TV Advertising: The Rule of Five..!

TV Advertising: The Rule of Five..!

By Mr. Adrian Terron & Raj Hosahalli, Nielsen India

Even with TV advertising dominating the media spends of the country's biggest brands, creative campaigns are still not as bulletproof as they once were. 

With consumers distracted by the deluge of messages, remote controls becoming more fickle and once-hallowed time-slots competing with digital media, the ever pricey air-time is getting less predictable and profitable to invest in.

Yet, its wide reach makes it an integral part of any mass media campaign. Why then are marketers straining to maximise return on investment (RoI) In the new media landscape, 5 key rules can create winning TV campaigns:

Rule No 1- Strong advertisement  content breaks through 4 times better than a weak advertisements ..!

Stronger advertisements content is not just limited to brilliant creative directors. To be truly clutter-breaking by helping consumers, use your ad to connect with your brand; a strong creative needs to be combined with the right cues, a high level of emotional engagement and compelling relevance. 

Then, your brand's media spend can improve its ability to stand out.

Rule No 2 - Be categorical about your comparison; standing out within your category is more important than being 'liked'

While being a likeable advertisement is often equated with increasing the chances of success, a more scientific comparison of campaigns within a category & the tactics that need to be deployed within them, are more critical.

Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) advertisements  tend to be more frequent & relatable, since they pertain to items of daily usage. Their all-pervasiveness requires companies to ensure that their brand is 'cued' in such a manner.

On the other hand, categories with less frequent purchase cycles like automobiles should have creatives that are deeply emotive to make it distinctive & memorable. Benchmarking within a category allows for smarter campaign-building.

Rule No 3 - Longer formats do not guarantee higher advertisement  resonance..!

Advertisements  breakthroughs, which confirm that both the advertisements  and the brand have been recalled by the respondents, do not significantly vary with duration. 

Longer advertisements, despite the fanfare they receive, do not always guarantee high advertisements  resonance.

It is more important to focus on creating a compelling advertisements & integrating adequate brand cues in it, than waste money on long format for its own sake.

Rule No 4 - Eliminating overlaps equals efficiency, which equals better return on investment

We know viewing habits change for various reasons - type of shows, sporting season, elections, festivities etc...

Seeking out a better understanding of viewing habits allows media plans to maximise reach and return on investment and increases chances of standing out.

For example, while male viewers between 25 age to 49 age years are typically reached through news channels, most media plans are liable to focus on this genre.

However, studying cross-genre preference also indicates that 90% of males in this group that watch news also watch general entertainment channels.

Only 50% of males who watch news channels watch documentary channels.

In such a scenario, genres that have a high overlap with the main genre can be avoided and genres with a low overlap added.

Rule No 5 -  Differentiate better to avoid aiding competitors half the time

Too often when adhering to a set of category codes, advertisement of different brands begin to look alike. For example, male deodorant or / sports utility vehicle advertisement  - most of them carry similar messaging & story lines.

This could lead your brand to even help competitors. This is unavoidable. But through rigorous monitoring of the campaign while it runs, you can dial up the elements that help you differentiate.

Therefore, to improve performance of your advertisements, differentiate messages & keep them consistent across campaigns, include creative hooks and brand cues & adjust weightage of genres and finally, focus on making distinctive advertisements  within your category.

This is not a magic potion to cure bad advertising. But it is a list that can help refine campaign strategy while the campaign is being conceived & carried out.

About the authors

The authors are executive directors of Nielsen India

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