Campaigns Are Seven Times More Impactful among a Receptive Audience, Kantar Study Confirms

Kantar Media Reactions 2022, the annual study that explores the evolving media landscape and shows marketers how to navigate it, has been released and we can’t wait to share some key insights we have identified in the report and the related webinar. 

Why the excitement? This year, the study shares insights from over 18,000 consumers and 1,000 senior marketers from 29 markets, covering close to 400 brands and almost 90% of global media spend.

Need trustworthy data-backed guidance on how to match the format to your campaign objectives and overall communication strategy? Read on to discover our selected highlights from the study here:

• Marketers continue to favour online platforms. Media budgets were quick to be cut when the pandemic hit and came back with the economic recovery in 2021. Meanwhile, the number of digital advertising platforms has exploded, so there is a lot to consider when making media decisions, according to Kantar. The biggest increases continue to come from online channels. Online video is leading the difference rankings. More advertisers say they will increase spend on online video in their advertising budget allocations in 2023. As online media channels continue to evolve, the second-ranked in the consumer global ad equity ranking, ecommerce, is leading in six markets, including Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
• Short form video attains great ad equity. TikTok, the #2 digital brand for Ad Equity after Amazon, continues to be perceived as innovative and more fun and entertaining than other digital media brands. 84% of marketers plan to spend more on TikTok in 2023; more than any other global ad platform. In contrast to last year’s results, consumers’ preferences have divided equally between global and local media platforms. Across 29 surveyed markets, global giants such as Amazon, Google, Twitch, Spotify, Pinterest and Disney were identified in 15 countries as the preferred platforms. Fourteen of the top advertising performers – from a consumer perspective – around the world are local or localised media brands.
• Ad receptivity strongly related to format. The medium is part of the message, it shapes and flavours how advertising is perceived. Consumers have strong opinions about the formats and where they find advertising more or less acceptable and these opinions keep evolving. This changes how much they trust ads in different environments, how much attention they are willing to give it, and more. These consumer opinions about advertising formats are measurable though. Thus, Kantar found out that campaigns are seven times more impactful among a receptive audience. The research revealed that when people are exposed to an ad platform that they are not receptive to, the brand impact of that campaign is on average below 1%, while on an ad platform they are most positive towards, the average brand impact goes up by 7 times. This confirms once again that the way you place your ads matters. 
• The more intrusive a platform, the less preferred by consumers. In the hotly discussed area of attention, advertisers want to create ads that capture and retain attention. Publishers want to show they have the environment that delivers high-quality attention, and agencies want to place ads where they could generate the most attention for their clients’ money. Brands can’t cut through the noise by shouting louder and intruding onto their consumers’ experience. Although intrusive formats are an easy way to initially engage audiences, it is clearly not worth the risk, according to the Kantar findings. Regarding receptivity and attitudes, the study reveals that intrusiveness could generate attention but at the expense of ad equity. 
• Careful with the metaverse. A net 61% of global advertisers plan to increase their spend in the metaverse in 2023. Jane Ostler, EVP, Creative and Media solutions at Kantar, adds a word of caution though: “The media environment continues to evolve rapidly and, in inflationary times, marketers need to make careful choices. Marketers continue to be lured by the siren call of the new and shiny, such as embracing attention as a new metric and the metaverse as a new channel – but it is imperative to maintain a holistic understanding of ad platforms and what consumers think of them.”

As consumers are warming up to digital advertising, it is essential to know what they think of media channels and brands to identify the most effective ones for your brand. Novelty Media, via SmartAdd, provides the ultimate media platform serving ads and content that are not overly intrusive and are seamlessly integrated into the flow of our consumers’ daily lives. Thus, we secure organic reach and consumer engagement leveraging on the most preferred content format: short form.  Make sure you keep following our Marketing Bites to stay abreast of the latest industry trends and the semantics of our solution.