The 30-second spot is alive and thriving, and its impact on consumers isn’t going away anytime soon, according to a recent survey by FIND/SVP.
According to the survey, the New York City-based business research services firm found that 52% of consumers said they would be much more or somewhat more likely to buy a product seen in a commercial compared to 23% of people who said they would buy a product featured on a TV show. Less than one in four consumers surveyed said a product featured on a show would motivate them to buy it.
The survey, released Friday, asked 1,000 consumers ages 18 to 49 to compare the impact of TV advertising and branded entertainment. Nine percent of respondents said brand cameos during programs would make them much or somewhat less likely to buy the product compared to traditional advertising at 6%.
The FIND/SVP survey found that more than half of the respondents accepted TV commercials for various genres—, comedies, talk shows and reality shows— those surveyed are more open to product placement in scripted shows (36% in dramas and 47% in sitcoms) than reality shows (25%). Thirty percent of consumers surveyed felt that product placement wasn’t acceptable in any type of show, the survey found.
While branded entertainment is an important tool to drive awareness and sales, consumers still have a soft spot for traditional TV advertising, said Frank Dudley, VP-marketing, FIND/SVP.
“All indications are that the 30-second spot is going to continue to find its place in a much more integrated campaign or in a much more integrated way,” Dudley said. “Consumers overall still accept it for the most part. The television commercial is not dead.”
“There are many different advertisement and promotion tactics involved in engaging consumers in a very compelling and fragmented media market,” he added. “The secret sauce is how you combine and integrate those channels.”
When it comes to advertising to children, consumers surveyed appeared more protective. Thirty-four percent of respondents said advertising was inappropriate for children under five, whereas 40% of consumers said advertising wasn’t appropriate for any child.
Opinions varied concerning product placement in children’s programming, as 40% of respondents said it was inappropriate to use the tactic in shows targeting children under five. Nearly one-third (32%) of consumers said it was inappropriate for kids between five and seven and 24% for children 11 to 13. Another 36% said product placement wasn’t appropriate for children of any age.
The survey also found that just 15% of consumers own digital recording devices, including TiVo. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they used digital recording devices so they don’t have to watch commercials; 55% said they use the device to watch the program faster by eliminating commercials. Others consumers said they delay watching a show (76%) or rewind or fast-forward during a program (55%).
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