietary research panel, as well as proprietary HVA segments created via its Kinesso platform (the data platform that leverages IPG’s Acxiom unit), conducted various controls to measure the effects of common advertising KPIs (key performance indicators) such as ad recall and purchase intent, and in every case it demonstrated that utilizing HVAs performed much better than demographics, contextual targeting, or even a mix of demographics and contextual targeting.

Contextual targeting utilizes the nature of the medium and/or the content that consumers are accessing as a proxy for their interests and intent as consumers of a brand’s products and or advertising messages, and according to Magna Senior Vice President-Group Director of Intelligence Solutions & Strategy Kara Manatt, the findings indicate that HVA targeting is more valuable than the premiums often paid for contextually-targeted audiences.

“I don’t thinks it has changed what we think about contextual,” she explains, noting, “In many cases, I would say contextual is worth a premium. But for most brands you cannot run your entire campaign on contextual, because there’s not enough inventory.”

In theory, utilizing HVAs enables brands and agencies to tap an unlimited array of media and content based on where those high value audiences index best.

Manatt emphasized that brands “should not spend a lot of money” using the method without also “doing a lot of testing and vetting it out.”

While IPG’s Kinesso has proprietary data and methods of identifying HVAs, the concept is available to any brand, agency and data management partners who can associate identity-based audiences with a brand’s highest value consumers.

NEW STUDY BY MAGNA AND IPG MEDIA LAB REVEALS THAT USING PEOPLE-BASED IDS TO REACH HIGH VALUE AUDIENCES YIELDS 50% HIGHER ROI

‘From Cookies to People’ Shares How the Identification of High Value Audiences (HVAs) Yields Precision That Cookies Can’t and Is Ultimately More Effective for Advertisers

NEW YORK – April 8, 2020 – From mass market, to household demos, to individual demo, and finally, to big data, the advertising industry has undoubtedly come a long way in how it reaches people. While traditional methods enabled us to reach large audiences based on reported behavior, a new study by MAGNA and IPG Media Lab reveals that new, advanced technologies, using people-based IDs, yield precision that cookies simply can’t. “From Cookies to People: Reaching High Value Audiences” demonstrates how the added precision with High Value Audiences (HVAs) can aid brands in their reach efforts with the hope of no wasted impressions. The study used Kinesso’s database in order to ethically source and identify HVAs. Other strategies were also tested in the study, such as demo, contextual, and demo + contextual.

 

More specifically, HVAs are defined as specific personas that are identified as having more lifetime value than a consumer reached via traditional methods, like demographics, and are highly customized based on variables such as category status and psychographics. These segments are created from a large data set with audience behavior tracked at the consumer level. Modeling is used to predict conversions from behaviors.

 

Brands can identify HVAs for a variety of different reasons, from reaching a particularly niche audience to converting consumers currently using a competitor product/service. There’s no one-size-fits-all for HVA strategies.

 

Key insights from the study include:

 

  • Identifying HVAs goes beyond simply zeroing in on those who are already going to buy; the tested HVAs were efficiently reaching potential new customers.

 

  • Ads were more memorable among tested HVAs and were especially effective at fostering a strong brand image. While contextual targeting drove brand resonance as well and is seen as being worth a premium, campaign reach can still be an issue.

 

  • HVAs were persuaded to purchase the brand, up +8% compared to +4% Demo, +4% Contextual and +6% Demo + Contextual. In addition, HVAs were particularly effective at driving purchase intent among in-market consumers, despite being least likely to have purchased the brand before.

 

  • The tested HVAs were particularly critical of ads not customized to them. However, when tested HVAs saw creative that they perceived as relevant, the ads were more effective, presenting a clear opportunity to customize creative for HVAs.

 

“Utilizing HVAs is one of the most precise and effective ways for advertisers to reach the best possible audiences on linear and digital video, and I believe it’s the future of our industry,” said Dani Benowitz, President, U.S., MAGNA. “We’re at a point in time where we’re able to save impressions from being wasted for advertisers, and in turn, are able to deliver content to viewers that they want to see since it is so targeted to their interests, which is a win-win for everyone.”

 

“We’ve been pleased to see interest around utilizing HVAs rise fourfold over the past three years as brands become more sophisticated in their marketing efforts,” said Michael Heberle, Chief Marketing Scientist, Kinesso. “It’s been a game changer for our clients, who have driven drastic improvements in business performance through better targeting.”

