Research Shows 45% of Users don’t see Mobile Video at the right moment

 ‘Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half’. John Wanamaker

We are pleased to share the results of our latest piece of consumer research, examining users’ purchase behaviour after viewing mobile video ads, in order to determine if the advertising users see is truly delivering brands value.

In partnership with independent consumer research company, Morar, LoopMe surveyed over 1000 mobile users in the US and UK, covering a range of demographics, regions, ages and genders, to explore whether mobile video ads were driving users along the path to purchase.

Q1 Have you ever watched a mobile video advert for a product and bought that product in store or online?

In total 55% of users had gone on to purchase a product after viewing a mobile video ad, (50% in the UK, 60 in the US), showing mobile video ads were often incredibly successful at delivering brand and advertiser messaging to consumers, and driving those users along the path to purchase.

However, this left 45% of users across both markets who did not feel compelled to buy products after being served mobile video ads.

bought-a-product

 Q2. If not why not? Answer all which apply:

1)      I was not looking to buy the products advertised

2)      Adverts are not relevant to me

3)      The ads were intrusive and put me off buying

4)      Other

This was the subject for the survey’s second question, which asked why users did not feel motivated to buy products either in store or online after seeing specific ads. The results here were significant, with 51% found to be not in market (averaged across both markets, with 47% of UK users and 54% of US users agreeing to this point) and 29%  stating that the ad in question was not relevant to them personally.  Furthermore, 21% of users across both markets stated that ads could sometimes feel intrusive or put them off buying entirely.

why-did-you-not-buy-the-product-after-seeing-the-ad

In the US younger audiences between 18-29 were much more likely to perceive ads as intrusive or annoyingly, whereas in the UK the age distinction was less clear cut, though older demographics were less likely to see ads as a nuisance.

Across both markets, men were 5% more likely to buy products after seeing mobile video ads, whereas female users were 7% less likely to see ads as intrusive or annoying.

What is clear from the results is that the format of video ads or the quality of the creative is not always the greatest influencing factor in ad effectiveness. If users do not feel that ads are relevant or if they have no desire to buy the product, then the ad will be wasted on them. It is therefore more important than ever that advertisers recognise that in order to achieve ROI from their advertising, campaigns are targeted to users who are in target audience and in market for their product.

To ensure your campaigns are reaching the right audiences, with the right ad at the right moment to deliver brand uplift, LoopMe have developed an intelligent brand optimizer, PurchaseLoop, which uses artificial intelligence to improve uplift across brand metrics in real-time.

Click here to find out more.

Download the full research here.

Video of the Week: Volvo Yearns for the Open Road

Grey New York, who oversee the Volvo creative account, have been ambitious with their newest angle for the car manufacturer. Here the emphasis is not on the car’s qualities, but its significance – we are being sold the idea of travelling, rather than the car product itself. It’s an intriguing novel approach that taps into a Kerouac, Whitman-esque approach to life – an appreciation of fleeting experiences while also learning to treasure the journey. Whitman’s ‘Song of the Open Road’, read with a husky, whiskey-edged breath by Josh Brolin, is the ideal thematic umbrella, unifying what could be a series of disparate (albeit beautiful) images from director Niclas Larsson and Director of Photography Jeff Cronenweth.

The oscillation between intense closeup and expansive, immersive imagery adds a sense of sentimental scale to proceedings – this isn’t the story of one man facing writer’s block, but the story of anyone, travelling across open, empty landscapes, looking for direction.

There’s certainly a lot to chew on here, and kudos to Volvo for trying something that actively defies convention and making people think about the images that they’re seeing. It’ll be interesting to find out how audiences react to the ad itself, but anything as interesting as this going forward can only be welcomed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBt_niVG4sM

New AI Technology From LoopMe Optimizes Brand Uplift

New study shows nearly 50% of users have never bought a product after watching a mobile video ad, LoopMe solve problem with AI brand optimization technology.

Mobile video platform LoopMe has announced new optimization and reporting technology,PurchaseLoop (patent pending), a global industry first which has the potential to revolutionize the way advertising is delivered to consumers. The new self-learning technology will use AI to continuously optimize mobile video campaigns towards brand metrics such as purchase intent, brand affinity or product recall, helping deliver ads to the users most likely to change opinion and move along the path to purchase, enabling brands to increase revenues and loyalty.

While the performance of digital campaigns has traditionally been measured by views and clicks, the impact CTR has on brand metrics such as purchase intent, and subsequently on consumer purchase behavior and ultimately brand revenues, has been called into question. Research by Nielsen, which examined the link between clicks and offline purchase behavior, suggested there is no correlation between CTR and sales.

“The challenge many brands face is getting ROI from their digital campaigns and achieving the marketing goals” comments Stephen Upstone, CEO LoopMe. “Clicks were used to judge the impact of campaigns simply because there was a lack of other reliable metrics to use for optimization or reporting. The implementation of this new technology allows advertisers to act on metrics which genuinely have an impact on revenue. It will also allow them to overcome the challenge of identifying users who are in market for their product, improving ROI and their understanding of what works for their brand”.

In a survey of 1,000 mobile users conducted this week, close to half (45%) said that they had never watched a mobile video ad and subsequently been driven to make an offline or online purchase. When asked why this was the case 51% stated they were not in market for the product at that time and 29% said the adverts were not relevant. These statistics show that advertising is often not being delivered at the correct point in the purchase funnel or to users who are likely to change their minds, ultimately wasting marketer’s budgets.

LoopMe’s AI has been used across a variety of campaigns, for brands including Samsung, Unilever, Mattel, Comcast, Macy’s, Renault, Oracle, Cartier and Verizon, delivering uplifts in brand consideration of 68% and purchase intent of 40%. “The results were hugely impressive” commented Matthew Dodd, Managing Director Global at On Device Research speaking about a recent LoopMe campaign “across all key campaign effectiveness measures LoopMe outperformed our normative scores”.

