NEW STUDY BY MAGNA, PROJECT DRAWDOWN AND TEADS FINDS PEOPLE BELIEVE SUSTAINABILITY IS IMPORTANT BUT PERCEIVE COST AND CONVENIENCE BARRIERS

Brands Can Gain Favor and Support Behavior Change by Educating Consumers, Marketing Industry Has a Role to Play

NEW YORK – October 6, 2023 – MAGNA, the investment and intelligence arm of IPG Mediabrands, today announced the release of a study conducted in partnership with Teads, the global media platform, and Project Drawdown, a nonprofit focused on climate solutions, entitled Sustainability Speaks: Breaking the Barrier of Climate Communication via the MAGNA Media Trials program.

To uncover data about consumers’ perceptions of brands’ sustainability endeavors, MAGNA Media Trials and Teads sought to better understand the consumer perspective on sustainability, especially as it relates to barriers that prevent a more sustainable lifestyle. The results of the study uncover how brands can help bridge these barriers and reveals consumer expectations when it comes to taking action on sustainability.

The study’s key findings include:

• 82% of people experience barriers to living more sustainably, with most citing expense or lack of access to the right resources as the paramount barriers to a sustainable lifestyle.
• Among generations, Gen Z and Millennials were the most likely to experience barriers (91% vs. 75%, respectively). However, prior research has pointed to the cost efficiency of sustainable behaviors, suggesting a disconnect between perception vs. reality for consumers.
• Despite these barriers, people remain motivated to ensure a better future, with 99% of people agreeing that they can be motivated by something to take sustainable action.
• Respondents also selected reasons to be sustainable and 78% agreed with statements that ranged from “ensuring the well-being of humankind” to “protecting one’s own health” and “saving money.”

MAGNA surveyed 9,112 people in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and held five focus groups in the U.S. In addition to determining why people and brands are not doing more, Sustainability Speaks: Breaking the Barrier of Climate Communication explores how advertisers can more effectively communicate their sustainability goals while also supporting brand growth.
“As governments, NGOs, businesses and individuals grapple with climate action, we can take heart that the majority of people surveyed – across multiple markets and demographics – agree that living more sustainably aligns with their personal values,” said Martin Bryan, Global Chief Sustainability Officer at IPG Mediabrands. “Among the key barriers to climate action we uncovered in our research is that people aren’t sure their actions can make a difference – and they fear that a sustainable lifestyle is cost-prohibitive and inconvenient. These are hurdles that the private sector can address through brand solutions made affordable and simplified. The ad industry can help promote and accelerate adoption by promoting these types of solutions.”
“The climate crisis is, in part, a communication crisis,” said Jonathan Foley, Ph.D., Executive Director of Project Drawdown. “We already have the solutions we need to turn things around, but we are still paralyzed by misinformation, fear, and the lack of will to act. We need a clear and compelling vision to move forward — a vision of a better future, where we come together to stop climate change, and build a better world for all. That could change the world.”

Additional key findings include that consumers are looking to brands to be part of the conversation; 77% of respondents said they wanted brands to take a stance on sustainability. Furthermore, 75% somewhat or strongly agreed that if brands took a stance on sustainability, it would have a tremendous impact on the environment, and 35% would be motivated to act, if they saw brands had, too.

A brand that offers tangible, relevant data in advertising, like a statistic on how much water was saved in manufacturing, scores better than ambiguous messaging. Defining sustainability itself, a broad term that can vary by product category, makes a difference in helping consumers align around a company’s actions.

The study also ranked which channels consumers favor more when receiving sustainability messaging. Advertising, at 66%, was the optimal channel, followed by social media accounts (62%), newsletters (57%) and influencers and other brand representatives (52%).

“Sustainability practices are good for business, with innovation, transparency, and information key for brands to strengthen their customer relationships long-term,” added Neala Brown, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Insights, Teads. “While brands should ease customer hesitations toward adopting a sustainable lifestyle and given advertising as an optimal channel for that messaging, we are simultaneously working with our brand partners to reduce their own digital carbon footprint with supply chain and media optimization via direct publisher relationships.”

