A packed MRG Evening Meeting this week heard from Simon Broadbent about STAS research and remained unconvinced. The research, based on the models and ideas of John Philip Jones, attempted to examine how effective TV advertising was in influencing consumers buying habits. A formula is used which gives a score for how likely it is a consumer would buy that brand because of advertising. An index of over 100 was given if there was a positive ad effect and below 100 if the ad was ineffective. The average was found to be 124.
Mr Broadbent stated that Leo Burnett’s objective was to examine these ideas and challenge them because, ultimately, this theory could be dangerous: one of the main conclusions drawn by John Philip Jones is that the main ad effect is created after one exposure and any subsequent exposures after this become less and less productive. Mr Broadbent concluded that the initial research he had conducted into STAS indicated that the theory should not be trusted: it is far too general and many more factors should be examined rather than the single source data advocated by Jones. Other factors found to be important by Broadbent included coupons and other promotional offers, past buying habits and demographics.
Paul Feldwick, executive director of planning at BMP DDB, also gave his thoughts on the subject by pointing out first of all that the whole debate about frequency is extremely complex. In terms of the Drip/Burst discussion he came down on the side of the Drip fraternity, arguing that a steady, constant campaign would be favourable to an ad burst, a short but intense campaign. He also stated that big splashes could actually create a blip in research figures which would only confuse planners more.
He said that there were ‘conceptual limitations’ when looking at the effect of impacts in isolation. He stressed that past buying behaviour in particular is proven to be important, though he did believe that advertising has the power to affect people’s physical perception of a brand.
In response to these thoughts, Michael Stewart asked the question of whether there was a future benefit in the analysis of single source data, to which Simon Broadbent replied that though there is still much to learn, as a source it is potentially exciting. Another MRG member, from Admap, did not believe frequency could ever be as complicated as Simon was suggesting and said that the causes of buying cannot be separated and this approach should not even be tried. Lisa Pollard, from IPC Magazines, suggested that the way forward was a mixing of media so that, for example, a sparse TV campaign would be maintained by magazine ads.
By the end of the meeting it seemed the general consensus was that while STAS was a worthwhile piece of research it was certainly not the answer to an ad-man’s dreams that some, notably in the US, had been claiming.
