For researchers, the 2012 Olympics are the gift that keeps
on giving.
In a new report, iTVX, which measures branded entertainment,
and Rentrak, which compiles second-by-second audience data, have teamed up to
calculate the performance and value of the marketing messages during NBC and
Telemundo's telecasts of the games last September.
As branded entertainment becomes a bigger part of deals
between advertisers and networks, measuring its reach and effectiveness has
become more important. Working together, Rentrak and iTVX were able to generate
new forms of data and unique insights.
"We were able to see clearly how the strength of the branded
executions interacted with the flow of the audience during content segments and
compare it to the exact average audience during commercials. A number of
sponsors excelled in their use of branded entertainment, and we were pleased to
quantify and report that," said Raymond Pettit, chief research officer of iTVX.
The new study focused on executions for AT&T, BP,
Citibank, Coca-Cola, GM, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and Visa on NBCU's
channels and those of AT&T, Coke, GM and P&G on Spanish-language
station Telemundo.
The study found that the average audience for those clients'
branded entertainment executions exceeded the audience for their commercials.
Combined, the commercials and branded entertainment airing during the Olympics
generated more than 20.19 billion impressions.
Branded entertainment executions that had emotional elements
delivered larger audiences than ads. So did billboards. But static and passive
integrations, like physical product placement, did not.
The report said the Hispanic market executions relied more
heavily on ads and billboards, missing the opportunity to generate more
effective emotional and brand connecting moments as the general market
advertisers did.
