MediaDNA Unveils First Media Neutral Planning Tool
A consortium of some of the UK’s largest media organisations has today unveiled the first media neutral planning tool for advertisers.
The tool is designed to allow agencies and clients to compare their products with the 170 key media brands outlined in the latest report from the mediaDNA group, which comprises BSkyB, Capital Radio, IPC, News International, Yahoo! and Zenith Optimedia.
The research, conducted by Millward Brown, examines the perceived personalities of a range of brands covering the five main media platforms: TV, radio, magazines, newspapers and the internet.
The study maps the media brands in to three distinct areas – image, positioning and personality – allowing advertisers to compared them against 50 separate criteria to asses whether they are, for example, extrovert, glamorous, British or intellectual.
The brand traits can then be graphically plotted and compared to client products. The new research tool also provides a metric to compere brands directly, irrespective of their media platform, creating what is claimed to be the first genuinely media neutral planning device.
Frank Harrison, Zenith Optimedia’s strategic resources director and chair of the mediaDNA consortium, said: “There has been a gap in the media planning process to provide a software tool that matched media and brand profiles; a process which to date has mainly been based on gut feeling rather than industry research. With the launch of this research, mediaDNA plugs this gap more comprehensively than ever before.”
The latest round of mediaDNA research shows that the Financial Times has the strongest identity among UK media in the eyes of consumers, with The Simpsons coming in second, ahead of Coronation Street and the BBC.
However, the Financial Times is not seen as the most intellectual brand and has been outranked by imported American TV programmes The X-Files, The West Wing and Channel Five’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
According to the study, five of the top ten most stable media brands are broadsheet newspapers, with The Times seen as the most stable, followed by the Daily Telegraph and the BBC’s listings magazine, Radio Times, in third place.
Magazines came top of the list when consumers were asked to name glamorous brands. However, Vogue, Elle, Hello! and OK! are all perceived as being more glamorous than Glamour magazine.
The most British media brand is ITV series Heartbeat, followed by Coronation Street. The Radio Times was found to be the most British magazine, while the Sun is perceived as the most British newspaper.
The study also shows that consumers find TV programmes the most dangerous media brands, with Channel 4’s V Graham Norton, Brookside and Sex & The City topping the list of the most controversial brands.
Commenting on the research, Harrison added: “This ground-breaking study shows that advertising effectiveness can be significantly enhanced by matching the image and personality of comparative media brands to those of the advertising brands that they carry. This raises receptivity to advertising.”
MediaDNA: 020 7224 8500 (c/o) Frank Harrison at Zenith Media www.mediadna.co.uk
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