BVDW / IAB Germany – Power of Creation study

The Power of Creation

Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft | November 2013

Results of the Online-Vermarkterkreis (OVK) Study 2013

Focus of the study – what is it about?

What?

Online display creations

This study deals specifically with the design flexibility that exists regardless of product, priceand media plan.

The study shows the objective and numerical significance of the creation and provides adesign “corridor” to effectively boost the potential of online marketing activities.

What it is not about!

The study cannot provide “the” perfect online creation, since creation always has something to dowith the new, the unique, and the surprising.

| November 2013 | OVK Study 2013 - Power of Creation

Definition of the creation

The creation is a part of the advertising medium. This involves an advertisingmedium’s degree of freedom with respect to design and content, which can beutilized without concern for technical or legal restrictions.

• In concrete terms, it means the layout, placement, size, color and use ofindividual elements as well as the length and general mood applied to anadvertising medium.

The 5 central dimensions of creativity are: originality, flexibility, elaboration, synthesis and artistic value

(source: Smith, McKenzie et.al., Marketing Science, Vol. 26, No. 6, November-December 2007, pp. 819-833)

Colors –which

ones andhow

many

People:yes or no

Numberof visuals

Where doesthe logo go

and how big isit

Animationor still

graphics

Let me tell astory

How muchtext and how

manymessages

Funny orsuspenseful

How longdoes it take

to gothrough it

? | November 2013 | OVK Study 2013 - Power of Creation

About the study

Awareness Impact Creation guidelines

Eye contact: yes or no? And ifyes, how long?Attentiveness

(Ad Quality Index & rating of thecreation)Attraction, memory, image,incentive to buy, message,creativity, rating

Systematic classification of thecreationsAnalysis of attributes – whichattributes have the most influenceon the impact of a creation?

Awareness

Examination of the influence of the creation on the awareness of an ad in a livestudy.

Impact

Analysis of attributes for differentiating components of the creation. Analysis ofthe design criteria that are most important for impact. Deduction of generaldesign guidelines.


Benchmark study

550,000 data points

Approx. 40,000 interviews

270 creations

45 attribute characteristics

3 standard display formats

29 impact parametersconsolidated into 7 scores

Live study

1,850 live ad contacts

365 creations

334 brands

100 participants

9 premium websites

4 standard display formats

Awareness of an ad

Currently the largest and most comprehensive study in the Germanmarket for the documentation and rating of online display creations.

Awareness Impact


Overview of the live study

Recruiting& random sample

criteriaInstructions,calibration

Stimulus presentation,recording of view data

12 minutes

• N=100• Age: 25 to 45 years• Internet use: 1 to 2

hours per day. Sex:m/f 50/50

• Even distribution bynet household income,education and job

Selection of websites.Instructions: Please lookat the chosen websites.

The object was toobserve viewing

behavior.(Calibration)

The participant explored5 websites of his choice.While doing so, he was incontact with the live ad

media.


Live study

9 premium websites

365 creations and 4 formats (standard display formats)

Wallpaper

Mediumrectangle

Super banner

Skyscraper

| November 2013 | OVK Study 2013 - Power of Creation Awareness

Ad awareness – eye contact and length of viewing

11

11

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Length of viewingAll eye contact isadded together andthe total time spenton the advertisingmedium isdetermined.

Eye contactAs soon as the user’seye falls on theadvertising medium,eye contact isestablished.

| November 2013 | OVK Study 2013 - Power of Creation Awareness

Eye contact withthe advertisingmedium

Person10.7

Creation47.3

Share of explanations in %

Basis for data: 1,850 advertising contacts, 365 creations, 9 websites, 4 formats; controlled for influence of formatand environment


Whether an advertising medium will be viewed at all ishighly dependent on its creation.

Awareness

Length of viewingof the advertisingmedium

Person32.8

Creation30.1

Share of explanations in %


How long an advertising medium will be viewed dependsup to one third on the creation itself.

