YuMe, Magid, & Razorfish find that connected TV must be thought of as a new platform, encouraging consumers to ‘sit back and engage’
REDWOOD CITY, CA – YuMe, Inc. (NYSE:YUME), a leading provider of digital video brand advertising solutions, in collaboration with Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. and Razorfish, shed light on the connected TV (CTV) consumer experience, through an extensive, in-person focus group research study. Conversations with consumers provide honest feedback around their interaction with CTV and ultimately inspire a set of CTV creative best practices.
“With any new platform, the temptation as a marketer is to make comparisons to things we’re familiar with and know how to address,” said Christine Dilandro, SVP, Head of Media & Integrated Marketing at Citi. “But often, those new platforms don’t fit neatly into existing categories; they bring a unique set of capabilities and consumer expectations. CTV is a perfect illustration of that point – it isn’t TV plus PC or TV plus mobile – it’s something different that begs for a different marketing approach. As a result of this study, we’ve got more clarity on how to execute successful programs on CTV.”
Brand advertisers consistently ask CTV-related questions, such as: how do you make ads engaging here and what will consumers pay attention to? This study, with participation from four leading brand advertisers (Best Buy, Citi, Truvia and a major quick service restaurant) not only addresses these questions but also provides both advertiser and creative agency with best practices for CTV-based creative. These best practices define guidelines that lead to the most effective and engaging creative for brand objectives. The study reveals a deeper understanding of what works best in creative development within the CTV space, including capturing attention, maintaining interaction and utilizing video.
“We always look to find new ways to engage consumers with our brand and provide engaging content for them,” said Mark Brooks, Global Business Director of the Truvia® brand, the leading stevia sweetener brand in the U.S. “Understanding how receptive consumers were to our creative and linking to Truvia® recipes are good learnings as we explore new technologies to reach consumers.”
The research conversation was broken into three parts. The first explored ways in which participants use and value the benefits of their CTVs, including advertising. The second was hands-on interaction with four CTV advertising viewing experiences and multiple creative examples. The third portion was a follow-up discussion with participants, probing their reactions and perceptions of various CTV ad creative executions.
“We’ve always pushed our clients to venture outside of their comfort zone to explore impressionable emerging technologies like CTV,” said Jeremy Lockhorn, VP of Emerging Media at Razorfish. “It’s our hope that our latest consumer research will provide guidance to those early adopters and serve as inspiration for those who have been hesitant to pursue these avenues. We’ve learned that consumers are receptive to CTV advertising and believe that the channel should be part of the consideration set for a wide variety of marketers.”
It was clear from most conversations that once CTVs enter the home, they infiltrate multiple viewing rooms. Group members, regardless of age, were rarely limited to one CTV or device. “I have a smart TV, a PS3, a couple of Macs and whatnot. I have tablets; I have some PS3 games. I have an Apple TV as well,” states one study participant.
“CTV consumers are driven by the choice and control that these TV arrangements bring to their home viewing options. You can also hear how choice and control in CTV advertising is also a priority for them. They are moving rapidly along a learning and expectation curve that advertisers are wise to keep tabs on,” says Maryann Baldwin, VP of Magid Media Futures™ at Frank N. Magid Associates.
Key observations from consumers show their low tolerance for interruption and the desire to be shown relevant calls-to-action, rather than something completely unrelated to the viewing content.
“You’ve got to remember we are watching TV first of all, so we don’t want to veer all off and go up a mountain, we still want to watch TV,” says a study participant (age 18-39, heavy CTV viewer).
The CTV best practices created from watching real consumers interact with this creative include capturing attention with animation, keeping interactions simple and relevant, and utilizing video to drive engagement.
To watch the research study highlight video, visit www.yume.com/CTVEngage. For all CTV best practices and the full research report, visit:http://www.yume.com/
How was the study conducted?
The study took place December 2013 in Santa Monica, CA. Four media clinic discussion groups were formed by heavy CTV, mixed and traditional viewers ages 18-39 and 40-55. 50% of group members lived in homes with teens, 19% in homes with kids under 12, 38% lived in homes with adults over 18 and 100% subscribed to cable/satellite TV service.
About Frank N. Magid Associates
Founded in 1957, Frank N. Magid Associates provides research-driven, strategic media counsel on the evolving consumer mindset for clients in 37 countries. The company helps businesses that are struggling to make sense of a constantly evolving marketplace connect with an increasingly elusive, splintered consumer who is seemingly hidden behind an expansive array of technologies. Magid not only provides businesses with an understanding of the attitudes, opinions, and actions of today’s technology-saturated consumers, but also offers research-driven strategic advice on how to successfully brand, advertise, market, and design their products and services. For more information, please visit Magid on the Web at www.magid.com.
About Razorfish
Motivated and inspired by what’s next, Razorfish helps its clients navigate the unknown, drive change and transform business. One of the first pioneers of marketing in the digital age, Razorfish has a unique blend of technology, creativity and media at its core. The agency’s world class capabilities in strategic consulting, experience design, brand building, technology platforms, data services, retail/commerce and media services enable transformational work for clients including Delta Air Lines, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz USA, Microsoft, Nike China, Unilever and Uniqlo. Razorfish’s team of 3000 experts spans 19 regions, including Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Razorfish is part of Publicis Groupe. For more information, visit Razorfish.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Razorfish. Here for tomorrow.™
About YuMe
YuMe, Inc. (NYSE: YUME) is a leading provider of digital video brand advertising solutions. Its proprietary data-science driven technologies and large audience footprint drive inventory monetization and enable advertisers to reach targeted, brand receptive audiences across a wide range of Internet-connected devices. Designed to serve the specific needs of brand advertising, YuMe’s technology platform simplifies the complexities associated with delivering effective digital video advertising campaigns in today’s highly-fragmented market. YuMe is headquartered in Redwood City, CA with European headquarters in London and nine additional offices worldwide. For more information, visit YuMe.com/pr, follow @YuMeVideo and like YuMe on Facebook. Current YuMe logos can be found atwww.yume.com/news/logos.
YuMe is a trademark of YuMe. All other brands, products or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words “may”, “might”, “will”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “objective”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict”, “project”, “potential”, “continue” and “ongoing”, or the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology intended to identify statements about the future. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about YuMe’s growth strategy, including global expansion and technological development; anticipated trends and challenges in our industry, including those associated with CTV, the increasing quantity, variety and fragmentation of digital video content, platforms and technologies; expansion of the digital media advertising market in general and the digital video advertising market in particular; our competition; market trends, including overall opportunities for digital media advertising and shifting advertising budgets; the ongoing improvement and refinement of our data-science capabilities; developments in the regulatory framework applicable to our business; and our intellectual property and proprietary technologies. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to YuMe as of the date hereof, and YuMe assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
