RAB Picks Holes In NMA Ad Effectiveness Study
The Radio Advertising Bureau has delivered a damning appraisal of the Newspaper Marketing Agency’s recent Measuring Advertising Effectiveness of Newspapers study, claiming that the methodology used was unsuitable and has resulted in radio broadcasters being shown in a poor light.
The RAB stated that it had received several questions from heads of radio and radio sales over the claims made against the case for radio advertising in the NMA’s study, and was seeking to address advertiser concerns. However, the RAB also stated that as the NMA’s methodology behind the claim “newspapers can double brand commitment” has yet to be released in full, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions and instead has made observations on a top-line summary of the project, asking questions of the NMA as it goes.
The RAB claims that, as the NMA study was a lab-test rather than a real world test, every claim based on its findings raises the question “what would this mean in the real world?” The advertiser body also notes that respondents’ exposure to the various media in the test was forced. The RAB claims that this will produce a favourable effect on the brand commitment scores for newspaper advertisements, which are often skipped over or missed completely if a reader does not read the appropriate section.
The RAB also states that a forced exposure method means that it is not possible to measure the impact of the different media types, as natural impact will have been changed by the forced exposure.
In a briefing to advertisers the RAB pours scorn on the methodology of the study, stating: “The NMA’s publications avoid explaining exactly how this was done, but it basically means that respondents in a central location are required to watch TV ads, listen to radio ads, look at posters and read newspaper ads (then they answer questions about the ads and the brands). This method is not good for gauging the impact of ads in any medium – particularly newspapers, because the method assumes that people will read all/much of the copy in the ad, where in real life this simply isn’t true.”
The RAB claims that the result of the NMA’s tests is an exaggeration of “literal comprehension” of radio advertising, as opposed to the real world where, the RAB states, listeners are highly selective in their attention. According to the RAB the methodology results in exaggeration of the effect of one exposure and “would strongly understate a key characteristic of radio – high levels of frequency.”
The radio body branded the study’s key inference that “newspapers double brand commitment” as “hyperbole”, stating that: “In the absence of this kind of transparency it is not possible to gauge the real value of the NMA test findings, but it’s safe to say they will tell us little about the relative impact of different media combinations in the real world.”
The RAB also casts doubt on the NMA’s interpretation of shifts in brand commitment, questioning the validity of findings based on a sample of just 75 respondents. The briefing to advertisers states: “Again, without more transparency it is very hard to give credence to these findings and the claims based on them.”
On the topic of frequency, the RAB explained that, as the methodology involves exposing respondents to adverts from each medium just once, the issue of frequency is side-stepped. The resulting effect is to detract from the effectiveness of broadcast advertising, which often relies on consumers being exposed to repetitions of advertising. Newspaper readers, however, are unlikely to read press adverts repeatedly.
There is also no consideration of media cost in the study, according to the RAB, which stated: “The important issue to bear in mind here is that if newspapers are added to a TV component and a higher score is achieved on the metric, there is an underlying implication that the media budget has been increased – it is not to be mistaken for being a better result for the same money.”
The NMA is due to release the next phase of its research early this year, using new metrics to measure newspaper advertising campaigns in the market and provide what the Agency claims will be final proof of effectiveness. The NMA is asking companies to partner its research, with national newspapers investing heavily by providing advertising space worth £10 million free to advertisers who take part. Tests on the campaigns involved will run from this month (see Research Claims Newspaper Ads Double Brand Commitment).
Newspaper Marketing Agency: 020 7182 1700 www.nmauk.co.uk RAB: 020 7306 2500 www.rab.co.uk
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