Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Pretty conclusive proof that advertising works has come out of a study conducted by TNS Research Surveys and GSM Quadrant. The study, commissioned by Primedia Unlimited, was specifically about out-of-home advertising, but its results probably support a more general statement about the effectiveness of advertising.
Dummy ads were posted about people or events (not purchasable products) in high traffic areas in and around Sandton City and Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, and in washrooms in the two shopping malls.
In Sandton, the billboard read: "Tiger Woods' real name is Eldrick." In Menlyn Park it was: "David Beckham's second names are Robert Joseph." The washroom posters informed you that Brazil would host the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In each case, 400 people were polled leaving the centre before and after the messages had gone up, asking whether they knew the central fact (for example, what is Tiger Woods' real name?)
The outdoor billboards experienced increases in "message uplift" of 48% (Woods) and 60% (Beckham). The Brazil posters were even more successful, getting 400% in Sandton, and in Menlyn Park a mathematically incalculable percentage increase from zero awareness to 7% of both names and 12% of one name.
Awareness of Woods' name, for example, rose from 33% before to 49% after (16 percentage points, but equal to a 48% improvement on the baseline).
In reality, says research guru Neil Higgs of TNS, the effectiveness is even higher than figures show, as these results were achieved after a short three-week flighting time.
In addition, this experiment used cognitive messages, whereas most brand advertising also works at a deeper, more emotive level. This means the results, good as they are, are still an underestimate of the medium's true potential.
And don't expect results like this unless your creative execution rivals that of this programme. The messages of seven to nine words were provocative, clear and easy to read and absorb as you drove past them in busy traffic.
- Fin24.com
Dummy ads were posted about people or events (not purchasable products) in high traffic areas in and around Sandton City and Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, and in washrooms in the two shopping malls.
In Sandton, the billboard read: "Tiger Woods' real name is Eldrick." In Menlyn Park it was: "David Beckham's second names are Robert Joseph." The washroom posters informed you that Brazil would host the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In each case, 400 people were polled leaving the centre before and after the messages had gone up, asking whether they knew the central fact (for example, what is Tiger Woods' real name?)
The outdoor billboards experienced increases in "message uplift" of 48% (Woods) and 60% (Beckham). The Brazil posters were even more successful, getting 400% in Sandton, and in Menlyn Park a mathematically incalculable percentage increase from zero awareness to 7% of both names and 12% of one name.
Awareness of Woods' name, for example, rose from 33% before to 49% after (16 percentage points, but equal to a 48% improvement on the baseline).
In reality, says research guru Neil Higgs of TNS, the effectiveness is even higher than figures show, as these results were achieved after a short three-week flighting time.
In addition, this experiment used cognitive messages, whereas most brand advertising also works at a deeper, more emotive level. This means the results, good as they are, are still an underestimate of the medium's true potential.
And don't expect results like this unless your creative execution rivals that of this programme. The messages of seven to nine words were provocative, clear and easy to read and absorb as you drove past them in busy traffic.
- Fin24.com
