Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

How creativity drives advertising effectiveness

Article • Research on WARC, July 2020

The crisis in creative effectiveness has been played out during the first several months of the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.

Where behavioural science fits between 'normality' and continued worry

News • 06 July 2020

Pubs and hairdressers have reopened in many parts of the UK in a move that points towards a return to normality, but a YouGov poll last week indicated public ambivalence as people continue to feel worried and uncertain; in times like this, ...

YouGov Ad of the Month – UK: McDonald’s

Opinion • BrandIndex, July 2020

During June, McDonald’s achieved the highest uplift in Ad Awareness of any brand in the UK with a +9.4 point rise.

How FMCG brands can blend traditional retail and e-commerce post-COVID-19

Article • Ed Cox, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

COVID-19 has prompted many brands to beef up their e-commerce presence or direct to consumer strategies to supplement traditional retail channels.

Re-imagining OOH as a hyper-local medium

Opinion • Alex Brownsell, July 2020

To bounce back from an unfortunate annus horribilis, brands and media owners must take a new, more localised approach to OOH advertising.

How marketers can win with Gen Z and Millennials post-COVID-19

Article • Carmen Bona, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

Research from Boston Consulting Group and Snapchat into the consumption shifts of Gen Z and millennials driven by COVID-19.

The Times uses the COVID-19 ‘news surge’ to boost subscription revenues

Article • Alex Brownsell, Event Reports, Mediatel’s Future of Publishing online conference, June 2020

Why Times Newspapers opted against dropping its paywall for coronavirus-related content during the pandemic.

Four ways TV content providers can improve user experience

Article • Alex Brownsell, Event Reports, Mediatel Videoscape Europe online conference, June 2020

Understanding TV viewer personas and how these will shape the future of content discovery.

Brits spend a quarter of the day online

News • 25 June 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has sent internet use rocketing in the UK, a new report from Ofcom says – and some observers think it could grow further in the weeks ahead.

How FMCG brands can respond to change after COVID-19

Opinion • Jess Smith, June 2020

The pandemic has changed consumer behaviour and there will be further changes in their wants and needs in the months ahead.

How to connect and communicate in these challenging times

Article • WARC COVID-19 Series, June 2020

Shows how behaviours are changing during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and provides a behavioural road map for how to communicate today and in the foreseeable future.

Digital’s flexibility has made it indispensable to weather the COVID-19 storm

Opinion • Lee Lythe, June 2020

Digital is the ideal channel as advertisers switch to outcomes-based media buying, writes Lee Lythe, Chief Investment Officer at Spark Foundry UK.

Amazon’s Twitch to show Premier League games

News • 22 June 2020

Twitch is primarily known for video game streaming, but with the return of the English Premier League, the Amazon-owned service is opening up possibilities for shared viewing and the creation of community in new spaces.

Rebuilding customer experience for the COVID-19 recovery

Article • Charlotte Lo, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

As COVID-19 upends the customer experience, brands need to think beyond short term fixes, according to research by BBH London.

Pandemic drives UK news readership to record high

News • 17 June 2020

Daily consumption of national print and digital news brands in the UK soared to over 30 million in the first quarter of the year, its highest ever number, according to the latest data from the Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo).

Can niche communities replace social media?

Opinion • Benji Vaughan, June 2020

It’s hard now to imagine life before social media, but as research signals a growing level of disillusionment with the big platforms, Benji Vaughan wonders if the future could lie with communities built around specific interests.

Sports behind closed doors: Survival of the most agile

Opinion • Karl Knights, June 2020

As the Premier League gears up to restart, brands must adjust to a new sports viewing experience, writes Karl Knights, VP Revenue, EMEA, at 4C Insights .

How cinema can challenge the rise of in-home movie premieres

Article • Alex Brownsell, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

Advice for cinema companies on how to revive consumer interest in the medium after COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have been lifted.

Business fears erosion of trust over ‘Test, Track and Trace’ scheme

News • 10 June 2020

Businesses in the UK, already struggling financially as a result of lockdown, also fear that the progress they have made in gaining consumer trust about how their personal data is handled could be undermined by the government’s Test, Track and ...

Not just a pretty face: Why brands need to look for usefulness over aspiration in influencer partners

Opinion • Lore Oxford, June 2020

Influencer marketing isn’t dead, but it’s changing, writes Lore Oxford, Global Head of Cultural Insights at We Are Social.

Building shelf awareness: Quantifying radio’s last-minute influence for FMCG brands

Article • Mark Barber, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

A review of insights and best practice findings from Radiocentre and Shoppercentric’s research into the effects of radio’s last-minute reach of shoppers for FMCG brands.

The kids are alright: The Beano’s insights on Gen Alpha in lockdown

Article • Brian Carruthers, WARC COVID-19 Series, the Digital Transformation Conference, June 2020

Beano, the children’s publisher, has undertaken research into how its target audience is coping with life during lockdown.

Why ‘Gamer Moms’ are an untapped audience for advertisers

Article • Alex Brownsell, Event Reports, Mediatel’s The Future of Gaming online conference, May 2020

An Activision Blizzard Media report into mothers’ online gaming behaviour, and how this audience can be reached by brands.

Co-op: Optimised for attention

Article • Caroline Beesley, WARC Exclusive, June 2020

Looks at Co-op's approach of testing new innovations to better understand consumer attention.

Ad-free video streaming services risk losing almost £100m

News • 05 June 2020

Providers of subscription-based streaming services in the UK could lose up to £97.3m in revenue because British consumers are now more open to ad-supported content and are no longer prepared to pay as much for their monthly fee.