The Long Lunch

We were delighted to host the Long Lunch 2024 to help present new research into people’s attention levels while watching AV.

The results of the research, called “Nine Reasons to Pay Attention to TV”, were presented by Amplified Intelligence’s Karen Nelson-Field on front of a packed house in the Aviva Stadium.

The research was carried out by RED C and Amplified Intelligence and underscored the important role that TV advertising continues to play in the marketing mix.

The research focuses purely on the Irish market and Dr Karen Nelson-Field highlighted that even when brands successfully engage in even “low-attention processing”, it marks the beginning of a journey toward significantly improving the effectiveness of their campaigns.

According to the research, linear TV captures the largest share of attention across all platforms with 78.4% followed by broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) at 10.7%.

The research also noted that for brands advertising on TV, the viewer is 30% more likely to buy from that brand while in certain categories like finance, this could rise to as much as 68%.

According to the research, lighter and younger viewers pay the most attention. They have actively chosen TV or BVOD content to view and therefore give it more “active attention” than heavier and older viewers.

In addition, the research notes that TV is a “slow attention decay platform” and attention levels remain consistent across TV platforms regardless of the length of the ad while dropping rapidly on social media platforms.

“This means TV is very strong for telling stories and delivering emotional creative ensuring strong branding moments for advertisers,” the research notes.

It also found that the gap between program and ad attention is very small. While there is usually a gap between attention to programming and attention to ads, the research found that the more popular the content, the smaller the gap typically is. Irish audiences watch programming in a very similar way to the ads – i.e a very small gap. Because of this, the research found that better performing content drives better attention to ads.

The research also found that bespoke channels and genres act as their own formats, driving the range of attention a brand is likely to achieve by advertising.

“Within genres themselves the range of attention can vary greatly, therefore understanding the schedule and ensuring a few key programmes are included on your plan is essential to driving active attention,” the research notes.

Not surprisingly, the research also highlighted that emotion in creative helps drive impact, particularly in high attention media such as TV and BVOD.

“Karen’s research underscores the effectiveness of TV in Ireland and with the unique blend of high attention and mass reach it’s the perfect combination for advertisers to grow their brands,” says Jill McGrath, CEO of TAM Ireland.

“The study shows the true power of the medium highlighting the active engagement of Irish viewers with TV content,” she adds.

You can find all the photos from the day here

You can find all the slides from the research presentation here

TV captures the attention of your target audience

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