Survey respondents said the other climate actions brands can take are to:

• Educate: Help people waste less and show them how carbon-friendly the brand’s product or service is
• Innovate: Develop new formulas, sourcing sustainable materials and packaging and donating to causes
• Collaborate: Join forces with customers around causes and work with climate experts and their campaigns
• Propagate: Take part in pushing policies for eco-activism while establishing credibility through third-party verification and certification

The full study can be found here.

About MAGNA:

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers.
We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity, and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity, and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Project Drawdown

Project Drawdown is widely recognized as a leading resource for climate solutions. The organization’s mission is to help the world stop climate change — as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.

About Teads

Teads operates a leading, cloud-based, omnichannel platform that enables programmatic digital advertising across a global ecosystem of quality digital media. As an end-to-end solution, Teads’ modular platform allows partners to leverage buy-side, sell-side, creative, data and AI optimization technologies.

For advertisers and their agencies, Teads offers a single access point to buy the inventory of many of the world’s best publishers and content providers. Through exclusive global media partnerships, Teads enables advertisers and agencies to reach billions of unique monthly users in brand safe, responsible advertising environments, while improving the effectiveness and efficiency of digital ad transactions.

Teads partners with the leading marketers, agencies and publishers through a team of 1,200+ people in 50 offices across more than 30 countries.

Climate Scientists Are Facing an Era-Defining Communications Challenge. Can Media Help?

Published on Adweek

IPG and Teads are working with Project Drawdown to identify messaging gaps

Authorities agree that climate change will never be effectively addressed if ordinary consumers don’t make responsible choices. But there’s a problem: Those ordinary people also tend to assume their choices aren’t going to make much of a difference.

To understand when and why people find it hard to make sustainable choices, climate-focused nonprofit Project Drawdown is working with media and ad-tech partners to identify strategic messaging opportunities. A new survey, Sustainability Speaks: Breaking the Barrier of Climate Communication, which was conducted by IPG Mediabrands in partnership with ad-tech firm Teads and shared exclusively with Adweek, identified real and perceived barriers that consumers face when trying to cut back on their own carbon emissions.

It’s the beginning of what Jonathan Foley, executive director at Project Drawdown, hopes will be a broader effort to use strategic media to address misinformation around what regular people can do to combat climate change, which is estimated to account for roughly 30% of potential greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The other 70% must come from corporations.

“In the climate conversation, we’re small environmental nonprofits—a bunch of scientists with small budgets—and we’re hopelessly outmatched by folks who want to keep on polluting,” Foley said. “It’s really important for us to find good allies who can help us understand how better to communicate and how better to tell the story.”

In IPG Mediabrands and Teads, Foley believes Project Drawdown has found those allies. The first consumer survey from the group highlights where strategic media could have the greatest impact, laying the groundwork for future campaigns to spur behavior change that will reduce emissions. IPG will also share its findings with clients that want to support climate action through their media buys, highlighting where profitability and consumer emission reductions align for brands.

People underestimate their impact
While it’s true that corporate reductions make up the majority of potential emissions savings, lifestyle changes for regular people will make up nearly a third of the necessary cuts to overall generation of greenhouse gases.
But when asked how much of an impact people could have on emissions reduction, most survey respondents (67%) guessed that it was below 20% of the total possible reductions, significantly underestimating their impact. Around a quarter (24%) estimated that individual and household changes could produce between 21% and 30% in emissions reductions.

It’s something that a 2022 United Nations climate report highlighted in its analysis of emissions reduction opportunities. The report also specifically pointed to the power that the marketing and advertising industry has to sway consumer behavior away from high-emissions consumption patterns and toward lower-emissions alternatives.

“We are the architects of desire, we shape culture, let’s use that to drive urgent action among people and brands,” said Martin Bryan, global chief sustainability officer at IPG Mediabrands, pro bono agency of record for Project Drawdown. “Our ambition out of this research is to take these findings and build a global climate action campaign for Project Drawdown.”

Sustainable living doesn’t have to cost more
One of the main barriers to climate action that people perceive, according to the survey, was cost.

“People believe they need to purchase goods and services and expensive technology in order to live more sustainably, like an electric vehicle,” Bryan said. “But, in fact, there are simple things that people can change in their daily lives and in their pantry, for example, to be more sustainable and also have the co-benefit of saving money.”

One of the most impactful ways that consumers can reduce their individual or household emissions, according to Project Drawdown’s research, is by reducing food waste, a practice that also saves money. Similarly, cutting back on beef consumption and switching to LED lightbulbs and smart systems can also result in savings on both emissions and costs.

