IPA Databank study 2017

Editor's Notes

• #2 This study looks at the recent business effectiveness of UK print and digital newsbrands. It cannot be compared with similar studies that analyse media effectiveness across the entire global database since 1980. Peter Field analysed 108 UK cases from the IPA effectiveness awards databank, 2012-2016 (52% of all entries for this period), to look at the business effectiveness of UK newsbrands. Total cases = 84 using newsbrands, compared with 24 non-users: 57 using print 71 using digital newsbrands 44 using both print and digital newsbrands All data is based on reported “very large” business effects.
• #3 UK newsbrands are a powerful weapon in the battle against short-termism, because they deliver growth in very large business effects that are vital to long-term brand success. It’s not just about immediate sales at any cost. Campaigns that use newsbrands are significantly more likely to drive sustainable share growth, attracting new customers but also increasing loyalty among existing customers. They reduce price sensitivity and therefore reduce the need to rely on short-term cost-cutting promotions. This means bigger profits. One of the key contributors to short-termism has been the rise of digital, with its instant numbers and real-time trackability. But not all digital is equal. Digital newsbrands work differently – they provide the right context to drive the same powerful business effects as print does. We know from Lumen eye-tracking research that newsbrand sites attract more in-depth attention, with double the viewing time per page than non-newsbrand sites, which in turn gives 60% higher viewable time for ads and an average dwell time per ad that is 30% higher. This quality, high attention context provides a favourable environment for delivering longer-term business effects as well as sales. What’s more, UK newsbrands have a unique advantage – both print and digital platforms perform very well in delivering these important business effects, but the combination of print and digital formats provides advertisers with a very strong multiplier effect.
• #4 The updated analysis shows very clearly that newsbrands are a highly effective multiplier for other media. Not only do they drive effects such as share growth, penetration and profit in their own right, but they also make other media in the schedule perform more effectively. This is seen both with “Legacy” media such as TV, where newsbrands increase business effectiveness by 54% and with key digital media. Once again, having the quality environment of newsbrands in the mix makes other digital media work harder. There are several potential reasons for this, which we will continue to explore. But we already have strong evidence that longer attention times (Lumen eye-tracking, MOAT for WMG) plus the impact on brand perceptions of the trusted newsbrand context (The company you keep research), might prime people to respond more positively to seeing the advertising in social media, other online display etc
• #5 A really powerful example of the strength and difference of digital newsbrands is the impact they have in combination with TV advertising. When TV is coupled with online display on sites that are non-newsbrands the impact on business effects is much smaller than when digital newsbrands are included in the online mix. Given the issues surrounding programmatic and algorithms, there is a strong brand health case for being much more selective in digital media. This IPA databank analysis suggests that there is also a very strong business case.
• #6 Everyone knows that newspaper print circulations have declined, (though over 14 million people do still read a print edition daily, which is still a significant proportion of the UK population, especially considering much-hyped digital sites like Buzzfeed only reach 163k daily, according to NRS PADD). But does a decline in scale mean a decline in effectiveness? Clearly not. Just as growing digital numbers in themselves don’t mean heightened impact on brand business results. Overall, ad effectiveness is in decline. But this latest analysis shows that in fact, print effectiveness is growing over time across key business measures. This is also apparent for other “legacy media” – as digital media expands, TV, newspapers and the like are actually working harder in the media mix. There is often an assumption that digital channels are most appropriate for bringing in new customers, especially those trendy digital natives who apparently don’t watch, listen to or read “traditional media”. But the data shows that in fact print is increasingly effective at delivering new customers to brand advertisers. Campaigns including print were 39% more effective at delivering new customers than campaigns without print in the 6 years ending 2004. But this rose to a hefty 67% differential in the 6 years to 2016. The danger is that the rush to digital means that print is used less and less by advertisers – and they will reap lower profits as a result.
• #7 There is increasing evidence that using more than one newsbrand platform delivers more than the sum of two parts. In our 2016 multi-platform brand health study (newsworks.org.uk/effectiveness), we saw that print plus digital newsbrands produce a 3.4 times multiplier effect on brand health measures. This is almost exactly mirrored by Peter Field’s latest analysis of the business effects delivered by newsbrands. Using both print and digital newsbrands in the campaign mix delivers 3.5 times the uplift in very large business effects of using just one platform.
• #8 The multiplier effect is also growing. Just looking at the last two effectiveness awards, we can see that using both print and digital more than doubles the uplift in business effects compared with campaigns who don’t use newsbrands at all.