BEST OF 2017: Effective marketing rarely involves an either/or choice of media, and WARC’s most-read articles on this subject in 2017 indicated that effectiveness will often require a balanced mix in which TV is likely to play a prominent role.

A chapter from WARC’s Toolkit 2017 report was the most-read article on this subject during the year. ROI in 2017: Effectiveness in the digital age discussed how to strike the right balance between close targeting and mass reach, and between short- and long-term strategies, warning that brands are over-investing in short-term ‘activation’ media.

In second place, WARC’s analysis of the biennial IPA Effectiveness Awards, 2016 IPA Effectiveness Awards: Insights from the winning campaigns, found that TV-led campaigns are still very successful at generating ROI for a brand.

Another meta-analysis was in third spot: Cannes Lions 2017: Insights from the Creative Effectiveness winners reported that online video is now a key channel for creative effectiveness and is typically used alongside social media, PR and TV; TV and online video were the most used ‘lead’ media among the shortlisted entries.

The work of two eminent researchers in this field was fourth. Marketing in the Digital Age: Binet and Field on how media choices impact effectiveness explained that penetration and reach is a far more important driver of effectiveness than loyalty and that mass reach channels such as TV still deliver much bigger business results than newer digital channels.

In fifth place was a WARC Best Practice paper explaining how to position a brand and arguing that effective positioning needs to be distinctive, appealing and relevant.

Sourced from WARC