REALITY SHOWS FOUND TO OFFER SPECIAL BRANDING OPPORTUNITIES
LOS ANGELES -- New studies indicate that the reality genre can offer advertisers special marketing and branding opportunities, in both traditional spots and product placement. Studies by Initiative Media in conjunction with MIT show that the more interaction viewers have with a TV program, the more attentive they are to the commercials and the better they are able to recall the ad message.
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Researchers studied the dynamics involving advertising, media and audience engagement with 2 popular reality shows -- Survivor and American Idol 2 -- and said advertising likeability matched well with such programming, Interactive Media Exec. Vp David Ernst said: “It’s not interactivity from a technology standpoint but from a social standpoint… The people who are the most engaged were much more attentive to both the programming and the advertising and they were less likely to switch away during the commercial pause. Therefore, they are more likely to be exposed to the brand that is being advertised and they are more attentive to it.” The study found viewers were more likely to notice advertising and product placement and to look favorably upon those factors in reality shows.
The study disputed the long-held notion that group viewing was detrimental to advertising, Ernst said: “Most advertisers thought a group would talk during commercial breaks and not pay attention, but in the reality genre, that’s not true. When watching a show like American Idol, the group tended to share thought and experiences and had better recall of the message later.” The study found that 18% of the people who watched the show in groups recalled specific ads, compared with 9% of those who watched shows and ads alone. Fewer than half of the viewers who watched alone “usually paid full attention” to the show, compared with 62% who watched as part of a group. “This phenomenon would also apply to Super Bowl and high-profile sporting and entertaining events, such as the Oscars and Grammy Awards, where people are viewing in groups and actively participating,” it said. However, Ernst said that finding was very genre specific: “While a group viewing situation actually enhances the impact of commercials when watching a reality show, there is a negative impact with drama. Comedy falls in the middle.”
The most interactively engaged audiences are most likely to follow the program and get information about it from all media, including online, the study said. On a 3-to-1 basis the most engaged viewers were more likely to go to the show or network Web site. Ernst said: “Some of the smarter networks are starting to realize that the program experience and the media brand experience is not just all about sitting in front of the set watching the show. It extends to many, many different kinds of opportunities and the smart media companies are taking advantage of that and leveraging that.” An example is CBS’s strategy of establishing a new revenue stream by offering subscriptions to Big Brothers fans who want 24/7 access to the house cameras and using targeted advertising on the site, he said.
Advertisers also are beginning to understand that advantage, Ernst said: “For most entertainment, strong engagement of the audience pays strong dividends to advertisers. We are working with a number of our advertisers on how their brand can take advantage of that by sending messages to these viewers that are in line with the equities of the program which more readily resonate with consumers. You're looking for products that have a strong brand identity and that are consistent in the message and the brand identity of your products. You want to make that connection.”