By Paula Catoira, CMO, Rival Technologies and Reach3 Insights
Despite somewhat tough economic conditions around the world, ad investment is slated to exceed $1 trillion in 2024. Higher spend should mean more incoming revenue or, at the very least, heightened awareness among target audiences.
But, as advertisers are investing more, consumers are seeing more and more ads – so how can we break through the clutter?
Brand integrations represent a promising way of connecting with consumers. Faced with rising costs and an increasingly fragmented media landscape, many marketers are turning to the strategy of weaving a brand into the existing story lines of film, TV, streaming or influencer programming.
Sometimes referred to as product or sponsor integration, brand integration can involve James Bond driving an Aston Martin, for instance, or a sponsored segment during a major live event such as the Super Bowl. It’s important to note that more than seven out of ten viewers claim that they find such formats less intrusive than standard ads. What’s more, with many audiences moving from linear TV to streaming platforms — some of which remain ad-free — brand integrations can be an effective way to get in front of these often hard-to-reach audiences.
Blending seamlessly into programming can help mitigate tune-out and ad fatigue during commercial breaks. Exposure in-line with content that consumers are passionate about can also convey credibility while the ability to have a product become a part of the story can lead to emotional experiences. For example, a sports apparel brand might sponsor a segment of a sports documentary or have its products featured prominently in a fitness reality show. This form of advertising allows brands to inherit some of the characteristics of the content in which they are embedded and drive memorability… take Eggos in Stranger Things.
Meanwhile, for media brands, such integrations can provide an often much-needed revenue stream. On both sides of the transaction — for brands and their media partners — it’s important, of course, to be able to prove the ROI. This can be easier said than done.
The complexity of measuring brand integration impact
Brand integrations can represent a large portion of an advertiser’s budget, so proving value is critical. The cost of integrations and sponsorships can vary greatly depending on complexity, but to gain the desired results, brands can expect to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars. You need to know detailed performance insights to maximize this kind of spend.
It can be hard to test a brand integration idea using traditional research approaches. Brand integrations are less intrusive by design, which makes their direct impact on sales and revenue more difficult to measure compared to traditional advertisements. This necessitates the use of more meaningful metrics beyond just impressions. Traditional research approaches also fall short because there is no creative content to pre-test, making it challenging to evaluate the potential effectiveness of an integration before it is executed. Additionally, finding individuals who have been exposed to the integration to gather their feedback can be difficult.
Modernizing approaches to brand integration measurement
Here’s where implementing an in-the-moment research methodology such as what we call a ‘Watch Party’ can help. I’ve seen this kind of mobile-first, conversational research approach help both media brands and advertisers uncover detailed performance insights.
The approach involves recruiting viewers who are planning to watch a particular program and engaging them before, during and after the viewing, as needed. By sending timely, engaging surveys and prompts via SMS, researchers can capture immediate feedback — such as whether the integration sparked any emotional reactions, and the viewing context, including whether a participant is watching alone or with others.
With that in mind, here are three practical tips for marketers to make the most of this type of approach:
- Make it real-time: Pre-recruit research participants, and then engage them in the moment. Prepare them for the ‘live’ event or broadcast and communicate in the lead up. Then, as the event happens, use mobile capabilities to get real-time feedback. It’s worth noting that it is possible to use traditional access panels and supplement this with non-traditional sources such as QR codes or social media recruitment. The use of varied recruitment methods can allow brands to bring underrepresented cohorts into the research process.
- Keep it quick: Ensure that surveys are quick to answer and relevant and be agile and prepared to change on the fly depending on what happens live. It can be hard to keep people’s attention but integrated, immersive sponsor integrations can take on some of the characteristics of the programming, as we learn first-hand what viewers like and dislike. Fast, fun, engaging conversational surveys via text/SMS can reveal in-the-moment reactions; for instance by seeing the emotions on people’s faces in videos.
- Extend the convo: Maintain engagement with viewers by reaching out later to quantify behavior change and impact on brand lift. Capture both quant and qual to understand emotional drivers. Taking a conversational approach can allow for high recontact rates, sometimes over 60%. This ensures that advertisers can gather comprehensive data throughout the campaign lifecycle, with longitudinal data helping teams to understand consumer preferences and behaviors over time. Keep the conversation going: Do people remember the brands or messaging? Did they share anything they saw with others or on social media?
All that said, don’t forget to activate your insights. When you provide a variety of deliverables in easily digestible nuggets for stakeholders, a greater organizational-wide impact can be realized. Insights are only as good as the business decisions they influence.
Fortunately, when it comes to analytics and reporting, the blend of predictive quantitative data and rich, immersive video-based input creates incredible analysis possibilities with AI able to analyze large volumes of content quickly. As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, so too must our measurement of impact. Many of us can’t even remember what we ate for breakfast last week, let alone how an ad made us feel or act. Traditional surveys can miss the nuances of how ads are experienced in real-time, leaving teams with gaps in their understanding. So it’s great to see creative brand integrations and modern, in-the-moment, conversational research techniques paving the way for a more accurate and insightful evaluation of effectiveness; particularly in challenging times.
About the Author
Paula Catoira is the Chief Marketing Officer at Rival Group, the parent company of Rival Technologies and Reach3 Insights. She has over 20 years of experience in marketing and over a decade in the B2B SaaS industry. Prior to joining Rival Group, Paula worked as Chief of Staff for the CEO at Allocadia, leading strategic projects across the organization, advancing the company’s growth, and laying the foundation for a successful acquisition. As CMO at Rival, Paula is responsible for driving go-to-market strategy and execution, leading the marketing, sales development and revenue operations. Paula holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical and industrial engineering and an MBA from IBMEC in Brazil.