Basis for data: 1,850 advertising contacts, 365 creations, 9 websites, 4 formats; controlled for influence of formatand environment

Awareness

5.8 times longerAll formats

Gap between shorter and longer views(without bottom and top 25% of the data)

25% 75%Advertising media classified by length of viewing

Basis for data: 1,850 advertising contacts, 365 creations, 9 websites, 4 formats, July 2013


Awareness –the creation makes the difference

The quality of the creation of an advertising medium can result in up to 5.8 times longerviewing times – in the area of the awareness of online display ads, this is critical to the successof the campaign.

This amount is adjusted for industrial sector and environmental influences.

Awareness

7 impact scores of the benchmark analysis

Image

Rating

What brandimage does thead convey?

What was the overallrating?

AttractionHow strongly is the userattracted to the ad?How unconventional is it?

MemoryHow successfully doesthe ad remain in theuser’s memory?

Incentive to buyHow interesting is theproduct/service?

MessageIs the sales messageunderstood?

Creativity

How creative is the adoverall?

| November 2013 | OVK Study 2013 - Power of Creation Impact

The creation makes the difference – overall impact increased bymore than 60%, incentive to buy increased by over 90%

Total score for advertising impact (increase in %)

* Shown is the growth of the indexed average, adjusted for format, of the respective proportion of low to top performers included. The amounts that underpin this are firstgenerated on the basis of individual formats and then averaged. Growth is calculated from the averaged differences.

+62%10% low vs. 10% top

*


Individual score for advertising impact(increase in %)

+93%10% low vs. 10% top

*

Individual score for image (increase in %)

+56%10% low vs. 10% top

*

Single-score rating(increase in %)

+54%10% low vs. 10% top

*

Which attributes have the greatest influence?

StorylineAnimationProduct presentationSurpriseActorsHigh quality

General toneOriginalityKey visualNumber of brandelements Branding

TeaserText/pictureProduct placementLengthVisualsDegree of elaboration

ColorRelationship between actorsLogo placement and logo sizeProductClaimUse of humorStrength of influence on

the advertising impactof a creation


Storylining - examples of the characteristicsThe sales message should be told as a story

Stories always lead to a significant improvement of the ad. This corresponds with the finding that pure text

information leads to a poor rating of the ad.

A good story that quickly and succinctly conveys high-quality visuals demonstrates the clearest effect toward

improving a display ad. Indeed, display ads are not print ads.

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Rating Creativity Memory Image Incentive to buy Message Attraction

Storylining Story

No story

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance).Database for the rating: 193 creations, 34,727 interviews; creativity: 193 creations, 34,727 interviews; memory: 236 creations, 34,770 interviews; image: 258 creations, 37,659 interviews;incentive to buy: 232 creations, 34,766 interviews; message: 233 creations, 37,620 interviews; attraction: 233 creations, 37,620 interviews

Impact | November 2013 | OVK Study 2013 - Power of Creation

High quality of the materials – examples of the characteristicsWithout doubt: the higher the quality of the ad, the better!

It can be clearly seen: Ads of high quality, i.e. those that appear professionally made and implemented, are most

persuasive on all levels. Lower-quality display ads, on the other hand, performed significantly worse.

In particular, the perceived creativity increased along with the increased quality of the ad.

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Perceived level of quality Low

Medium

High

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance).Database for the rating: 197 creations, 35,558 interviews; creativity: 197 creations, 35,558 interviews; memory: 240 creations, 35,601 interviews; image: 262 creations, 38490 interviews;incentive to buy: 236 creations, 35,597 interviews; message: 237 creations, 38,451 interviews; attraction: 237 creations, 38,451 interviews


1 change of visual needed, but not multiple changes

Here again it was found that stills significantly diminished the rating. A display ad should contain at least one

change of visual in order to increase the overall rating. With more than 2 visuals, however, performance

stagnated. Recall levels and creativity increase most notably when more than one visual is incorporated.

One change of visual is indispensable, but more is not necessarily better here.

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Overall rating

Number of visuals –overall rating

1 visual

2 visuals

3 visuals

4+ visuals

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance). Database for the rating:194 creations, 34,861 interviews; creativity: 194 creations, 34,861 interviews; memory: 236 creations, 34,903 interviews

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Creativity Awareness

Number of visuals –creativity/memory

1 theme

2+ themes


Degree of the animation - examples of the characteristicsThe elements of the display creation should be animated sothat they coordinate with each other

A good animation provides for attraction and a positive rating in all categories.

