Market Watch is a snapshot of current issues and insights that can influence your consumers or customers and, therefore, impact your brand

1. ©XPotential 2011
March 2011
Feature Focus:
New Face of TV Advertising
With rising numbers of people watching TV
on demand on-line, and on digital video
recorders it is feared that numbers of people
watching TV adverts are depleting, and that
they are no longer an effective marketing
investment.
However, according to Thinkbox,
commercial TV still reaches 70% of people in 1
day. The number of TV sets sold last year
reached double that of 2002, and the average
number of sets per house increased to 3. Most
adults watch more TV than they even realise, a
BBC report suggests up to 1hr more a day. Ad
skipping is only possible for the 7% of TV that
is watched time-shifted. Although 86% of
people skip through recorded adverts, even
those watched in fast-forward are claimed to
have 65% of the recall that they do at normal
speed, because skipping needs fixed attention.
Web 2.0 has changed the importance of TV
ads. Now an engaging TV ad campaign can be
pivotal in creating online search and discussion
of the brand. In fact 57% of people have
searched online as a result of a TV ad. IPA
research shows that campaigns involving TV
are 35% more effective than ones without, and
combining TV with online communications
delivers up to 50% increase in positive brand
perception. With online brand search following
a TV ad being such a common behaviour, it is
essential that TV campaigns are supported by
SEO, social media management and good
official pages. With mobile internet devices like
laptops and phones being used in front of the
TV, a TV ad can lead to purchase immediately
through e-commerce. This could be part of
Consumer Connections:
Can Own Label Match Brands?
The recession has given retailers the
chance to grow the success of their own
label products, with shoppers trading down
to save money. As financial matters
improve, will shoppers return to the brands?
“Top tier” own label ranges such as Tesco
Finest have narrowed the gap in quality
between store and manufacturer brand.
Aldi’s recent campaign even used the line
“Like brands only cheaper”.
Growing “word of mouse” (e.g. online
reviews), is increasing the focus and
transparency of product performance, which
could benefit own label products that match
brand quality. However, for brands image
and perception offer additional benefits that
can even enhance perceived quality.
(continued on next page)
the reason why marketers increased their TV
spend last year more than any other
channel.
Savvy TV ad campaigns build in
opportunities for online conversations. BT’s
Adam and Jane campaign pushes people to
engage online by offering the chance to vote
for future ad content, e.g. what will their
first dance be to. For many, simultaneously
watching TV and engaging online reflects the
way they already discuss the programmes’
content.
Even the diffusion of audiences across
more channels benefits TV advertisers in
terms of more specific targeting. TV ads can
also be embedded in relevant on-demand
web content.
Although it is expensive to create, TV
looks to remain the cornerstone of many
brands’ advertising, although its purpose and
response behaviours from viewers are
changing.
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2. ©XPotential 2011
March 2011
Apps live and die by reviews, so quality and
relevance are key to success. Unilever Axe
built their “Angel wake-up” app around the
insight that most young males use their
phone as an alarm clock, creating a brand
integration rather than interruption to the
users’ life.
Consumer Connections:
Can Own Label Match Brands?
cont.
When students were fed wine through a
tube, they enjoyed the same wine better when
told it was more expensive. This suggests that
favourable perception of a brand could improve
enjoyment vs. own label regardless of actual
quality; this could be reflected in online
reviews, making them less objective and
making it harder for word of mouth to
demonstrate own label quality.
Aside from branding’s effect on enjoyment,
consumers are conscious of desirability of
brands among their peers. They may swap to
own label to save money, but when buying a
food gift 69% would choose branded, showing
that they value branded items higher and
would chose them when others are aware of
their brand choice.
Brands can afford to focus more of their
message on the relevant category, making
their expertise seem stronger than own-labels
marketed under the retailer’s name, which has
to represent their retailer brand across a wide
range of categories, diluting their expertise.
