Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about new ad testing methods

Article • WARC Best Practice, January 2019

This article summarises key insights from a series of papers on new ad testing methods which are driven by advances in technology and neuroscience and must focus on consumers' rational and emotional drivers.

What we know about neuromarketing

Article • WARC Best Practice, December 2018

This article explores the emerging use of neuroscience in market research, a discipline capable of exposing the underlying motivations behind consumer decision making.

How to use neuroscience to improve your advertising

Article • Heather Andrew, WARC Best Practice, December 2018

This paper addresses the implications of this changing research landscape and, in particular, how neuroscience principles can help marketers and advertisers to:.

Measuring the impact of storytelling on the consumer’s brain

Research Paper • Garth Viegas, Research on WARC, July 2019

Tata Global Beverages, the Indian drinks giant, investigated the impact of story-telling when used in television commercials.

Viewpoint: Is it time to call time on reaction time?

Article • Alastair Goode, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 61, No. 4, 2019, pp. 356-358

With the increase in the usage of millisecond reaction time based testing this article critically evaluates the thinking behind reaction time testing, concluding that stronger definitions of what is being measured are needed and more clarity in the terminology surrounding the conscious / unconscious distinction.

“I know what you’re going to ask me” Why respondents don’t read survey questions

Research Paper • Kylie Brosnan, Nazila Babakhani and Sara Dolnicar, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 61, No. 4, 2019, pp. 366-379

Tracking respondents' eyes while they complete a survey reveals that (a) they do not read instructions, survey questions, and answer options carefully enough, investing only as little as 32% of the required time; (b) their attention diminishes over the course of the survey; and (c) their self-reports of the survey experience do not reflect actual survey completion behavior.

R3's Future 40

Article • Research on WARC, July 2019

A report on 40 emerging technology companies that are transforming how marketers drive engagement and conversion.

Mobile advertising: Do or die in the first second

Article • Anil Thakraney, WARC Exclusive, July 2019

Research from the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) and Advertising Research Foundation suggests that advertisers have less time than they think to influence consumers on mobile.

Why do people watch so much television and video? Implications for the future of viewing and advertising

Research Paper • Patrick Barwise, Steven Bellman, and Virginia Beal, Journal of Advertising Research, Digital First, June 2019

Television and video watching over the past 25 years has increased while other media consumption has declined.

From brand safety to brand suitability: why avoiding hard news could be damaging your brand

Article • Denise Turner, WARC Exclusive, June 2019

Brands have become increasingly concerned about where their online ads are being placed, but this concern can be over-cautious when advertisers blacklist content on premium publisher sites without an understanding of the context of the editorial.

Canon Vs Smartphone

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2019

Canon, a camera brand, launched a three phase campaign in the Nordics that smashed preconceptions and let people rent a Canon to prove its superiority over a smartphone camera.

Straight to the heart of your target audience: Personalized advertising systems - Based on wearable technology and heart-rate variability

Article • Davide C. Orazi and Greg Nyilasy, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 59, No. 2, 2019, pp. 137-141

This article examines how wearable technology can help marketers match message content with the audience’s personal dispositions or emotional states.

How do consumers choose sellers in e-marketplaces? The role of display price and sellers' review volume

Research Paper • Saravana Jaikumar, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 59, No. 2, 2019, pp. 232-241

In e-marketplaces, consumers often have to choose a seller from which to purchase a product. The author argues that seller choice depends on both evaluations of the display price of the product, related to anchoring, and sellers’ review volume, related to assimilation-contrast.

Radio ads need to 'come out swinging'

News • 10 June 2019

Neuroscience tells us that people are in a more receptive frame of mind when listening to radio than watching TV, but radio ads still need to “come out swinging”, according to a specialist in this market.

Hear and now – how situational relevance can bolster radio ad effectiveness

Article • Mark Barber and Heather Andrew, Admap, June 2019

Reveals insights and findings from Radiocentre and Neuro-Insight's research into the effects of editorial context on radio advertising effectivness.

Redefining Active Listening: Integrating consumers’ verbal and non-verbal cues with active listening

Research Paper • Mannon Wong, Roland Leung and Mary Li, ESOMAR, Asia Pacific, 2019

An experiment used emotion recognition in qualitative in-depth interviews to gauge participants' responses to seasonal promotion ideas for two theme parks.

Timberland: Unspeakable Truths – Neuro-science and AI enable better identification of the emotions conveyed by advertising

Research Paper • Whitney Xi, Rupam Borthakur, Mike Underhill, Tarun Menon, Bruce Bogle, Natalie Ho and Subba Kumari, ESOMAR, Asia Pacific, 2019

Timberland, the shoe brand, tested the role emotions played in its ads in China, and revealed that ads which make audiences smile – while keeping frowns and disgust to a minimum – amplify potential success.

Please Don’t Make Me Think About Thinking! Use of neuro-physiological indices reveal deeper insights into the emotional responses of consumer for flavour evaluation

Research Paper • Siew Hoong Chan and Nasrin Shafeghat, ESOMAR, Asia Pacific, 2019

Takasago International (Singapore) collaborated with Macromill and Centan in a neuro-physiological study evaluating consumers’ flavour preferences in Indonesia.

Givaudan: Givaudan 250 Odyssey

Case Study • SABRE Awards, In2 EMEA, Best in Brand Narratives, Gold

Givaudan, the Swiss flavours and fragrances manufacturer, increased engagement by celebrating its 250th anniversary by creating a campaign story that connected past, present and future.

Mobile ads must work in under a second

News • 21 May 2019

Advertisers have less than half a second to make an impact among consumers on mobile, according to a study conducted by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

How Initial tackled washroom disgust

News • 17 May 2019

Smells (and bad smells especially) are an emotive subject for consumers – and nowhere is that more evident than in washrooms, an often neglected part of the user experience in retail outlets.

Why the first half-second of a mobile ad is a must-win moment

Article • Geoffrey Precourt, Event Reports, MMA Impact, March 2019

Research led by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the industry body, found that ads typically have less than a second to engage consumers on mobile.

Audio ads relating to consumer activity are more effective

News • 14 May 2019

Advertising that connects content with activities being carried out by an audience boosts its effectiveness in terms of engagement and recall, according to new research.

Mining emotions via voice and smell with Johnson & Johnson and Initial

Article • Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, MRS Impact, March 2019

Two examples of how brands are using an innovative approach to understand consumer emotions.

Expert Blindness: the silent threat to success

Opinion • Dr Carl Marci, May 2019

Too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing, as it skews how you see the world. Nielsen’s Carl Marci explores a study that his organization undertook with Honda and RPA, which shed light on the topic.