CALIFORNIA: Interactive programme guides (IPG) are a powerful and effective advertising delivery vehicle, generating recall levels consistent with print advertising or television commercials.
According to an advertising effectiveness study conducted by IPSOS-REID, a leading industry advertising research firm, test advertising among Gemstar's TV Guide International (TVGI) households generated lifts in recall levels consistent with print advertising or an investment of between 200 to 400 Targeted Rating Points (TRP's) on television commercials. The benchmark market research initiative included six major brands that advertised on the IPG over a period of two weeks.
The study measured the effectiveness of advertising on TV Guide Interactive (TVGI) - one of the company's interactive programme guides (IPG) currently deployed in more than eight million digital cable set-top boxes in the US. The results were based on three key effectiveness measures that advertisers use as standard metric proofs of performance -
Related Recall specific to TVGI (asked to playback ads seen on TVGI and prove recall by noting elements contained within the ads);
Prompted Recall/Brand Recognition (asked to recognise the TVGI advertised brand when prompted with specific ad descriptors);
Related Recall across all media (asked to describe ads recalled for specific brands across all media. After this the level of elements associated with TVGI test ads was isolated).
The effectiveness of TVGI as an alternative medium for advertising was demonstrated on all three recall measures asked in this study. The study concluded that TVGI advertising represents an opportunity for advertisers to recapture the attention of viewers who regularly switch to TVGI during commercials and are less likely to see traditional advertising.
About two-thirds (66 per cent) of TVGI users surveyed in this study use the IPG (most of the time/always/sometimes) when a commercial comes on the channel they are watching. Further, ad recall rates are higher among those most likely to use TVGI during commercial breaks. The fact that one must focus specifically on the Guide in order to use it appears to contribute to the stronger than expected results (for a secondary media) achieved.
A total of 1,174 interviews were conducted among adults, 18+, 587 pre-advertising and 587 post-advertising.
Gemstar-TV Guide International is a global technology and media company focused on consumer entertainment. The company has three major business sectors: the Technology and Licensing Sector, which is responsible for developing, licensing and protecting the company's intellectual property and technology; the Interactive Platform Sector, which derives recurring income from advertising, interactive services, content sales and e-commerce on the Company's proprietary platforms, including IPG, tvguide.com.