“A lot of this challenge of climate change is a communication challenge,” Foley said. “We have big scary problems and—not or, and—we also have very promising solutions. We all need to be part of moving solutions forward.

“It’s really crucial to work with folks who really understand how people are thinking and how we can influence and inform some of that conversation to be a little bit better.”

Can the ad industry get out of its own way?
Still, the tension between polluters and climate scientists that Foley described is playing out within the industry broadly—and within IPG itself. The holding company had 25 active contracts with fossil fuel companies between 2022-2023, according to a report released last month by activist group Clean Creatives.

But while it’s pledged to carefully vet new clients based on sustainability-related criteria, long-term clients that are major players in the oil and gas sector remain on several IPG agencies’ client rosters.

The question, then, is whether—in the vast arena of strategic climate communications from a wide variety of players—efforts like this one from Project Drawdown can win out.

Read the Full Study

 

Read the Article on Adweek

MAGNA US AD FORECAST – FALL 2023 UPDATE: DIGITAL ADVERTISING FINALLY RECOVERS

After two quarters of stagnation, US advertising spending re-accelerated to +4.4% year-over-year in the second quarter, but digital media formats were the only ones to see a significant improvement in advertising sales. The digital advertising recovery, combined with a slightly better economic outlook, led MAGNA to raise its market growth forecast for 2023 and 2024.

KEY FINDINGS

  • Total advertising spending re-accelerated in the second quarter of 2023. Sales were up +4.4% year-over-year, following two quarters of stagnation.
  • However, only pure-play digital media vendors (Search, Social, Video) really benefited (+8.7% in 2Q23), while traditional media companies continued to struggle (-4.1% in 2Q23).
  • The recovery in ad spend in 2Q23 was caused by a general improvement in the economy, and easier yoy comps.
  • The better economic outlook and continued influx of retail media dollars into digital ad formats lead MAGNA to raise its full-year, all-media ad spend 2023 forecast by one percentage point, to +5.2% (digital media owners +9.6%, traditional media owners -3.6%).
  • Looking at 2024, MAGNA raises the ad spend forecast from +5.0% to +5.6% (+8.0% including cyclical spend).
  • Digital media owners will grow ad sales by +9.8% next year, while cyclical spending will mitigate the erosion of non-cyclical ad sales for traditional media owners (-2.0% excl. cyclical, +4.3% including cyclical/political).Vincent Létang, EVP Global Market Intelligence and author of the report, said: “Six months ago, the media industry was bracing for recession, but advertisers kept calm and continued to support their brands and sales through media investment. As the US economy and advertising spending were both stronger than expected so far this year, and digital media is finally recovering from its 2022 woes, MAGNA raises its full-year ad revenue growth forecast to +5.2% for 2023 to reach $337 billion.”FIRST HALF 2023: DIGITAL SPENDING RECOVERS BUT TRADITIONAL MEDIA CONTINUE TO STRUGGLEBased on MAGNA’s analysis of media companies’ financial reports, ad revenue and ad spend recovered in the second quarter. Advertising sales grew by +4.4% year-over-year, close to but slightly stronger than MAGNA’s June expectation of +3.6%, following two quarters of stagnation (+1% yoy in 4Q22 and 1Q23). Overall, the US ad market was up by +2.9% in the first half (excluding cyclical), against hard comps.

    However, only pure-play digital media formats (Search, Commerce, Social, Pureplay Short-Form Video) really benefitted from the increased ad spend so far (+8.7% yoy in 2Q23, up from +5.6% in 1Q and +7.2% for 1H23). Meanwhile traditional media companies (TV, radio, publishing, out-of-home, cinema) struggled with eroding ad sales (-4.1% in 2Q23 after -6.0% in 1Q23).

    Ad sales grew by almost +12% for Social media formats in the second quarter, compared with +7% in 1Q23 and almost zero in the two previous quarters. Short-form digital video (Youtube, Twitch or outstream video) re-accelerated to +7.5% from zero in 1Q and Search/Commerce remained robust at almost +9%, driven by retail media activity. When it comes to traditional media owners, 2Q23 was marginally better than 1Q23 but most ad formats continue to suffer declining sales. Cross-platform national TV ad sales and Audio ad sales were down -4%, local TV -5%, Publishing -7%. The only traditional media category to grow in first half was OOH with +2.5% in the second quarter.

