Reason for Apple's TV Ad Success

Based on applying findings from a Boston College study of television viewing, I conclude that most Apple television commercials are remarkably well-suited to generating brand awareness even when people fast-forward past advertisements.

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Professors Adam Brasel and James Gips conducted three related studies, which appear in the November issue of Journal of Marketing (PDF of the article.) Briefly, the BC professors found that DVR users fast-forwarding through commercials pay more attention to the TV. Centrally placed brands get noticed more.

Some advertisers have sought to stop fast-forwarding or cut back advertising in response to the DVR practice. "Rather than attempting to eliminate fast-forwarding, a more productive strategy for marketers may be to make their television commercials as effective as possible when consumers view them in a fast-forwarded mode," the authors write.

The professors conducted three studies to see how fast-forwarding affects brand/product recognition, with special attention given to brand placement. The first two studies revealed that viewers tend to strongly remember brands placed in the center area of the screen and nearly not at all elsewhere. The researchers write:

Although fast-forwarding harms ad effectiveness overall, there is considerable variance between commercials. Fast-forwarding viewers focus their attention on a small central portion of the screen. Only brand information within this central diagnostic area is visually attended to, and the disparity in visual attention between central and peripheral brand information attention is strongest for fast-forwarding viewers.

The professors found that DVR fast-forwarders paid attention to centrally placed brands for 67 percent of video frames and 54 percent of frames when auto-fast-forwarding. By comparison, fast-forwarders paid attention to 1 percent of frames where brands appeared somewhere else on the screen. Shocker: Normal viewers, those who didn't fast-forward, only paid attention to centrally placed brands for 45 percent of frames but 6 percent of frames when placed elsewhere.

The third test introduced a fascinating nuance: commercials for products not sold in the United States. Researchers chose candy bars Aero and Flake, which are U.K. origin but are also sold in Canada. I grew up along the New Brunswick border. My friends and I would forage into Canada for Aero bars—and Coffee Crisp, too. Americans are deprived. Oh, Canada has great chocolate.

The researchers conducted two commercial tests, one where "brand information was on screen and central for 12 of the commercial's 30 seconds, and one with limited branding, in which the brand information was on screen for 3 seconds," the professors write. Fast-forwarding viewers correctly chose—remembered—the candy bars 67 percent of the time compared with 64 percent for people watching the whole commercial. The professors explain the significance:

Although the chocolate bar commercials were reduced to approximately 1.5 seconds without audio for fast-forwarding viewers and though the viewers had no prior brand exposure, participants chose the chocolate bar with the heavily branded commercial at a ratio of two to one over the chocolate bar with the limited-branding commercial.

Fast-forwarding doesn't have to be bad for advertisers. "Although the advertisements last little more than a second and lose all audio and narrative consistency, those with strong central branding can break through fast-forwarding and still achieve brand memory," the researchers write.

So, what does this mean for Apple? The company's commercials tell the story. The newest iPhone and iPod Touch commercials keep the products in the center of the screen for nearly the spots' entirety, until the logo splashes across the center of the screen. Even without audio, the fast-forwarding viewer is exposed to the product for lots longer than Aero and Flake bars in professors Brasel and Gip's tests.

Another: The MacBook Air commercial dazzles. Even fast-forwarded, the removal from the manila envelope impacts; the notebook stays center screen for most of the ad, and Apple branding is visible for several seconds.

By comparison, Apple's "Get a Mac" ads offer a brief logo at the end of a conversation between two people, representing a Mac and PC. The BC researchers found that light branding—brand exposure for 3 seconds—was much less effective on fast-forwarding and regular viewers (about 32 percent and 35 percent, respectively). This ad should have less impact on fast-forwarders, presumably.

Commercials for iTunes fall between the device and Mac ads. While the Apple logo briefly appears, the distinctive style is unmistakable. If you've seen one iTunes ad, you'll recognize the rest. And that recognition reinforces the brand. Generally, dancers stay to the center of the screen, and they typically hold iPods.

Now compare Apple commercials to Microsoft's "I'm a PC" TV spots. The ads heavily rely on the viewer watching and listening to them. The actual Windows logo and brand flashes for about 2 seconds at the commercials' end.

Some people will say, "Big deal, who uses DVRs anyway?" According to Leichtman Research Group, 27 percent of U.S. households have a DVR and 30 percent of DVR households have more than one unit. LRP released the findings in early October.

One-quarter of U.S. households is a big number for advertisers. What makes the Apple commercials stand out—in my application of the Boston College research to them—is their potential branding effectiveness for DVR fast-forwarders and regular viewers. Apple generally places products and logos at the center of the screen for long periods of time. According to Brasel and Gip's research, both types of viewers have high brand retention when brands are centrally placed for at least 12 seconds. In addition, fast-forwarders are more likely to pay attention to centrally placed content than do regular viewers. That makes most of Apple's current crop of TV commercials suitable to garnering brand recognition among fast-forwarders, as well as regular viewers.

It's an easy experiment, if you have a DVR. Fast-forward through Apple ads and also those from, say, Microsoft. The Apple ads have more impact. I would say the same about some of the T-Mobile G1 commercials. The "Questions" ad exposes the phone and/or brand for the last 10 seconds of the spot. That's right up there with the BC professors' heavily branded Aero and Flake commercials, for length of brand exposure. Also, the first 20 seconds of the commercial plays well to people actually watching.

I rather enjoyed fast-forwarding through commercials to see how they compared. Try it. Channel surfing is boring, anyway.

[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at live.com].

Posted by Joe Wilcox on November 16, 2008 9:09 PM