First Europe-wide study: Advertising in international media has an impact
CNN International and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) presented their study, «Bang for Your Buck,» today in Zurich. It is the first Europe-wide study on the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in international media.
CNN International and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) today presented their study "Bang for your Buck" in Zurich. It is the first Europe-wide study on the efficiency of advertising campaigns in international media. PWC was commissioned by CNN to investigate whether and how advertising in international print media and on television works, using survey and display data from more than 85 brands in the travel, luxury goods and financial services sectors.
At a time when budget decisions are heavily dependent on brand preference and sales figures, the demand for advertising investments is increasing again, says Thomas Hoehn, partner at PWC and father of the study. With the study, CNN and PWC were able to prove that advertising in international media leads to increased brand preference and brand recommendation, and thus ultimately to higher sales figures. This means that advertising is a "bang for your buck" for sales.
The results of the study in detail:
- International media strongly influence the purchasing behavior of an elusive but highly attractive target group.
- Viewers and readers who intensively consume international media have higher brand recognition than consumers of local media. They also have a greater tendency to recommend brands from the tourism and financial sectors.
- Consumers of international media react very sensitively to brands. They rate the quality of branded articles higher than recipients of local media. In particular, the quality of heavily advertised brands is rated as high.
- With the reception of international media, the need for luxury goods, especially luxury watches, is increasing.
- For watches in particular, the brand is more important for women than for men. In second place for both sexes is the price.
- A ten percent increase in international tourism advertising spending - averaging three million dollars per year between 2001 and 2007 - generates 70,000 additional visitors to destinations annually.
Direct correlation with sales increase
The study results prove that advertising can be successful even in financially strained times - even if the study only proves this for the niche of international media. CNN supported the project primarily because there was previously no valid research data in this area. "The media agencies and clients we work with have long asked for this kind of measurability of advertising effectiveness," says Jonathan Davies, executive vice president of advertising sales for CNN International. "Our results provide a real-world metric for anyone in the advertising industry who needs to demonstrate a direct return on investment." At this point, that's probably all advertisers.
Importantly, results were measured in both sales and long-term brand preference, stressed Didier Mormesse, senior vice president of research at CNN International. "We hope this survey sends a universal message - to all other international media companies as well."
PWC collected its results using three different methods: Econometric measurements were used to determine the influence of advertising on sales, an EMS study was used to survey the brand preference of customers with high and low use of international media, and finally the customized study was used to analyze the value of brands in relation to media consumption. A next step for companies could now be to use their own analyses to investigate the impact of their brand in international media and to strengthen it.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
At a time when budget decisions are heavily dependent on brand preference and sales figures, the demand for advertising investments is increasing again, says Thomas Hoehn, partner at PWC and father of the study. With the study, CNN and PWC were able to prove that advertising in international media leads to increased brand preference and brand recommendation, and thus ultimately to higher sales figures. This means that advertising is a "bang for your buck" for sales.
The results of the study in detail:
- International media strongly influence the purchasing behavior of an elusive but highly attractive target group.
- Viewers and readers who intensively consume international media have higher brand recognition than consumers of local media. They also have a greater tendency to recommend brands from the tourism and financial sectors.
- Consumers of international media react very sensitively to brands. They rate the quality of branded articles higher than recipients of local media. In particular, the quality of heavily advertised brands is rated as high.
- With the reception of international media, the need for luxury goods, especially luxury watches, is increasing.
- For watches in particular, the brand is more important for women than for men. In second place for both sexes is the price.
- A ten percent increase in international tourism advertising spending - averaging three million dollars per year between 2001 and 2007 - generates 70,000 additional visitors to destinations annually.
Direct correlation with sales increase
The study results prove that advertising can be successful even in financially strained times - even if the study only proves this for the niche of international media. CNN supported the project primarily because there was previously no valid research data in this area. "The media agencies and clients we work with have long asked for this kind of measurability of advertising effectiveness," says Jonathan Davies, executive vice president of advertising sales for CNN International. "Our results provide a real-world metric for anyone in the advertising industry who needs to demonstrate a direct return on investment." At this point, that's probably all advertisers.
Importantly, results were measured in both sales and long-term brand preference, stressed Didier Mormesse, senior vice president of research at CNN International. "We hope this survey sends a universal message - to all other international media companies as well."
PWC collected its results using three different methods: Econometric measurements were used to determine the influence of advertising on sales, an EMS study was used to survey the brand preference of customers with high and low use of international media, and finally the customized study was used to analyze the value of brands in relation to media consumption. A next step for companies could now be to use their own analyses to investigate the impact of their brand in international media and to strengthen it.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
Ten percent increase in international tourism advertising spending generates 70,000 new visitors annually.
With the reception of international media, the need for luxury goods is increasing.
Recipients of international media are increasingly recommending brands from the financial sector.
