yahoo!'s an ad is not just an ad research

advertising.yahoo.ca/insights

Nick Drew Research Manager

Yahoo! Canada

COMPARE PRODUCTS

TRUSTWORTHY RECOMMENDATIONS

Advertising Still Has a Role to Play

Consumer Needs

Product Information

Expert Views

Consumer Experiences

Buying Information

INFORMATION

RECOMMENDATIONS

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BRAND/ PRODUCT

Advertising 38%

Sales Assistant 41%

Brand Website 45%

Subject-specific forums

37%

FIRST AWARENESS

Advertising 43%

Store Promotion

36%

Mention on TV 38%

Mention in Print 35%

DISCOVERY

CONFIDENCE PRODUCT IS RIGHT FOR

ME

Despite the increasing focus on social tools and word of mouth, advertising is still a crucial

channel for consumers and brands. Yahoo!’s ‘Consumers Know Best’ study showed that

advertising remains the primary means for consumers to discover new products and brands.

...And It’s Everywhere

...And It’s Everywhere

The challenge for brands is to ensure that their messaging stands out, in a world in which

consumers are deluged with advertising from every medium and outlet.

The Fundamentals of (Offline) Advertising

Size matters.

The richness of an ad is important.

Environment plays a crucial role.

Offline, brands include three key considerations in their campaign planning to ensure that

their messaging is eye-catching, memorable and effective.

In Advertising, Size Matters

The Impact of Size Online

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Ad area

(000s pixels)

Full

page ad

Half page

(300x600)

LRec

(300x250)

L Rec

(336x280)

V Banner

Sm

Button

Source: Dynamic Logic normative data, N America, last 3 years, Q2 ‘11

WSky

Online, we can use Dynamic Logic’s normative ad effectiveness database to

compare the average impact of ads of different sizes. Here we’ve charted them by

total ad area in pixels.

The Impact of Size Online

-2%

-1%

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Ad area

(000s pixels)

Correlation= 0.92

Increase in brand

awareness from ad

exposure

Full

page ad

Half page

(300x600)

LRec

(300x250) WSky

L Rec

(336x280)

V Banner

Sm

Button

Source: Dynamic Logic normative data, N America, last 3 years, Q2 ‘11

There’s a very strong correlation between ad size and average lift in brand

awareness – the bigger an online ad is, the bigger impact it has, on average.

Size Matters

And we can appreciate, qualitatively, that there is a difference between a small

box...

Size Matters

...and a full-page ad.

Richness Offline

In recent years we’ve seen increasingly creative ad executions offline, as brands

strive to make formerly flat canvases more interactive engaging.

Richness Online

And online there are many options to do likewise, through use of flash, rich media

units and expandable and interactive ads.

Richness Online

Increase in brand awareness from exposure to ads

1.31% 1.52% 1.64% 1.83% 2.59%

Static image Simple flash Rich media Expandable In-stream video

Source: Dynamic Logic normative data, N America, last 3 years, Q2 ‘11

2x impact of

static ads

Returning to Dynamic Logic’s normative database, on average those ads that

utilise these technologies have a significantly greater impact than static units.

The Impact of Richer Ads

To understand this impact in more detail, we focused on two campaigns and inserted

three different ads from each into an otherwise identical test webpage. Participants

were asked to read the page and then asked a series of related questions.

The Impact of Richer Ads Unaided recall of advertised brand

30% 33% 43%

300x250 static 300x250 flash Rich media expandable

1.5x impact of

static ads

In our test environment, we found that the expandable versions of the ads were

significantly more memorable than their static or flash counterparts. (For each

campaign, the creative imagery and messaging was the same in each ad execution).

The Fundamentals

Size matters.

The richness of an ad is important.

Environment plays a crucial role.

Environment – What It Means

VS

VS

Offline, environment is hugely important; where an ad is placed has a massive impact

on whether it’s seen and noticed, and the expectations consumers have of the brand.

But Does It Matter Online?

Online Ad Awareness

Aided Brand Awareness

Brand Favorability

Purchase Intent

Ad Network

Portal

Lift in brand metrics from exposure to ads

Source: Dynamic Logic normative data, N America, last 3 years, Q2 ‘11

30% better

33% better

160% better

266% better

Online, Dynamic Logic’s normative data show that ads on portals do perform

significantly better on a range of metrics than those appearing on ad networks.

The Impact of Environment

Again we explored this in more detail by placing two ads (300x250 flash) into four

different test webpages, showing each page to a sample of consumers, and asking

them about the page and any advertising they recalled.

58%

36%

28%

28%

19%

71%

54%

45%

41%

28%

The text and images were easy to read

I liked the mix of text and images

I enjoyed it

My attention was captured and held by it

I wanted to visit this webpage again

Non-premium

Premium

The Promise of Premium

Two of the test pages were from premium news websites; two were from less popular

‘long-tail’ news sites. The premium sites had significantly better user scores on layout,

enjoyment and immersion.

58%

36%

28%

28%

19%

71%

54%

45%

41%

28%

The text and images were easy to read

I liked the mix of text and images

I enjoyed it

My attention was captured and held by it

I wanted to visit this webpage again

Non-premium

Premium

The Promise of Premium

Easier to read

Better layout

More enjoyable

More immersive

More repeat visits

58%

36%

28%

28%

19%

71%

54%

45%

41%

28%

The text and images were easy to read

I liked the mix of text and images

I enjoyed it

My attention was captured and held by it

I wanted to visit this webpage again

Non-premium

Premium

The Promise of Premium

17%

26%

Easier to read

Better layout

More enjoyable

More immersive

More repeat visits

More engaged users

And this results in a significantly larger number of visitors to the premium sites being

highly engaged with the content there.

+0.4 +3.9

Bigger Increase in Brand Choice

Non-Premium Sites Premium Sites

The Impact on Advertisers

35% 41%

Better Brand Recall

Non-Premium Sites Premium Sites

17% better than

non-premium

10x impact of

non-premium

The effect also stretches to the impact of ads on the pages. The same ad, when

placed in a premium online environment, performs significantly better than when seen

on a less-premium webpage.

The Fundamentals of (Online) Advertising

Size matters.

The richness of an ad is important.

Environment plays a crucial role.

What It All Means for Brands

What Do We Know?

• Bigger ads perform better

• Richer ads generate more engagement, greater impact

• Environment is key

These Ads Have One Thing in Common

Air New Zealand

2011 Webby Winner

Tippex

2011 Webby Winner

Burger King

2010 Cannes Lions Winner

Ultimately, the campaigns that stand out – to consumers, to marketers, (to awards

committees!) – are those that think outside the box, literally and figuratively, and use

size, technology and environment to build the best brand experience.

advertising.yahoo.ca/insights

Nick Drew Research Manager

Yahoo! Canada