Nielsen Says 43% More U.S. Viewers Recognize Brands Placed Within “Emotionally Engaging” TV Programs

Effect of Viewer Engagement Varies by Programming Genre

December 10, 2007- New York, NY- Products placed within “emotionally engaging” TV programs are recognized on average by 43% more U.S. viewers, The Nielsen Company today disclosed in the company’s most recent issue of Consumer Insight, an online news report that connects and integrates information across The Nielsen Company.

These findings, which are available to the public via a link on the Nielsen.com home page http://www.nielsen.com/consumer_insight, demonstrate how viewers’ feelings about and engagement with television programming affects their ability to recognize brands, increases positive brand feeling and strengthens their purchase interest in product placements and commercials.

These new findings are based on a survey of approximately 10,000 individuals, 200 consumer brands and 50 TV programs.  Participants were asked a variety of questions in terms of their engagement with specific programming, including their overall program enjoyment.  Additional engagement questions included entertainment value, believability, information value, emotional resonance, etc.

Highly Enjoyable Programming

Nielsen asked the survey participants to rank their overall program enjoyment for specific programming on a scale of 0-10, with a 7-10 score being termed ‘highly enjoyable.’

• Nielsen found that brand recognition increased 29% for product placements during highly enjoyable programs, 21% for commercial spots and 5% for the combination of a product placement and commercial spot for that brand.

• Positive brand feelings increased by 85% for product placements, 75% for commercial spots and 68% for combined campaigns when the program was highly enjoyable.

• Purchase interest increased 145% for product placements, 120% for commercial spots and 97% when the exposure consisted of both a placement and commercial for highly enjoyable programs.
  
  

Not All Programs Are Equal

• Product Placements during lifestyle¹ programs typically get a 59% boost in brand recognition when the program is highly enjoyable.

• Nielsen found that a commercial spot receives a 28% boost in brand recognition during reality programs when the program is highly enjoyable compared to a 10% boost during sitcoms.

• Brands featured as a placement on dramas are recognized 30% of the time, but dramas that connect emotionally with their audience see their average brand recognition rate climb to 39%, a level that approaches that of an average lifestyle or reality show. (For more information go to the Consumer Insight report at http://www.nielsen.com/consumer%5Finsight/ci_story1.html

¹Lifestyle programs are variety programs that emphasize a lifestyle over a storyline, exclusive of direct elimination reality programming. Examples of such programs include ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Discovery’s American Chopper or BRAVO’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Methodology

In 2006, Nielsen launched a primary research study to determine which factors contribute to impactful product placements in terms of recognition, positive brand feeling and purchase interest.    The study was administered at Nielsen’s testing facilities in Las Vegas to help clients pursue product placement initiatives with more confidence.  This “Valuation” study included over 10,000 participants who viewed one of 50 programs configured with various combinations of product placement and commercial activity.  The results of this study produced a proprietary methodology that allows for the prediction of key performance metrics for all types of brand integrations, including how they stack up against more conventional TV commercials.  The results of these predictions are now fully integrated into the Place*Views application, Nielsen’s tracking service for the brand integration marketplace.

The methodology to calculate these metrics takes into consideration numerous factors, including  Placement Characteristics (placement types, total duration, and number of occurrences), Brand Familiarity and Program Loyalty. This study is now ongoing, with new programs added regularly to keep the scoring metrics up-to-date. 

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit www.nielsen.com.

 

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