News UK, publisher of The Times and The Sun, is launching a new data platform, NewsIQ UK, which will allow advertisers to reach their audiences by capturing their preferences, opinions and emotions in an attempt to drive “emotional loyalty” and increase ad engagement.
Research led by Paul Dolan, a London School of Economics professor, and commissioned by News UK, shows that people who read “emotionally arousing” content and then interacted with a video advert were 45% more likely to view the whole advert than those who hadn’t been exposed to such content.
Similarly, readers who had consumed content defined as ‘pleasurable’ and then interacted with the advert were 32% more likely to watch the complete video ad than those who had been exposed to non-pleasurable content.
The platform will enable brands to develop campaigns based on an actual connection between the consumer and the ad message, helping advertisers to move their focus away from click metrics.
“Preferences, opinions and emotions are fundamental factors in driving behaviours and the ability to identify these states and then build campaigns around them is going to change the way that advertisers communicate with audiences,” said Ben Walmsley, digital commercial director, News UK.
“The sort of emotional loyalty that we believe this platform can help create is far beyond loyalty based on pricing or familiarity. True emotional loyalty is about creating a psychological connection between the consumer and the brand.”
Professor Dolan added: “It’s long been known that any form of emotional arousal prepares you for action.
“When you experience a strong emotion, your body prepares itself to react and it is this trigger that creates the connection between emotionally powerful content and enhanced advertising engagement.”
