The results of an advertising research study were released yesterday and – surprise! – the authors found that advertising is still effective.
The Future of Advertising project, a joint effort between the Wharton School of Business and the Advertising Research foundation, was commissioned late last year to address a rising tide of gloom predicting the end of traditional media.
Industry experts were predicting that the combined effects of an economy in the crapper and the explosion of social media vehicles and users would lead to the quick demise of TV, print, and even online advertising. In retrospect, that prediction bears some resemblance to the paperless office prediction that is now more than 20 years old, and no closer to coming true.
Here are some of the surprising findings:
- Word-of-mouth is significantly influenced by TV advertising
- DVR presence in households had no effect on ad recall
- Print ads create even higher purchase intent and sales lift than TV
- Online ads create as much sales lift as TV
- Obvious branding in ads is more effective than subtlety
- Consumer retention is improved when media weight is spread rather than clustered
We all know the media world is different today than it was just a year ago; that's a given. But this research clearly tells us that we're talking about degrees of change, not the world turned completely on its ear. So if you're in the position of making or approving media decisions, don't accept as gospel that everything you were doing doesn't work anymore. Because that just isn't true.