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Degree of animation None

Medium

High



Product illustrations and unconventional key visuals arepersuasive

Better overall rating when the product or rather unconventional elements, such as animated figures, are

displayed. Creativity and incentive to buy are most strongly influenced by the right key visual. Text as the key

visual is rated most poorly in all criteria – it does not fit with the model of media reception.

In a competitive environment, the online creation must offer attractions and quickly convey its message – this

works best with the product.

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Rating Creativity Awareness Image Impact Message Attention

Type of key visual People and faces

Product presentation

Text

Other



Drawn characters better than real actors – gender has noinfluence

Drawn or animated figures increase the overall rating enormously.

Compared to adults, advertisements with teenagers have a mildly positive impact on the rating and image, while

adults overall prompt better memory and attraction.

The gender of the main character, meanwhile, has a negligible effect. There is no difference between male and

female actors aside from a minor advantage for women when it comes to the message and incentive to buy.

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Bewertung Kreativität Erinnerung Image Kaufanreiz Message Attraktion

Use of actors/performersJunge Menschen

Erwachsene

Gezeichnete oderanimierte FigurenKeine Darsteller



Product demonstrations better overall

The symbolic demonstration is the most persuasive – in the sense of a good storyline, this can significantly

increase the impact of a creation.

Along with differences in awareness, the biggest differences between the artificial and natural are seen in

creativity, since drawings are assessed to be more creative than depictions from reality.

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Prevailing type of product presentation Natural

Artificial/Virtual

Symbolic

No product presentation



Friends and couples are preferred to depictions of families

Showing friends leads to the best impact overall. However, the picture of a couple provides the strongest

attraction and can best communicate the message. Depictions of families, on the other hand, are less persuasive.

The young, dynamic and interactive medium Internet is not as well utilized with traditional depictions of families.

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Type of relationship between main actors Family

Group of friends

Couple

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance).Database for the rating: 19 creations, 3,632 interviews; creativity: 19 creations, 3,632 interviews; memory: 21 creations, 3,634 interviews; image: 22 creations, 3,713 interviews; incentive tobuy: 20 creations, 3,633 interviews; message: 20 creations, 3,711 interviews; attraction: 20 creations, 3,711 interviews


If there are performance elements, then there should be prizesor deadlines

In most cases, teasers lead to a poorer rating. Only the use of prizes has a positive effect at all levels. Deadlines

also sometimes have a positive impact – in particular, they increase interest. The psychological principle of

scarcity is at work here.

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Overall rating

Use of teasers

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance).Database for the rating: 132 creations, 22,727 interviews; creativity: 127 creations, 21,605 interviews; attraction: 124 creations, 20,100 interviews.

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Creativity Attraction

Use of teasers – deadline Deadline

No deadline

Price, time limit, discountWithout price, time limit, discountPrizeWithout prizeDeadlineWithout deadline


Logo not only at the beginning!

In contrast to a product presentation, a logo achieves its greatest impact at the end of the creation. This is

especially true for the points creativity and awareness.

Top levels are achieved in the rating and creativity when the logo fills out half of the page.

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance).Placement of the logo display: Database for the rating: 178 creations, 31,957 interviews; creativity: 178 creations, 31,957 interviews; memory: 218 creations, 31,997 interviews; image: 235creations, 34,489 interviews; incentive to buy: 214 creations, 31,993 interviews; message: 212 creations, 34,453 interviews; attraction: 212 creations, 34,453 interviews;Logo size: Database for the rating: 169 creations, 30,041 interviews; creativity: 169 creations, 30,041 interviews; memory: 204 creations, 30,076 interviews; image: 222 creations, 32,569interviews; incentive to buy: 201 creations, 30,073 interviews; message: 203 creations, 32,537 interviews; attraction: 203 creations, 32,537 interviews

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Rating Creativity

Logo sizeUp to 1/4 of thearea1/2 of the area

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Creativity Awareness

Placement oflogo display

At the start of the creation onlyAt the end of the creation onlyMultiple times, including during the creationThroughout


Less is more!

While more colors can provoke slightly more attraction, it degrades the overall impact.

