ABs Like Ads, Says Latest VIPer Research

Contrary to what many believe, AB consumers not only like advertising but will actively seek it out in some cases, in order to make informed choices about what to buy. This was among the latest findings presented today by the VIPer (Very Important People, Exclusive Research) research project, which endeavours to improve understanding of the mindset of the most affluent members of society (see VIPer Research To Offer Advertisers Insight Into Rich And Influential).

Andrew Barnes, commercial director of Channel 4, one of the companies backing the research, outlined the latest discoveries about “VIPer’s” attitudes towards advertising and the media as he reported back on the project’s fourth phase of research, carried out at the end of 2000.

Research on the panel of 1000 VIPers revealed that this typically intelligent and educated group do pay attention to and digest some advertisements and will even seek them out, but only if they are relevant to their lives. As another characteristic of the group is being “time poor”, magazines, for example, may be used to help decide what to buy. VIPers also tend to be cutting edge when it comes to new technologies, therefore the small print of computer advertising, for example, may be scrutinised.

Overall, the group was found to understand the need for advertising, but is adept at screening out those not targeted at them and can easily decode them and explain why they are or aren’t relevant, said Barnes.

VIPer research has identified a top six “hot triggers” for effective advertising to VIPers:

• Entertainment – especially adverts which make them laugh or form a series.
• Creative originality – seen, for example, in the Smirnoff treatments.
• A metaphorical approach – VIPers like to work something cryptic out.
• Intelligence
• Jingles
• Sex – as long as its not too blatant.

Barnes went on to explain that the findings show that so long as the advertising used is effective, any medium will do, but that VIPers don’t like patronising or exploitative advertising and if it misses the mark, it is easily rejected by the group.

Outdoor advertising works if simple and effective, especially as 96% of VIPers drive cars and spend a lot of time in them – 78% of car users travel to work in them every day. The perception of VIPers was that outdoor advertising was the home of big brands.

Radio, listened to by a higher proportion of VIPers compared to the rest of the population, is an effective forum as long as the adverts are short, simple and effective. Sponsorship can be seen more positively than ordinary TV adverts, as long as the product fits the programme well, otherwise both may be rejected.

The best news for advertisers was that, provided the advertisement is the right one, in the right place and at the right time, VIPers are not only more likely to want to accept and act on it, they are more likely to have the financial means to do so.

VIPer: 020 7393 2400 www.viperresearch.com

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