• by David Porter , September 24, 2013

Despite the emergence of several new screens over the last few years, television remains the most effective way for advertisers to reach an audience at scale. Yet as viewing habits evolve and more quality content becomes available online, advertisers should consider how to connect with their consumers outside the confines of the traditional living room.

Historically, marketers have faced a number of hurdles on how to successfully evaluate TV and online video. It can be difficult to identify and target an incremental audience online. Secondly, digital screens have yet to see the meaningful scale that television has reliably provided advertisers -- and until recently, consumer access to broadcast-quality premium content online was very limited. Finally, from a measurement standpoint, the industry has lacked a consistent methodology standard to measure audiences across platforms, devices and screens.

Yet TV and digital video can truly work in concert together to surround the consumer with the best of sight, sound and motion across all screens.

Microsoft, in conjunction with several key advertising partners, commissioned Nielsen to conduct research examining how TV and online video advertising can work together to achieve optimal reach, frequency and GRP metrics. After more than a year spent on research and analysis, we have revealed five practical insights that intend to help brands better understand how digital video campaigns can complement a standard TV campaign. These insights are shared below and will be discussed in more detail at OMMA Video on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

1.    The 80/60 rule: When determining what online targeting methodology to use, TV reach and demo size should be considered first. Recommending index targeting versus cookie-based targeting will depend on whether TV reach is above, below or in between 60-80 percent.

2.    Reach more without spending more: Advertisers should not have to drain their budgets to obtain “fresh reach.” To achieve high incremental reach, consider shifting your media share. Use analysis to evaluate your inefficient TV placements and consider redirecting your media spend to online video. 

3.    Duplication is doubly good:  Reach that is duplicated through cross-screen exposure (TV and online video) appears to grow faster than unduplicated reach. Consider mirroring and/or sequencing your TV and online video schedules, and test your creative online first before running them on TV.

4.    The digital amplifier effect: Cross-screen exposure has an exponential increase in brand impact. Akin to other research studies, our findings indicate that using online video before TV is an effective way to increase the brand impact of TV exposure. Unquestionably, multiple screens are better than just one.

5.    Smooth frequency: Use online video to more efficiently accomplish optimal frequency goals. TV and online video can be used together to achieve “cross-screen” frequency goals, but only with thoughtful analysis and coordination. Try to align your TV and online video frequencies to achieve your cross-screen campaign frequency goals.

With these findings, we believe we are only just beginning to scratch the surface with developing cross-screen benchmarks and standards for TV and online video. We hope that these findings advance the cross-screen conversation and the advertising industry’s greater knowledge -- after all, it doesn’t have to be a platform war.