Thus: The fewer colors used, the better. This effect becomes most obvious in the ad’s incentive to buy.

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Creativity Memory Image Incentive to buy

Variety of colors 1-2 colors

3-4 colors

5+ colors

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance). Database for the rating:194 creations, 34,861 interviews; creativity: 194 creations, 34,861 interviews; memory: 237 creations, 34,904 interviews; image: 259 creations, 37,793 interviews; incentive to buy: 233creations, 34,900 interviews; message: 234 creations, 37,754 interviews; attraction: 234 creations, 37,754 interviews


Ratio of text to pictures – examples of the characteristicsPictures and visuals are an absolute must

Negligible difference between a depiction using only pictures and a balanced ratio of pictures to text.

Advertisements with a disproportionate amount of text, on the other hand, fared significantly worse.

A display creation requires strong visual images for its messages – the imagination of the user who reads text

does not correspond to the received reality.

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Rating Creativity Awareness Image Impact Message Attentiveness

Ratio of text to pictures More pictures

More text

Balanced ratio



The more brand, the better

The overall rating of the advertisement improves in tandem with an increase in the number of brand elements.

Impact, rating and attention are most strongly linked to the number of brand elements. This means more than

merely displaying the logo frequently, however; instead, various brand elements need to be integrated into the

creation’s story through products and good slogans.

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Rating Creativity Awareness Image Impact Message Attentiveness

Number of brand elements used 1

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Branding and displaying the product increase the overall rating

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Branding and product display Branding

No branding

Product

No product

Dependent values are indexed from 0-100, with 0 indicating a very poor rating/performance, 50 a balanced rating/performance and 100 an excellent rating/performance). Database for the rating:194 creations, 34,861 interviews; creativity: 194 creations, 34,861 interviews; memory: 237 creations, 34,904 interviews; image: 259 creations, 37,793 interviews; incentive to buy: 233creations, 34,900 interviews; message: 234 creations, 37,754 interviews; attraction: 234 creations, 37,754 interviews

Integrating the brand and/or product into the online advertisement improved the overall rating of the ad across

all 7 criteria. The biggest effect of branding can be observed with respect to creativity.

Demonstration of the product has the clearest impact on the brand image.


Well-made creations Do’s

1. Storylining (intelligent linking of individual elements and visuals) for productpresentation

• e.g. using the element of surprise, originality

2. Use high-quality material

3. At least 1 change of visual, or 2 visuals

4. Relatively short rotation lengths

5. Animation and interaction between the elements within a visual

6. The key visual should be the product or animation/cartoon

7. Product presentation

• Symbolic use and display during rotation8. If the key visual contains people, then friends and couples are the preferred

grouping

9. If there are performance elements, they should be prizes or deadlines

10. Display of the brand logo should not only be at the beginning, and it should takeup about 50% of the area of the advertising medium


Poorly made creations Don’ts

1. Stills used online like those in print ads

2. Numerous and wide variety of colors

3. Heavy use of text information

4. Long, elaborate rotations

5. Too many changes of the visual

6. Simple display of brand logos or products

7. Failure to use a separate brand logo or a clearlyidentifiable brand element


Conclusion

The creation highly influences the awareness and impact of an ad.• Up to half of the probability that an advertising medium will be looked at depends

on the creation itself (47.3%). How long the attention is then focused on theadvertising medium can likewise be largely traced to the creation itself (30.1%).

• Well-made creations are looked at 5.8 times longer than poorly made creations.This difference is critical for the success of the online campaign.

• An increase in impact of more than 60% with respect to performance is alsoobserved when a creation is well made.

Findings regarding specific attribute characteristics open up the possibility foradvertisers and agencies to effectively improve the overall quality of onlinecampaigns.Clear tips for designing well-made creations can be drawn from these findings.


Carola LopezLeiterin Marktforschung,Fachgruppenmanagerin

BVDW e.V.Berliner Allee 5740212 DüsseldorfTel 0211 600456-27Fax 0211 [email protected]

Kontakt

© 2013 | Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e.V.

BVDW / IAB Germany – Power of Creation study

Marketing

Transcript of BVDW / IAB Germany – Power of Creation study