In on-going, large sample studies over the past two years, London based research company Lumen has conclusively proved that the actual viewing of, as opposed to potential exposure to adverts (no matter the reading platform of digital or print) leads to almost 9 times more sales.
Lumen is an attention technology company that uses eye tracking cameras to measure the actual visual engagement readers have with various media types1. Just because consumers can see an ad, does not mean that they will look at it. Advertising typically gets looked at for very short periods of time – regardless of how much detail advertisers include.
“The technology is brilliant, and by using existing web cams in computers drastically reduces costs and eliminates the biggest problem in all research, that of claimed vs. actual behaviour,” says Peter Langschmidt, Research Consultant to the PRC (Publisher Research Council). The software passively monitors the respondent’s web browsing as well as eye movement on every page and plots a ‘heat map’ of whatever content and advertising is being viewed.”
While print adverts are more viewable and achieve longer dwell times than their online counterparts, this is not the entire story, as quality content plays an important role as well.
There are wide variations in how different media perform, some sites and ad formats perform far better than others. The best sites do a much better job of delivering attention for advertisers than the average, with as much as 56% of viewable impressions being noticed. In fact, on average, ads on Newsbrand platforms are almost twice as likely to be seen than those on other websites, and they achieve longer dwell times.
Alignment between the advertising and the content also helps facilitate ad attention. This contextual relevance matters! Experimental studies have found that placing ads in a contextually relevant environment can boost attention dramatically. Testing shows just how much context matters, as ads placed within the right context get 692 times more attention than those simply placed in any environment.
The fundamental to any advertising message working is first, actually seeing the advert and secondly, dwell time that allows for cognition to impart the message. The longer consumers look at ads, the more likely they are to remember the message and act upon it.
Anyone who has ever studied for an exam or test, knows that reading is the best way to learn, and that the longer one studies the more familiar one becomes with the course material.
Does this also apply to advertising and brand recall? Well there’s a simple way to find out. Just like exams we can simply ask respondents to do a prompted advertising recall test.
These results, gleaned from many studies over several years, conclusively prove the theory of dwell times precisely linking back to recall.
The final, and most important step that advertising must accomplish is to encourage purchase, for it is here that the advertiser receives their Return on Investment (ROI). To complete the purchase journey and prove this, Lumen installed their eye-tracking technology onto a sub sample of an existing FMCG consumer panel belonging to Nectar in the UK.
By linking the initial online advertising interaction of the panel with their subsequent offline shopping behaviour, we can see the dramatic effect that actual viewing of advertising has.
As can be seen, across these 10 Nectar brands, the average upliftment of sales during the campaign was 2%, but amongst those who actually looked at the advert this was 8.5 times more at 17%.
Media planning is traditionally based on possible exposure, an opportunity to see, but this metric is becoming more and more irrelevant, because if consumers don’t even view an advert, how can it possibly change behaviour? With this new measure we can track the difference in sales between those who actually looked at the advert and those who did not.
The Lumen data shows that the best ad inventory facilitates communication with consumers when they are in the right mood to be receptive to advertising messages, and then creates the time and space to enable advertisers to get their messages across.
“This is dynamite,” concludes Langschmidt. “Until now we have been unable to measure actual viewed impressions.
To summarise, no matter the reading platform, to maximise advertising exposure, the advert must firstly be seen for a period of time. Different platforms perform differently, the media environment affects a reader’s attention and finally, context matters.”
Just in time for the festive season, Emerald Resort & Casino will be unveiling the latest in international slots technology as 101 new slot machines are delivered and installed to the casino.
“The Emerald Resort & Casino, will be the very first casino in South Africa to install these brand new i-Deluxe machines, all offering entertaining and innovative gameplay,” says Emerald Resort & Casino’s Marketing Executive Tanuja Gangabishun. “The roll out has already started and is due to be completed by mid-December 2017.”
“Some of our most anticipated events include welcoming gorgeous award winning songstress Lira back to Emerald Resort & Casino to perform for us on the 15th December and arguably the most prominent electronic music producer in Africa, record producer and DJ, Black Coffee together with supporting acts that include Classic Tank on the 23rd December,” says Emerald Resort & Casino’s Marketing Executive Tanuja Gangabishun.
Be entertained by arguably the most prominent electronic music producer in Africa, record producer and DJ, Black Coffee! He, together with DA Capo, IAMPH, Langa, ably supported by Vaal’s finest Classic Tank, 016 Banger Boyz and DJ Crocks, will be performing at Emerald Resort & Casino’s ‘Ibiza to Vaal’ on 23 December 2017.
“What a line-up!” says Leolize Naidoo, Emerald Resort & Casino’s Events & Entertainment Manager. “Many of our loyal patrons have informed us, largely because of the state of the economy, that they will be spending the festive season at home. Because of this we have more than one ‘big name’ performing at the Resort this December.”
The research was done through Caxton Magazines’ audience panel, PULSE, powered by the Opinion Solutions mobile app technology, which allows Caxton Magazines to be at the forefront of exploratory research approaches and tools in order to get closer to their readers’ thoughts and views.
Pieter Groenewald, CEO of theSALT, says that he has come a long way and learnt a lot about advertising since 2000. “Over the past five years or so we’ve grown this company from vehicle branding as brandyourcar.com to theSALT, and with it, our business focus towards influencer marketing.
“Through theSALT we’ve learnt a lot by doing amazing campaigns for our clients,” says Nfinity’s CEO, Ken Varejes. “What we’ve come up with, using everyday brand fans, is the resulting advertising platform and how we do it is unique in the world. Our intention and next step forward will be international expansion! The process has already begun in two new territories.”
Incumbent media agency for Famous Brands, The MediaShop, has retained Africa’s largest branded food service franchisor account after a hotly contested pitch process was concluded.