TV ads make greatest impression in UK

LONDON: Television commercials have been judged as the most impactful form of advertising for the fourth successive year by UK consumers, a report has revealed.

A report from professional services firm Deloitte, based on a survey of 4,000 people carried out with research firm GfK Media, revealed that 57% of the panel felt TV ads made the greatest impression.

Statistics for the print alternative proved to be markedly lower, with newspaper ads regarded as the most effective by only 15% of respondents, beating magazine ads on 13%.

Digital figures were more modest still, as 4% of people saw sponsored links from internet search engines as boasting the greatest impact, ahead of banner ads on 3% and ads in smartphone apps on 1%.

"Deloitte's view, based on our research, is that the traditional TV advertising model is neither broken nor breaking," said Paul Lee, the company's director of technology, media and telecommunications research.
"It has, for the fourth year running, maintained its ranking as the advertising medium with the greatest impact by a clear margin."

Overall, the analysis found that the average viewer watched 49 ads per day, not including fast-forwarded spots or video-on-demand ads streamed through mobile devices.

The report also showed that TV advertising is a significant driver of purchase and word of mouth, with 17% of people saying they had bought a product after seeing it on television, and 16% discussing spots with friends or colleagues.

As in the previous three years, it was 19-24 year olds who rated TV highest in terms of impact, with 56% affording it the leading role on this metric. Some 27% of 16 to 24-year-olds also agreed they would stop fast-forwarding pre-recorded TV in order to watch an interesting commercial.

Lee concluded that brands needed to invest to maintain viewer interest: "TV advertising's ability to entertain is a function of marketing executives' ability to sign-off budgets. In challenging economic times companies may focus more on the tactical, manifested by a skew to promotions-based adverts and they are not as palatable in large doses."

Data sourced from Deloitte; additonal content by Warc staff, 24 August 2012

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