The average attitude towards advertising is positive or neutral. Advertising in traditional media is more popular than online advertising and adblocking has less to do with online advertising irritation, but more with improving the online experience, especially on mobile devices. These are some conclusions from the new Kantar Media ‘Dimension’ report.
This recent report ‘Communication Planning in a Disrupted World’ aims to map consumer and expert attitudes towards the various communication channels and advertising platforms. The research has been done among consumers and industry leaders in five countries consisting of the following:
- Online interviews among more than 5,000 consumers in Brazil, China, France, UK and US.
- In-depth interviews with 40 industry leaders from four of these five countries (not China), consisting of agency (creative, media or PR), advertiser and media owner employees.
Because the research consists of two parts, it provides insight into the main topics in the field of communication planning, buying and measurement methods from the perspective of consumers and industry leaders. The research shows that the average attitude towards advertising is positive or neutral and that advertising in offline media is more popular than online advertising.
The report summarises the main conclusions as follows:
- There is a synergy between consumer attitudes toward media channels, formats and the messages that are communicated, with the priorities and involvement of industry leaders.
- All forms of communication, both online and offline, remain relevant and play a role in a consumer’s life.
- Online advertising is less popular than offline advertising. The reason for this is the excessive repetition of online advertising and the unprofessional retargeting which can occur.
- Although ad blocking has now reached a substantial level, it has less to do with online ad irritation, but more with improving online user experience, especially on mobile devices.
- Despite the relative unpopularity of online advertising, it is increasingly seen as personally relevant. This trend is both perceived by consumers and industry leaders.
- Cross-media and cross-format campaigns are increasingly becoming the norm, which consumers themselves perceive. This development necessitates a holistic approach to audience measurement.
- The communication of commercial messages through mobile devices has a bright future. The intimate and positive relationship consumers have with their online devices should be a wake-up call for the communication industry to pay attention to ‘how’ you communicate through these devices, as well as ‘why’ and ‘how often’.
All Response Media viewpoint
The results of this research are to some degree reassuring that advertising is still perceived as positive or at least neutral – despite the general feeling, at least in the Netherlands, that it competes with dog poop on the pavement in the ‘Top 10’ most annoying things! Nevertheless, 71% of the interviewed consumers agree that some ads are shown too often so it is good to be cautious with the level and intensity of campaigns anyway. The two main takeaways are cross-media becoming the norm – which pleads for cross-media audience measurement, which is still far from where we want it to be – and the use of mobile devices for advertising and the requirements therein to ensure we don’t irritate consumers (again).
