Advertisers Fight Back Against PVRs
Media Group, OMD, has announced that it will begin testing a new form of media advertising that will deliver an advertising message, even when television viewers are fast forwarding through commercials.
Although the specifics of the test were not divulged, DeSocio implied they might involve options that can run audio ad messages, superimpose billboard messages, or run commercials in picture-in-picture screens while consumers are fast-forwarding through conventional commercial advertising pods.
DeSocio said that the new advertising mechanisms would enable OMD’s clients to “involve the consumer even when they are in avoidance mode.”
New research published recently by Mediaedge:cia’s research division, MediaLab, has uncovered major insights into PVR viewing behaviour, identifying three main areas of importance to advertisers; audience viewing behaviour, advert avoidance and actual use of the technology (see PVR Audience Viewing Behaviour).
The study revealed valuable findings for advertisers concerned about viewer ad avoidance, showing that, in general, Freeview viewers tend to be less TV obsessed, using a PVR to avoid adverts deliberately.
However, sponsorship was found to cut through advert avoidance techniques, with viewers looking for heavily branded screen shots, break bumpers and programme trails as a signal to stop fast-forwarding.
The advent of PVR technology is causing concern for advertisers and forcing them to come up with new and innovative ways of targeting their audience.
Research published at the beginning of the year by media buying agency PHD, showed that homes in the UK using the technology skip through 77% of ad breaks during the 42% of shows that are recorded, leading the agency to forecast a 8.7% decline in commercial impacts by the end of 2010 (see PVRs Causing Increasing Threat To Advertisers).
The latest study from Arbitron/Edison Media Research confirms this prediction, revealing that consumers are placing increasing importance on skipping through adverts, with 29% of PVR users in the US claiming that fast-forwarding adverts is their primary reason for doing so (see Consumers Place Increasing Importance On Skipping Through Adverts).
At the MediaTel INSIGHT seminar on The Future of Digital TV, the subject of PVR technology was briefly discussed, with Bob Wootton, ISBA’s Media Director saying about the medium: “I’ve had a glimpse of the end, but that’s only my personal view.”
Broadcaster and journalist, Ray Snoddy commented: “Sky + is a transforming technology. I don’t like predictions, but I am sure every TV will have a hard disc in the near future – it’s a must for all manufacturers. What a PVR does is make you concentrate fully, ads may be whizzed through, but some are still received subliminally (see The PVR is Transforming – Time is Running Out for Advertisers and Agencies).”
Snoddy added: “The advertising industry is not entirely full of stupid people – ultimately it will cope with this.”
OMD’s “fast-forward commercials” are an important step in addressing the increasingly worrying issue of PVR technology for advertisers.
The technology is quickly rising in popularity, with research firm, In-Stat, showing PVR unit shipments to have jumped to over 11.4 million in 2004, up from 4.6 million in 2003, signalling an increase in consumer awareness of time-shifted television programming (see Consumers Demand For PVRs More Than Doubles In A Year).
Over the next five years PVRs are set to enjoy massive growth, with penetration expected to reach over 11% of television households worldwide, according to a report from Informa Media (see PVRs Penetration To Reach 30% By 2010)
PVR penetration in the UK is forecast to reach five million in the next four years, with penetration set to reach 21% of the population by 2008, increasing to 34% by 2012, according to research from Starcom (see PVRs Causing Increasing Threat To Advertisers).
As a result of this dramatic uptake, Starcom estimates that, by 2008, advertisers will have lost 6% of commercial impacts – the opportunity for an individual to see a 30-second ad.