The ad revenues of traditional media owners continue to stagnate or decline despite the growth of their digital formats. In the first half of 2023, non-linear TV ad sales (AVOD, CTV, FAST…) grew by +7%, podcasting advertising grew by +14% and DOOH grew by +9%. But so far, the attractiveness of these new formats for consumers and advertising is just mitigating, not offsetting, the long-term decline of traditional linear formats in audience and ad sales.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK AND SPENDING VERTICAL: A MIXED BAG

The recovery in advertising spending in 2Q23 was caused by easier comps and by a general improvement in the economy, as well as easier yoy comps. Real GDP grew by +2.4% (annualized) in the second quarter, much better than the +1% expected in May. Inflation continued to recede (core consumer inflation index down to +3.3% in August) while consumer confidence gradually improved (index 70 in August vs index 50 a year ago); unemployment remains under 4%.

One source of concern is retail sales, which slowed down to -0.6% yoy in June, and may lead some consumer brands to restrict marketing budgets and advertising spending.

Around the average advertising spending growth of +4.4% in 2Q23, MAGNA observed a strong dynamic from Travel, Pharma and Retail brands, and – more surprisingly – CPG (food, drinks, personal care). The slowdown of inflation in recent months may explain this recovery in CPG brand business and marketing spending, after a difficult year 2022 when high inflation hurt the sales of premium brands. Ad spend was flat or slightly up for Auto and Entertainment brands. This is disappointing in the case of Automotive, as the strong recovery of the car market (+15%) hasn’t fully translated into marketing activity acceleration so far – at least not for traditional media. It may be because Auto advertising didn’t dip that much when car sales declined in early 2022 and manufacturers pivoted towards long-term marketing goals, e.g. pushing EVs rather than supporting short-term sales. Finally, as expected, Finance and Technology, two rather large verticals, are down year-over-year.

Let’s keep in mind that these trends are for total ad spend, including digital media formats. If we look at traditional media spending only, most key verticals are spending less than last year except Travel and Pharma, which are relatively small spending verticals.

2023 FULL-YEAR AD FORECAST RAISED TO +5.2%

With the economic outlook improving and yoy comps becoming even easier, MAGNA maintains its growth forecast for the second half of the year. Total ad spend will grow by +7% to +8% in 3Q23 and 4Q23 (compared to +2.9% in first half) to bring full year growth to +5.2% (excluding cyclical), up from +4.2% in our previous update (June 2023).

MAGNA raises the 2023 revenue forecast for digital media owners (the Google, Meta, and Amazons), from +7.9% to +9.6% but downgrades the ad revenue expectation for traditional media owners in radio, television, publishing, and OOH, from -3.2% to -3.6%. Digital pure players will capture a record 69% of total ad spend in 2023 with the big thee alone capturing 59%.

2024: DIGITAL FORMATS ACCELERATE, CYCLICAL AD SPEND STABILIZES TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Looking at 2024, the easy first half comps and influx of retail media dollars into digital advertising lead us to increase the non-cyclical growth forecast from +5.0% to +5.6%. We raise the growth forecast for pure-play digital media owners to +9.8% but the forecast for traditional media owners is downgraded to -2.0% from -1.5%. Incorporating cyclical events (political ad spend, and additional spending around summer Olympics) the revenue forecast for traditional media owners will reach +4.3% and the grand total will reach +8.0% to $364bn.

Looking at individual media types, digital media formats will outperform again in the next 18 months, growing by high-single digits or low double-digits. Social media formats and short-form digital video formats are finally recovering from the headwinds and disruptions that hurt ad sales in 2022, brought on by the modifications to privacy settings in the Apple environment and the rapid rise of short vertical video snacking. Social and short video formats are expected to grow ad revenues by +10.9% and +9.1%, respectively. These formats are mature, however, and MAGNA does not expect annual growth rates to ever grow back to the +20% or +30% that were observed pre-COVID or in 2021.

Search/Commerce formats will continue to be boosted by retail media activity. Retail media networks are already generating 30% of search advertising sales (including Amazon) and this will grow by +22% in 2023 and +17% in 2024. Total search, including traditional search engines like Google, will grow by +9.8% in 2024 to $143bn.

