Do your audiences like what they see?

Consumers feel like they are being bombarded with ads and it’s driving down marketing effectiveness.

In the US, a whopping 86% of people act to avoid seeing ads on TV, streaming and online video platforms by leaving the room or switching channels. The numbers are largely similar in the UK.

This isn’t a new trend, of course. The marketing industry has been concerned by the growth of ad blockers for years, but we do need to think more creatively about how we can address this challenge. After all, ads can only deliver a commercial return if people actually watch them.

Thankfully, there is some hope and it comes in the form of in-content advertising – think cereal brands placed in the kitchen scenes of films or TV programmes, shower gels shown on bathroom shelves or billboards in the background of a shot.

A study we did with Mirriad showed that 75% of US viewers liked in-content ads. What’s more, this positive sentiment translated into better results. We saw a 40% higher chance of people making an online purchase and a 27% uplift for in-store. 

Now, I’m not saying everyone should run out and start funnelling all their spend towards in-content placements. The need for a balanced, multi-faceted media strategy definitely still remains and product placement has to be considered within a wider marketing mix, but it’s worth looking at why people respond better to this content. 

At the most basic level, of course, consumers can’t skip it as easily – it is, by its nature, embedded into the programmes they’re watching. However, digging a little deeper into the findings shows that this isn’t the only thing bumping up effectiveness.

There’s also some other interesting stuff at play, which tells us a lot about how people want to be advertised to and that the industry should learn from.

The consumers we surveyed thought that product placements felt natural, more trustworthy and were better quality, benefiting from the programming that surrounds them.

In contrast, traditional ads were seen as repetitive, intrusive and, for 22% of people, dull and boring. Ouch.

What our work proved beyond all else is that when we feel good about advertising, we’re more likely to act on it. It sounds deceptively straightforward but it’s worth reminding ourselves of this truism. 

More content is vying for consumers’ attention and they feel oversaturated as a result. In this crowded space, brands have to give people a reason to watch.

We’ve seen time and time again that ads that play on our emotions and create a personal, meaningful connection with a viewer perform better. A recent study on TikTok advertising, for example, showed that these criteria were the biggest factor influencing how long people viewed ads for, or whether they simply scrolled past.   

Advertisers are in the business of selling but they mustn’t forget they’re also in the business of entertainment, arguably more so today than ever before when people’s expectations of being stimulated, amused and engaged are higher than ever.

When the creative and commercial stars are aligned, that’s when the whole thing works.

Sparsh Pandya is the client director for media at Kantar Insights UK