Thinkbox and the IAB announce pioneering joint study to explore the effectiveness of using TV and online together.
This partnership with Thinkbox is an exciting project, representing our continued efforts to educate the marketplace about the unique strengths of online and how these can be combined with other media – particularly TV – to execute effective integrated campaigns. At a time when convergence is becoming a reality, it is essential that we take further steps to understand today’s consumer, and how marketers can best engage with them.
- Guy Phillipson, CEO, IABThinkbox and the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) – the UK marketing bodies for commercial TV and the internet, respectively – have today announced they are joining forces to undertake a unique new research project. The pioneering research will examine the effectiveness of using TV and online together in advertising campaigns.
This inaugural research project between the two media trade bodies is also the first time that the effectiveness of using both media in tandem has been examined in depth. Both the IAB and Thinkbox are encouraging UK agencies to submit campaigns to take part in the first phase of the study, which will begin on 4th January 2008.
The research will examine the effectiveness of TV and online advertising – both when used together and in isolation – including:
- Engagement (e.g. impact of enjoyment/involvement in advertising)
- TV and Search working in conjunction with one another
- Different campaign weights
- Campaign phasing (e.g. using online pre- or post-TV activity and during)
- Display and rich media extensions of TV campaigns on response rate and vice versa
- Different target audiences and buying routes
- Different product categories
The research will also explore other important areas, such as the overall effect on reach from the media combination and how use of one (primary) medium in a campaign can impact upon the effectiveness of another (secondary) medium.. Within this the fieldwork will also consider channels or sites advertised on, the weight of advertising, target audience, campaign length, any creative differences, pre-determined brand perceptions and the wider media plan.
This research is overdue and I’m delighted that we’ve formed a partnership with the IAB to make it happen. We know that TV is at the heart of effective advertising campaigns, but little has been done, beyond individual campaign analyses, to understand and prove the synergy that we believe the combination of TV and online media creates, or to set benchmarks. TV and online media are perfect bedfellows and it’s time to emphasise their complementarity. - Tess Alps, chief executive, ThinkboxThinkbox and the IAB have commissioned Q Media to carry out the project, with results due for release in the first half of 2008. Q Media will work closely with David Brennan, Research and Strategy Director at Thinkbox and Laurence Bird of the IAB. The project will comprise both quantitative and qualitative research to gain a holistic view of how both media work together in UK marketing campaigns. The quantitative stage will use a nationally representative online sample of 3,000 respondents to gauge the effectiveness of TV and internet advertising combined and how this can be exploited by advertisers to greater effect.
The qualitative element of the research will feature engagement diaries in ten households, an online discussion forum and in-home observation of how people use and engage with TV and online in a natural context. This will add a more in-depth understanding of the impact of cross-media advertising, enabling Thinkbox and the IAB to explain and illuminate the different trends and insights that emerge from the research.