The ad revenues of most traditional media owners will continue to stagnate or decline despite the continued growth of their digital ad sales. Non-cyclical ad sales will be down -3% for national TV and -5% for local TV next year. However, spending around the summer Olympics upcoming Presidential election will mitigate the revenue erosion for national TV and bring huge growth for local TV. Local TV ad revenues are expected to grow by +28% compared to 2023, thanks to an incremental $5.7 billion generated by political demand and induced spot inflation.

Meanwhile national TV networks are facing challenges on two fronts in 2024, on both volumes and pricing supply. The ongoing writers’ strike may lead to a lack of fresh attractive content in the first half of 2024 and thus potentially a further acceleration in long-term viewing declines. In addition, the loss in ratings will not be offset by pricing since MAGNA predicts low-single digit CPM inflation for the first time in 20 years. As a result, non-cyclical linear ad sales will shrink by almost -7% next year, but that will be mitigated by the continued rise of AVOD ad sales (+11%) and $800 million of incremental revenues generated around the Paris Olympics. Total cross-platform national TV ad revenues will thus shrink by just -0.7% next year (compared to -3% excl. CE), to $46.4bn.

Other media types typically attract very little cyclical ad dollars, but the scale and growth of digital audio formats (streaming, podcasting) will offset the decline in broadcast radio to stabilize total audio revenues (+1.3% to $16.5bn), while OOH advertising will grow by +5% next year to $9.9bn. Direct mail sales will drop -4% in 2024 excl. CE, but will generate $800m in political spending that will mostly mitigate the underlying structural decline (sales incl. CE: -1%).

A 11-minutes video presentation of this research is available here.
The next MAGNA Ad Forecast (US and Global) will be published early December.

MAGNA AD FORECAST – FALL 2023 UPDATE – KEY FIGURES

Source: MAGNA US Ad Forecast, September 2023. Mediabrands clients and MAGNA subscribers can access full report and dataset including additional media granularity and long-term forecasts.

ABOUT MAGNA MARKET INTELLIGENCE

MAGNA market intelligence is media centric. It estimates net media owners advertising revenues based on an analysis of financial reports and data from local trade organizations; other ad market studies are based on tracking ad insertions or consolidating agency billings. The MAGNA approach provides the most accurate and comprehensive picture of the market as it captures total net media owners’ ad revenues coming from national consumer brands’ spending as well as small, local, “direct” advertisers. Forecasts are based on economic outlook and market shares dynamic.

ABOUT MAGNA

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers.

We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity, and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity, and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn.

MAGNA has set the industry standard for more than 60 years by predicting the future of media value. We publish more than 40 reports per year on audience trends, media spend and market demand as well as ad effectiveness.

To access full reports and databases or to learn more about our market research services, contact [email protected].

DRIVING RESPONSIBLE AND SUSTAINABLE BRAND GROWTH: STUDY BY MAGNA MEDIA TRIALS AND ADLOOK DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF PRE-BID OPTIMIZATION ACROSS MULTIPLE METRICS

NEW YORK – July 19, 2023 – An expansive, new study by MAGNA Media Trials, the intelligence and investment arm of IPG Mediabrands, and Adlook, a global media-tech company, showed when advertisers optimize before they bid, they can gain significant improvements across a range of mandatory metrics, including increased attention scores, reduced costs per impression and fewer carbon emissions.

“The” Attention Advantage – Using Deep Learning to Boost Ad Performance” revealed a 65% increase in attention, based on Adelaide’s Attention Unit (AU) scores, when a video advertisement was optimized pre-bid.

The study, which measured more than 24 million impressions and surveyed 2,590 individuals, found great improvements in cost efficiency for both display and video ads. But video ads that were optimized pre-bid performed notably better, to the point that advertisers would need fewer placements to achieve meaningful impact, resulting in lower costs per CPMs than display ads. These results point to the fact that advertisers do not have to pay more for high-performing ads – in fact, they can reap savings while also meeting important brand KPIs.

“Attention is a baseline metric for media, particularly in the programmatic space, and many of our studies examine how to capture and maintain eyeballs,” said Kara Manatt, MAGNA’S EVP, Managing Director, Intelligence Solutions. “Our work with Adlook set out to determine how pre-bid optimization performed, and found incredible impact across a range of KPIs, including sustainability metrics – meaning pre-bid optimization serves a dual objective: profit and purpose.”

