Advertising in today’s TV landscape is challenging for most – but one marketing strategy is breaking through the noise and showing steady, even substantial growth.
Marketers face an increasingly challenging task today in grabbing the attention of their consumers and cutting through the incessant advertising messages they encounter daily.
Consumer attention has become a scarce, valuable resource. So, how can we break through the noise and seize their attention?
The solution lies in embedding brands within content that consumers have deliberately chosen to engage with. Via in-content advertising (ICA), brands become an integral part of beloved and widely-watched TV programmes, spanning both free-to-air and pay TV channels.
This integration guarantees the viewers’ undivided attention as the ad cannot be blocked or skipped. In-content advertising stands out as an unparalleled method to maintain a consistent presence in the TV landscape, delivering exceptional audience ratings and enduring brand recall figures.
And in 2024, this will incorporate further innovative solutions, such as harnessing virtual green screen technology.
In-content advertising has experienced increasing popularity since its local inception in 2018, with a continual rise in the number of campaigns each year.
This growth attests to the effectiveness of the medium, garnering consistent support from clients who now consider it an integral part of their monthly TV advertising strategy.
Affordably effective
Even in the face of challenges like load shedding and shrinking TV budgets, in-content advertising remains a highly efficient and cost-effective means of promoting brands without straining budgets.
The average Cost Per Point (CPP) during the July to September 2023 period was R2 305.00, making it an affordable option that assists marketers in achieving their key performance indicators (KPIs).
These CPP rates also enable brands to maintain a longer on-air presence, mitigating the impact of erratic load shedding schedules and potential audience loss.
In-content advertising consistently delivers expanded reach and TV ratings (TVRs) across various campaigns and brands, regardless of the allocated budget. This success is attributed to its ability to provide prime audiences affordably, including those catching up on their favourite shows during daytime repeats or weekend omnibus playouts.
These repeat broadcasts and omnibus playouts are offered as added value to clients, reducing CPPs and recovering lost audiences during prime-time airings disrupted by load shedding.
The detail’s in the data
Research remains a cornerstone for us, with all in-content advertising validated by Nielsen, and this data is accessible through Telmar and Arianna. Moreover, brand lift studies and eye-tracking results for all campaigns provide marketers with insights into brand and message recall, along with creative insights from research panels.
Having conducted over 300 campaigns, Whisper Media can provide industry norms for brand and message recall in in-content advertising placements.
Results from a 2021 Kantar study indicated substantial increases in all brand lift measurements when in-content advertising was combined with traditional TV commercials – sometimes doubling the results.
The hits keep coming
In-content advertising also yields programme ratings rather than break ratings. Depending on the target audience and channels, it can result in a TVR uplift ranging from 3% to 30%. These additional TVRs aid planners in reaching audiences that might otherwise be lost during ad breaks due to reduced attention.
Brand safety is of utmost importance as all in-content advertising placements are thoroughly reviewed by all stakeholders before broadcast to ensure that no brands are associated with content that might be deemed inappropriate, be it due to violence, sexuality, or discrimination.
And finally, with more and more viewing taking place on streaming/OTT platforms, in-content advertising will also assist in future-proofing campaign performance.
On platforms without ad-breaks, there’s no missing ICA!
Louise Jerling is the marketing services manager for Whisper Media, winner of the 2023 MOST Award for Media Sales Consultants. With 30 years industry experience, she has worked across various client portfolios, including Unilever, Beiersdorf, MTN, JD Group and PepsiCo.
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