According to a new Brand Engagement study by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) FMCG marketers who dedicate a higher proportion of their budgets to internet advertising can capitalise on increased trust, willingness to recommend and a higher intention to use a product, especially if online is used with campaigns that include TV.
According to a new Brand Engagement study by the Internet Advertising Bureau, FMCG marketers who dedicate a higher proportion of their budgets to internet advertising can capitalise on increased trust, willingness to recommend and a higher intention to use a product, especially if online is used with campaigns that include TV.
Predictably TV is still king, but online clearly performs well – especially on the key ‘trust’ metric – so it’s important that that FMCG advertisers allocate greater proportions of their media budgets online in order to fully achieve brand engagement with their increasingly digital audiences.
- Guy Phillipson, IAB chief executiveThe cross-media study, which focused on five haircare brands, singles out TV and online as the key media for promoting brand engagement among consumers. Brand Engagement measures consumers’ "willingness to recommend", "brand preference" and "intention to use in future". The benefit of this metric is the ability to identify the strengths of a particular medium and tailor messages accordingly.
The research, in association with Carat Insight, focused on the role each medium plays in driving brand engagement in the haircare sector. The study, which used focus groups, quantitative research and in-depth analysis, examined the cross-media activity of five major haircare brands: Elvive, Fructis , Pantene, Aussie and Herbal Essences with female respondents aged 20 to 60 years of age who are interested in beauty and fashion.
Typically, brand engagement in the haircare sector measures consumers’ trust in a brand, as well as their perceptions of a brand's product range, value for money and quality.
Topline findings revealed:
- The greatest impact on brand engagement came from TV ads, while online ads and associated websites combined had the second biggest influence. Surprisingly, press ads were the least effective at driving brand engagement with consumers
- The study identified the relative strengths of different media in relation to their brand engagement effectiveness. For example TV helps promote a product’s image as a good quality brand, while online is better at building trust and highlighting an entire product range
- Internet marketing is 2.4 times more effective than its share of spend suggests. The average online spend of the brands was 4.8% of total spend – online delivered 2.4 times the return on investment – suggesting that brands should be investing nearer 12% online if they want to capitalise on a higher brand engagement index.
The ‘engagement’ effect
Consumers are more trusting of online advertising than other media, which in turn increases their engagement with a brand. The potential interactivity of online creates an environment where consumers feel more in control.
Not only is online able to build brands in a cost-efficient, effective way - but it is also uniquely able as a communications medium to provide the personalisation and relevance of information that is so important to today's consumers. - Mary Jeffries, director of evaluation, Carat InsightTV ads contributed the most to brand engagement, driving 62.2% of the overall effect. Online ads and websites combined had the second biggest influence contributing 35.1% of total consumer engagement.
The study found that women who saw a brand’s online advertising were 3.5 times more likely to view its associated webpage. This proves that the internet is unique in its ability to combine brand advertising messages that lead women to seek out and engage with relevant content that helps them make informed choices for their hair.
