Inclusivity, brand safety, out-of-home advertising: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Inclusion can drive effectiveness, research suggests

Analysis of the Effie UK winners and finalists suggests that inclusive advertising is also more likely to drive effectiveness.

Creative Equals and Effie UK analysed 32 case studies from the 2023 Effie UK finalists and winners, and found over two-thirds (69%) of these aligned with brand purpose and values.

Indeed, in half of the winning campaigns, diversity, equity and inclusion wasn’t an afterthought but a key part of the narratives and stories.

A narrative has emerged in recent times that consumers are sick of purpose-driven campaigns, yet the analysis suggests these ads are still performing very well on different effectiveness measures. Over two in five (44%) of the award-winning campaigns in the Effies case studies showed commitment to social or environmental impact.

Source: Effies UK and Creative Equals

Marketers see brand safety as more critical than six months ago

Brand safety has risen up marketers’ priority list, with 75% believing it to be more critical than it was six months ago.

Despite it having become an increasing priority, marketers are also concerned that restrictive brand safety block lists can end up removing advertising revenue unjustly. Over four in five (85%) respondents believe that current restrictive brand safety filters unfairly penalise publishers.

More generally, the research suggests there is a need to rebuild trust between ad sellers and buyers, with 87% of marketers agreeing that rebuilding trust in ad verification is essential.

As well as the content advertising might appear beside being a concern, marketers are also worried that not all the interactions with their advertising is genuine. Only 43% of marketers are confident they aren’t paying for sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) or non-human impressions and clicks.

Source: Mediaocean

Out-of-home advertising spend reaches £1bn this year

Spend on out-of-home advertising has reached £1bn this year, after a 12% increase in investment on the channel versus the same time last year.

In the third quarter specifically, out-of-home advertising revenue was £361m, representing a 4.4% increase versus the same period in 2023, according to Outsmart, the trade body for the industry.

The majority of out-of-home advertising is now digital, representing around two-thirds (67%) of total out-of-home spend in the third quarter of this year. This is a 7.7% growth versus last year, meaning that digital out-of-home revenue grew quicker than the total figure.

Source: Outsmart

Consumer confidence shows modest growth

After two months of decline during a period of “nervousness”, consumer confidence increased by three points in November, according to GfK’s most recent Consumer Confidence Index.

The overall measure of consumer confidence increased to –18, up from –21 in October and –20 in September, while all other measures covering personal financial expectations and the wider economy have also registered small increases.

The biggest change this month is in major purchase intentions, which jumped five points from -16 to -21 in the run-up to Black Friday.

Looking back at their personal finances over the last year, consumers are more positive than they were in October, with this score up one point to –9. While that remains in negative figures, it is seven points higher than this time last year.

The forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months is up one point at -1, which is two points higher than this time last year.

Consumers are also more optimistic about the general economic situation over the past 12 months, up three points at –39 from last month and 10 points higher than in November 2023.

Expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months are up two points to -26, the same as November 2023.

Source: GfK

Christmas ad effectiveness testing suggests power of consistency

Predictive effectiveness testing carried out by Kantar and System1 suggests brands that stick to consistent formulas this Christmas are more likely to succeed with consumers.

Cadbury’s decision to bring back its ‘Secret Santa’ campaign for another festive season has put it in the top spot in Kantar’s 2024 Christmas campaign rankings for consumer response. The ad, which has been running since 2018, performs particularly strongly on Kantar’s metrics of brand difference and meaningfulness.

Meanwhile, M&S Food’s Christmas campaign, featuring the return of Dawn French’s fairy character, is “the most persuasive festive ad this year and the retailer’s most powerful TV campaign ever”, according to Kantar’s testing.

System1’s testing also ranks M&S Food and Cadbury within the top 10, with both ads scoring the maximum possible score of 5.9 stars for brand building. However, it’s Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot, returning for his ninth outing, who takes the top spot.

In its analysis of its top 10, System1 says the use of distinctive assets and the “commercial power of consistency” is what has contributed to many of its top 10 ads’ “exceptional” rankings. Those re-airing previous ads or using recurring characters and stories achieved a 5.6 Star rating on average, compared to 3.9 for completely new creative.

Source: Kantar and System1