 

In order to identify HVAs, the study’s methodology involved recruiting YouTube users for participation from a nationally representative panel using Kinesso’s database of privacy-safe, best-in-class providers. Participants selected online video topics based on personal interests and those that were not interested were screened out to ensure a natural audience. Randomization was introduced into the test and control groups (Test= Brand Ad; Control = Public Service Announcement; 50% skippable ads; 50% non-skippable ads). Participants visited YouTube’s testing page where they selected and played the video content based on their interests, and relevant behavior was tracked. The targeting strategies used included HVA targeting, demo targeting, contextual targeting, and demo + contextual targeting.

 

Download the full report

 

 

About MAGNA

MAGNA is the centralized IPG Mediabrands resource that develops intelligence, investment and innovation strategies for agency teams and clients. We utilize our insights, forecasts and strategic relationships to provide clients with a competitive marketplace advantage.

 

MAGNA harnesses the aggregate power of all IPG media investments to create leverage in the market, negotiate preferred pricing and secure premium inventory to drive maximum value for our clients. The MAGNA Investment and Innovation teams architect go-to-market investment strategies across all channels including linear television, print, digital and programmatic on behalf of IPG clients. The team focuses on the use of emerging media opportunities, as well as data and technology-enabled solutions to drive optimal client performance and business results.

 

MAGNA Intelligence has set the industry standard for more than 60 years by predicting the future of media value. The MAGNA Intelligence team produces more than 40 annual reports on audience trends, media spend and market demand as well as ad effectiveness.

 

About IPG Media Lab

Part of the Interpublic network, the IPG Media Lab identifies and researches innovations and trends that will change the media landscape and how brands engage with their audiences. Since 2006, the Lab has worked with our clients and with industry partners who can help them best adapt to disruptive change. Its expertise, resources and consulting services also help to inform the learnings, strategies and business outcomes of all Interpublic agencies. For more information, please visit www.ipglab.com or follow @ipglab.

 

# # #

 

Media Contact:

Zinnia Gill

IPG Mediabrands

Director, Global Corporate Communications

(646) 965-4271

[email protected]

 

MAGNA SLASHES 2020 AD FORECAST DUE TO CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

By JEANINE POGGI. Published  by ADAGE on March 26, 2020.

Agency expects 2.8 percent decline in U.S. ad sales, down from previous forecast of 6.6 percent growth

Magna slashed its advertising forecast for 2020 as marketers continue to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. The agency now expects a 2.8 percent decline in U.S. ad sales this year; it had previously predicted 6.6 percent growth.

“The impact on business and marketing activity will vary across industries, depending on how much demand and investment will be delayed, as opposed to destroyed, during this crisis,” said Vincent Letang, exec VP, global market research, Magna.

The biggest impact will be for the travel, restaurant and movie industry, according to the new report. Retail, finance and automotive brands will also be significantly pressured. Home entertainment and e-commerce have the potential to be two bright spots in the marketplace.

“The current situation is totally unprecedented, but the closest historical equivalent would be a combination of the Great Recession and 9/11; a brutal economic downturn and a ‘Black Swan’ national disaster,” Letang said. “Its effects on supply, demand and media consumption are more complex and widespread than in any ‘normal’ economic recession in the past, and some of them will outlast the current crisis. Nevertheless, there will be an ‘after.’”

While the ad world should brace for a precipitous decline in the near-term, Magna anticipates the market will stabilize and rebound in the second-half of the year and forecasts moderate growth in 2021. It is now calling for a 2.5 percent increase in ad sales next year, up from its previous forecast of 1.4 percent.

The uptick will come from delayed consumption and the postponement of the summer Olympics, along with low comparisons from 2020.

In looking back at previous economic downturns, it seems brands that were able to maintain advertising activity or increase their share of voice during the crisis outperformed the ones that went dark during the recovery, Letang added.

Magna is forecasting a nearly 12 drop in linear ad sales this year and 4 percent growth in digital media. It had previously anticipated linear ad sales to be flat and digital media to grow by 11 percent.

National TV ad sales are poised to fall 13 percent, compared to Magna’s previous forecast of just a 1 percent decline. Out-of-home is expected to drop 12 percent, print will plummet 25 percent and radio is expected to drop 14 percent.

In 2021, Magna expects linear ad sales to decline 6 percent and digital media to accelerate 8 percent.

 

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