The new way of delivering campaigns is to combine LoopMe’s AI with third party brand research from Nielsen and On Device, to expressly target users who have shown the greatest likelihood of moving along the purchase funnel. Throughout each campaign a sample of users will be surveyed to determine its ongoing performance against brand metrics like brand awareness, favorability or purchase intent.

The results of these surveys are fed into the AI engine which undergoes a full update on its assumption set every 20 minutes to act based on survey learnings. This allows the campaign to be upweighted to users displaying a higher propensity to move along the brand consideration scale, reducing the number of ads shown to users who display little likelihood of being swayed by the ad and improving user experience.

This ground-breaking technology also means users can be targeted with campaigns which complement their point in their purchase funnel, with different messaging delivered to users who are moving from awareness to favorability to those who are brand loyalists.

Coverage of LoopMe’s New PurchaseLoop Brand Uplift Technology:

MarketingWeek – New AI Video Ad Optimising Solution Launches
MobyAffiliates: LoopMe Launches New Reporting Technology
BizReport – New AI Tech Optimizes Mobile Video Ads
CMO: Top 10 Martech Stories from the Week

Video of the Week: GAP Highlights Individuality with Brooklyn United

After the recent trend of a huge swathe of Olympic ads over the last couple of weeks, it’s exciting to see GAP turn their attentions back to issues closer to home. A vibrant, cultural community within New York is a interesting topic for an  ad/documentary, exposing ideas and individuals that are often left ostracised or ignored. In effect, GAP have managed to associate their brand with marginalised yet energetic groups, promoting their own brand while also fostering awareness in New York.

The Brooklyn United Marching Band are an ambitious group of musicians, ready to make noise (both musical and otherwise) in their pursuit of recognition. It’ll be intriguing to see where they go next.

Check out the advert here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk9Og5vmNFE

Press: MediaPost – The Mobile Video Viewability Challenge

After many months of deliberation, the Media Rating Council has finally delivered their ruling on what counts as a viewable video impression on mobile devices. The guidelines are fairly similar to those currently implemented on desktop: 50% of pixels in view for two consecutive seconds. The main changes are the need for the ad to load before the viewability count starts, solving issues around signal and Internet speeds, and issuing new guidelines for image-based display ads in a newsfeed.

Inevitably there will be discussion about whether these guidelines go far enough. Should it be two seconds in view, or for the entire ad? GroupM, for example, is well known for taking a firm stance on viewability on behalf of its clients, requiring 100% of the video player to be in-view and 50% of the video to be viewed with sound on, while Nielsen has announced partnerships with all verification vendors to provide clients with the flexibility to determine viewability using different criteria.

While an agreement between all parties involved in delivering a campaign was all that was necessary to implement viewability standards on desktop, mobile has proven to be more difficult. In order to track viewability on mobile, the ad must be run using VPAID tags. VPAID allows ads to be interactive and permits third parties to run a tracking pixel on the ad, ensuring that it meets the agreed standards. Any advertising run using VPAID can easily be tracked, both in-app and on the mobile web.

Read the full article on MediaPost here.

Video of the Week: Temptations Give a Healthy Dose of 80s Nostalgia

After a week off the video of the week we thought we’d give you a Temptations advert to make sure you’re feline fine – supplying you with a truly purrfect advert all about making sure your cats are given the care and attention they need.

Part cringe inducing, part wonderfully apt callback to the best of the 80s, this Temptations-produced cover of Simple Minds’ classic (championed by the cult classic Breakfast Club movie) reflects a clear case of audience targeting – using nostalgia to capture the hearts and imaginations of  those now of an age where pet owning is an almost inevitable part of life. There’s also an important message about pet awareness that underpins the sentiments of the

Strange that Temptations chose Simple Minds though – why not go for ‘Eye of the Tiger’? ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’? ‘Everybody Wants to Be A Cat’? ‘What’s New Pussycat’? We think that’s a pretty comprehensive list of possible suggestions.

You can watch  the advert below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmtIGIhnxqA

Press: The Drum – Disney Thinks VR Is Here To Stay

During the Star Wars celebration last month, Lucasfilm and Disney announced their latest project – a virtual reality film written by David Goyer, whose previous credits include The Dark Knight, Blade, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, alongside VR specialists ILMxLAB. This made headlines as the first film commissioned, produced and written with the express intention of being consumed in a VR context. Though an incredibly experimental process, the appointment of one of the greatest movie writers of the last decade shows that Disney means business, presenting VR as a viable, tangible and commercially justifiable option for entertainment. Though an exciting prospect for audiences, the film’s announcement is also an incredibly pivotal moment for marketers – if VR is indeed here to stay, what does it mean for relationships between creatives and consumers? Audiences can now be immersed in an entirely new art form, and modern advertising must adapt to stay ahead of the game.

The trend for VR and 360 Degree video has been gaining momentum in the advertising world with considerable pace over the last year. With its much more immersive and interactive user experience, 360o has given creative agencies a new ease of life, albeit alongside a new set of challenges. To have a major film studio now adopting similar techniques adds an extra weight and validity to these endeavours, proving that VR is not just a gimmick but a popular way of engaging audiences.

Goyer has gone on record saying that his story about Darth Vader will ‘make you cry’. This is something that 360-degree video excels at – thrusting users into completely absorbing environments, circumstances and contexts that create emotional reactions and visceral connections between the user and the experience. Video is already a proven way of breaking through to audiences of different ages and demographics, and succeeds best when it depicts ideas, narratives or visual images that provide an empathetic and exciting link with consumers. VR is the next step of a running trend.

Read the full article here.