As lowering carbon emissions become a core focus for advertisers, the study integrated Scope3 data to determine if emissions could be reduced through pre-bid optimization. The study found that ads optimized pre-bid not only worked harder, but likewise produced less emissions compared to ads that were not optimized pre-bid. This highlights the fact that less emissions are needed to produce the desired performance output. Another component of the study examined what happened to emissions when integrating Adlook’s GreenPath tool as part of the pre-bid process. Interestingly, emissions were further reduced by leveraging the GreenPath tool. These results point to the idea that although attention is an adequate proxy for emissions, MFAs have excelled at delivering on KPIs. As such, advertisers are encouraged to look at all campaigns through a sustainability lens pre-bid in order to reduce the impact of the highest-emitting websites.

Traditionally, campaigns have been optimized post-bid, which can allow advertisers to assess placements for viewability and unsuitable content adjacencies. But pre-bid optimization, driven by deep-learning algorithms, is providing brands with the data needed to secure customized placements before commitments are placed.

Additional findings in The Attention Advantage – Using Deep Learning to Boost Ad Performance report include:

● Display click-through rates increased by +11% lift when pre-bid optimization was employed compared to no optimization.
● Video ads that were optimized pre-bid earned a 48% increase in video completion rates, compared to those that were not optimized.
● Ads that are optimized pre-bid and delivered contextually deliver considerably greater recall, with a +131% delta lift in awareness.

“Unlocking the full potential of media lies in the art of attention optimization,” said Patrick Roman Gut, Vice President US, Adlook. “By harnessing the power of attention, not only do we propel media KPI performance to new heights, but we also embrace a profound responsibility. Our MAGNA Media Trials report reveals that utilizing pre-bid optimization not only amplifies your media’s impact, but also champions a higher purpose. By proactively combining sustainability with attention, we pave the way for responsible media practices.”

To conduct the study, Media Trials measured more than 24 million impressions of real-time test ads for CVS Health and Outback Steakhouse, analyzing for attention, engagement and carbon emissions for ads that were either optimized pre-bid or not. The study further analyzed 2,590 survey responses to measure aided recall for ads that were either optimized pre-bid or not, and were either delivered contextually or not.

The full study can be found here.

About MAGNA:
MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers.
We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Adlook:
Adlook is a global mediatech company specializing in guaranteed media performance and zero-ad waste solutions. Our innovative cookieless DSP is powered by industry-leading Deep Learning technology, enabling next-generation brand growth on the open web.
At Adlook, we’re committed to sustainability and privacy, operating under the two governing tenants to build a secure, environmentally responsible ecosystem for brand-consumer connections. Our mission is to create impactful interactions with consumers at the most meaningful moments, without ever sacrificing the quality of their engagement.
Since our establishment in 2022, we’ve partnered with leading inventory suppliers to offer unmatched access to premium inventory that’s brand-safe and free from fraud. As an independent business, we’re dedicated to making a positive impact in the industry and helping marketers and their agencies successfully drive brand growth across diverse markets.

Media Contacts:
MAGNA/Mediabrands
Elaine Underwood
[email protected]

Adlook
Chris Harihar
Crenshaw Communications
[email protected]

AD OVEREXPOSURE ON STREAMING NETWORKS SHOWN TO BE A DETRIMENT TO BOTH BRANDS AND STREAMING PLATFORMS   

MAGNA Media Trials and Nexxen Partnered to Study the Aftereffects of Repetitive Ads on Viewers and Brands and the Streaming Platforms that Run Them

NEW YORK – July 12, 2023 – Repeated ad exposures might not be a new phenomenon, but it doesn’t make the experience any less annoying for viewers, 87% of whom agree that they see too many of the same ads, according to new research by MAGNA’s Media Trials unit in partnership with Nexxen, a global, unified advertising technology platform with a specialization in video and Connected TV (“CTV”).

The study, It’s All in the Delivery: How Repeating Ads Affects CTV Viewers, Brands & Platforms, released today leveraged controlled ad effectiveness testing with 1,246 streaming viewers to learn how they felt about repetitive advertising, which is an outlay of programmatic delivery systems and a focused pool of advertisers.

