MIAMI – A recent study that Starcom Mediavest Group conducted with Twitter and Canvas shows a 48% lift in brand recall for ads appearing in television programming that viewers relate to emotionally and that prompts them to tweet while watching.
It’s one of the most recent insights from Starcom’s three-year relationship with Twitter to learn more about consumer behavior, including “when you have three or four screens in use at the same time while people are watching television,” says Amanda Richman, President, Investment & Activation, Starcom.
“Programming where people are tweeting their emotions and showing they are highly engaged, and the relationship of that programming to actually driving brand recall, was interesting,” Richman explains during a break at the annual Transformation conference of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. “We saw a 48% lift in brand recall for people who are actually engaged in shows emotionally.”
Richman uses the term “thumb-stopping creative” to describe the challenge that brand marketers face in trying to engage consumers in a quick-scrolling environment. It’s less a question of how many people you can reach but how you try to connect with them.
“We starting to look at it not just from a scale perspective but how do you actually connect in those cultural moments. Which is really what Twitter’s about,” Richman says.
In its work with Twitter, Starcom values the ability to be on the edge of pop culture in real time so it can bring brands into user conversations in the most relevant way, beyond just Sponsored Tweets. However, regardless of the platform, Richman believes that brand creative should derive more from thinking like journalists—pyramid style, with the most pertinent facts at the top—and less like traditional TV commercial creators.
Such an approach requires “thinking not necessarily as this art of building up, as we might have with a 30-second spot for telling a story, but putting the true value at the very front end because you have limited time and attention and you’re scrolling pretty fast,” Richman says. “You need to provide value instantly.”
This video was recorded at the 4A’s Transformation conference in Miami. For additional interviews, please visit this page. Beet.TV’s coverage of the 4A’s was sponsored by The Trade Desk.
