Media choices remain driven by perception over evidence – that matters for recovery

New research from the consultancy Ebiquity finds that major gaps still exist between marketers’ perceptions of media attributes and their effectiveness – facing into recession, understanding these gaps is more important than ever.

At a glance

In 2018, Ebiquity and Radiocentre’s initial Re-evaluating Media report sketched out the perceived advantages of typically digital media in meeting campaign objectives, and how they often diverged from reality. In 2020, those same ideas persist, but with current uncertainties and an economic slowdown, the risks from misplaced investments are far higher.

Method

The study is based on interviews with over 100 marketers and agency professionals who were asked to trade off between 12 different media attributes across a total of 12 evaluated media channels.

Most important attributes

“Five attributes stand out clearly as the most valuable for achieving success during uncertain times [among both agencies and brands]:

• Increases brand salience;
• Targets the right people in the right place at the right time;
• Triggers a positive emotional response;
• Increases campaign ROI;
• Maximises campaign reach”.

The main shift has been the growth of brand salience, an “overdue acknowledgment” of salience and distinctiveness for the long-term health of brands, which Ebiquity finds even price-driven brands working a lot harder to achieve.

Sourced from Ebiquity