How to engage the multitasking viewer

CLIENT PRESIDENT
Gilad Coppersmith
International client president
GMIO, Carat

Advertisers most certainly do not need to adapt their strategies to viewers consuming content unrelated to the TV for the simple reason that most don’t have strategies targeted to those viewers that are consuming related content... yet.

Yes, you can talk about real-time as much as you like. Yes, tell me again how wonderful Oreo’s Super Bowl effort was last year (yawn), but can you point to anything like that here? With scale? And if you can, can you tell me how it affected brand measures, let alone sales?

It is true that increasing numbers of viewers in Asia are Facebooking, Googling, Tweeting, Weiboing, Wechatting, Whatsapping or Kakaoing while they watch TV. But while some are looking up the latest gossip on a cast member or a team’s stats, most are idly discussing matters more relevant to their own lives such as plans for the weekend.

What that means though, is that a lot of us are paying even less attention to the TV than before. We may say we are supreme multitaskers now, but honestly, we are kidding ourselves. Have you even mastered walking and texting yet? Liar.

What we need is something that will draw our eyes and brains back to the screen without us even noticing. And that’s why I am particularly bullish on automatic content recognition. I cannot wait for the day when it becomes widespread (latest estimate: 2017.)

MEDIA MD
Paul Fisher
Managing director, media industry group, SEA, North Asia and Pacific
Nielsen

It is imperative we continue to innovate and develop new solutions to measure audiences as increments to each medium, and add new engagement metrics that go beyond time spent, to give marketers access to meaningful insights they can use to make better business decisions.

The Holy Grail I hope we are all heading towards is a market in which advertisers and media buyers can access credible, currency-like metrics via traditional interfaces in real time, that enable them to better reach, engage and influence their audience beyond simple demographics.

And for media owners, their Grail must be to use the same metrics to value their inventory and, more importantly, their audiences across every device, channel and time of day or week.

This will of course perpetuate the inherent tension between buyer and seller in the trading of media, however, successful businesses will thrive, new businesses will emerge, and consumers will have content and advertising more suited to their needs. Nearly everybody wins.

CONTENT OFFICER
Mark Eyers
Chief content officer, kids networks
Turner International Asia Pacific

Content providers have been moving towards a multiplatform approach for some years now. A kids’ brand like Cartoon Network is expected to have a presence online, on mobile as well as TV. It not only increases awareness for a series and reinforces a particular property, but also our fans expect nothing less.

What our regular New Gen­erations research reveals is that many kids are engaged in media multitasking, with one in three readily using the internet and gaming mediums while watching TV.

But rather than one screen being in competition with another, they can be leveraged to form a cumulative brand effect leading to greater engagement and loyalty.

Broadcasters need to stay relevant to the changing behaviour of viewers — and leveraging a strong brand is key to that. In this respect, marketers and media buyers can rest assured that two screens are better than one.

Multiplatform campaigns are more effective than TV- or online-only campaigns. Our research showed that multiplatform advertisements showed double-digit growth in the intention to use or purchase the brand.