Who won the Mail?

Have you ever wondered which ads placed in the national newspapers are the most effective at engaging readers? In a new feature starting on Newsline this week, we’ve partnered with Lumen Research to find out.

Using some extremely impressive eye-tracking technology, Lumen can tell us which ads draw the longest gazes, measuring ‘dwell time’ for the first time. We’ll also offer some insight into why certain ads perform well – and hopefully give readers a chance to look at the science – yes, science! – behind media planning and ad creativity.

Every Friday, the Lumen team asks 100 people to read one of the national newspapers, this week investigating The Daily Mail, which reaches over 1.7 million readers everyday in print.

Media planning is a fine art and creating an ad that people will genuinely engage with even more so, so which brand won?

This week it’s budget-supermarket Lidl with a promotional two-page spread flogging Italian food. So why did the Deutsch discounter come out on top? Well, Mike Follett, founder of Lumen, says Lidl’s ad works well for three reasons.

“First, there’s the element of surprise,” he says. “Parma ham? At Lidl? That’s worth investigating further.

“Second, there’s good use of an unusual black background, which makes the ad stand out more, and lends a sense of quality.

“Finally, the ad gets noticed because it is packed with things that people actually want to buy. The wine bottles in particular earn a lot of attention. One of the key things we’ve learned from eye tracking thousands of people’s reactions to ads is that British people really love looking at pictures of booze!”

More about Lumen Research here