Retail Therapy:
Pop-up shops
Pop-up retail was welcomed as a recession-
time trend, but its benefits go beyond a quick
fix of rent for high street landlords, and the
trend is still going strong.
Clarins recently used pop-up retail during
London Fashion Week to promote their new
range, learn about their consumers and gain
ambassadors to be seen carrying their gift
bags. Last half term, Moshi Monsters
(children’s online game) “popped up” in
Whiteley’s shopping centre in London, selling
merchandise and building awareness.
The awareness and buzz created by limited
period pop-up retail extends to the online
world, where news of the limited offer spreads
through social media, improving search
engine results.
(continued on next page)
Trend Spotting:
Mobile Marketing
With an increasing number of smart-
phones in the hands of consumers, brands
offer apps for almost everything and with new
location based communications, possibilities
are widening, but so is the danger of
damaging brand affinity with bombardment.
Metro offers location-aware restaurant
reviews; a useful service when looking for
somewhere to eat, but with talk of retailers
and brands using the technology to flag up
nearby offers, it is easy to imagine annoying
over-communication. Some argue that
mobile-based offers could improve
redemption rate, (only 1% of paper coupons
get used). But if shoppers are not interested,
targeting their mobiles could be damaging;
people consider mobile marketing more
intrusive than direct mail.
Constant internet access provided by
mobiles presents key opportunities. Online
campaigns optimized for mobile can gain 80%
higher click-through. Google advises being
ready and visible – so interested users can
find you, rather than have you intrude on
them.
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3. ©XPotential 2011
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Market Watch is a snapshot of current issues and insights that can influence
your consumers or customers and, therefore, impact your brand.
If you would like further information about these articles or our services, you
can reach us on:
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world, to create and deliver brand equity.
Retail Therapy:
Pop-up shops cont.
Britney Spears has made the most of this by
making fans wait on her official pages to find
out the location of pop-ups selling her new
album merchandise, including 36 signed t-
shirts. Cadbury’s Nibbles took things a step
further by creating an online pop-up shop with
a limited edition designer scarf offer. The shop
appeared for brief periods on selected fashion
sites and blogs, teaming up with them to build
the brand image whilst providing the sites with
visitors, in the same way physical pop-ups can
create micro-tourism for their locations.
Beyond selling and creating awareness, pop-
ups also provide a live platform for the “two-
way conversations” brands aim for in social
media, encouraging consumers to engage and
ask questions, discuss their needs and take the
brand further into their lives, and become
promoters through “checking-in” with location
based media. Many of these benefits could be
provided by a brand store, but at a higher cost
and commitment.
So the benefits of pop-up retail are many,
however the term does get over-used. Some
argue that pop-up is no more innovative than
the traditional market stall, but if it is done
well then the excitement of pop-up comes from
the break from regularity and thrill of catching
a short term offer. The proposed Boxpark pop-
up mall in East London (a world first, made of
packing crates) could be a step too far.
Brand Barometers:
Product placement
February saw the UK product placement
ban lifted, providing new opportunities for
brands to reach TV audiences. Adverts
embedded in a show have no skip-threat, and
research has shown viewers to prefer
placement to spot ads (so long as it fits with
the show).
Getting the right fit will involve sharing of
information which could be of mutual benefit
to broadcasters and brands, e.g. information
about audiences (potential consumers), 13%
of whom say they are more likely to buy a
product having seen it in a show. One
example of a smooth brand-entertainment tie
up is Wallace & Gromit with Wensleydale
cheese, helping to authentically define
Wallace’s character, whilst bringing positive
attention to the brand.
Product placement is often talked about
negatively for damaging viewer trust and
obscuring content quality (1 in 5 say they find
it distracting), but when used tastefully and
matched carefully, brands can add to the
depth and realism of stories and characters.
Until now, brands have been sneaking into
programming through prop placement (by
paying prop suppliers to use their products).
However, in this set-up brands have far less
control over exposure than the new product
placement opportunities will offer.
March 2011- 3 -