As part of the study, participants were exposed to varying frequencies – one, four or six exposures – to the same ad during a one-hour viewing session. Ads were provided by two participating brands, including athletic wear brand New Balance. The second participating brand is national restaurant chain, Applebee’s.

While participants who saw the same ad six times peaked in awareness at 92% recall, negative associations spiked, too. Viewers who saw the same ad six times said the ad was “annoying”, by 48% over average, and “disruptive to their overall experience” by 33%. Overexposure also eroded purchase intent, with a 16% decline among those who viewed an ad six times.

Beyond facilitating a negative viewing experience, repeated ads also had poor implications for both brands and the streaming platform. Among viewers, 83% believed that repeating ads was done intentionally. Further, 68% of viewers believe that it was the brand’s intention to repeat the ad. Streaming platforms are likewise implicated, with 44% of viewers believing that the platform intended to repeat the ad. True or not, these assumptions lend to broader implications, and potentially actions, led by viewers who are not satisfied with their viewing experience.

“Running a spot repeatedly during the same show might improve recall but at what cost? Study participants were clear on how frustrating it was to see the same ad again and again and this cast a shadow over the brand and the streaming network,” said Kara Manatt, EVP, Intelligence Solutions, MAGNA, which is IPG Mediabrands intelligence and investment unit. “Worst of all, advertisers are paying for these declines in purchase intent and simultaneously targeting consumers while turning them off to their brands.”

Additional findings revealed by the study include:

    • Positive brand perceptions were hampered by ad frequency, too. For example, brands saw a decline from 25% (1 ad exposure) to 17% (6 ad exposures) in viewers thinking that the brand knows how to connect with them. Additionally, viewers who saw the ad 6 times were less likely to be excited by the brand (16%) compared to those who only saw the ad once (21%).
    • Viewers are willing to take action to avoid ad overkill by in various ways, including checking to see if another streaming service offers the show or movie (43%) and going as far as to terminate the subscription (19%). Altogether, 51% said they will take action in response to repeating ads.
    • Purchase intent takes a nosedive with higher frequencies of repeated ad exposures, with a 16% decline in intent to purchase for those who saw the same brand ad 6 times.

“Both advertisers and broadcasters need to get to a place where viewers don’t notice a difference in the quality of the advertising experience on streaming compared to linear. Unfortunately, today, many ad servers are not equipped with the ability or are missing the adequate data to unify programmatic and direct demand while managing for frequency,” said Karim Rayes, Chief Product Officer, Nexxen. “The solution lies with platforms that have been purpose-built for CTV which offers publishers the flexibility to manage their ad breaks in a way that that won’t negatively impact the viewer’s experience and saves advertisers from wasting their valuable media dollars.

The full study can be found here.

About MAGNA

MAGNA is the leading global media investment and intelligence company. Our trusted insights, proprietary trials offerings, industry-leading negotiation and unparalleled consultative solutions deliver an actionable marketplace advantage for our clients and subscribers.

We are a team of experts driven by results, integrity and inquisitiveness. We operate across five key competencies, supporting clients and cross-functional teams through partnership, education, accountability, connectivity and enablement. For more information, please visit our website: https://magnaglobal.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Nexxen

Nexxen empowers advertisers, agencies, publishers and broadcasters around the world to utilize video and Connected TV in the ways that are most meaningful to them. Comprised of a demand-side platform (DSP), supply-side platform (SSP), ad server and data management platform (DMP), Nexxen delivers a flexible and unified technology stack with advanced and exclusive data at its core. Our robust capabilities span discovery, planning, activation, measurement and optimization – available individually or in combination – all designed to enable our partners to reach their goals, no matter how far-reaching or hyper niche they may be.  For more information, visit www.nexxen.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “can,” “will,” “estimates,” and other similar expressions. However, these words are not the only way Nexxen identifies forward-looking statements. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the results in the study any benefits thereof, our tech stack, products any other offerings of Nexxen and any other subsidiaries affiliates. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the Nexxen group’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from its expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Nexxen cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of these factors, and other factors that could cause actual results to vary materially, interested parties should review the risk factors listed in Tremor International’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) on March 7, 2023. Any forward-looking statements made by  us in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and we do not intend to update these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

Media Contact:
Elaine Underwood
Content Director, Global Corporate Communications
Mediabrands
[email protected]
(201) 306-6062