LONDON and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 19, 2013) -  [ Tremor Video ], the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK), Nielsen and Performics today announced the results of TV and VOD: Friends With Benefits, their joint research study as part of the IAB UK's sold-out event entitled, [ Stretch Your Reach -- Video on Demand. ]

The study findings are based on 1.5 years of research into how UK consumers watch TV and video content plus a statistical analysis of five UK ad campaigns (TV and video) across a wide array of categories: fast-moving consumer goods, retail, beverage, tech, finance. The results validate the team's hypothesis that VOD ad campaigns are a cost-effective way to increase reach, brand awareness, and message association, especially when targeting affluent consumers and light TV viewers who are increasingly watching VOD content.

The study's researchers have also concluded that advertisers and media agencies can [ maximize ad budgets ] and keep brands top of mind by running TV and VOD ads simultaneously and also by continuing with VOD when TV ad campaigns have finished. (VOD, the ad term used in the U.K., is synonymous with [ digital video advertising ] in the U.S.)

"This [ study ] confirms what we have known to be true -- that [ VOD and TV are friends with benefits ], working together to maximize advertising budgets," said Doron Wesly, head of market strategy at New York-based Tremor Video. "TV advertising does a fantastic job of raising brand awareness. VOD advertising amplifies it further, and can extend the life of a campaign's brand message well after the TV ads stop."

Said Charlotte Ellis, media & advertising manager of Aviva: "Aviva strives for marketing innovation and devotes resources to emerging media channels, such as VOD, so that we can engage consumers where they are, on their terms. That is why we were pleased to see the results of the [ TV and VOD: Friends with Benefits ] study, for they validate our strategy. We firmly believe that VOD serves as a perfect complement to our TV advertising, helping us extend our reach and brand awareness as more and more people choose to consume VOD content."

Mauricio Leon, commercial director of Performics, ZenithOptimedia's performance marketing arm, said the research confirmed some hunches and is also opening the door to wide-ranging conversations with brands about the power of this new ad channel.

"As an industry, we have often spoken about VOD in terms of incremental reach vs. TV, and these results prove that. But the most pleasing element of this project is how VOD can improve awareness and complement brand-building initiatives both during and after the TV campaign," said Leon, whose company advises Aviva on media strategy. "Using VOD to support a TV campaign and adopting a strategy of heavy VOD presence once the TV campaign has ended means clients can now use VOD to maintain the great work their TV campaign has done in terms of reach and awareness and get an extended audio-visual presence cost-effectively. A key consideration for practically all advertisers who cannot be on TV 52 weeks of the year!"

Research Findings: UK Insurer Aviva Benefits from Combination of TV and VOD Advertising

One aspect of the team's research focused exclusively on Aviva's use of TV and VOD. Here are Aviva's findings:

Brand Awareness and Message Association Increase with VOD

1. TV and VOD work together to increase unaided brand awareness and message association among light TV viewers, 56% of whom watch VOD content.

2. Aviva found that VOD is an effective channel for raising brand awareness and message association even after TV campaigns have ended. In effect, VOD helps maximize TV investment.

• At the end of October 2012, the Aviva TV campaign ended and VOD advertising continued to run alone in November. Researchers found a significant difference in message association among those who were exposed to Aviva's November VOD ads versus those who were not. Of those who were exposed to the VOD ads, 32% correctly associated Aviva with its messages, down from the high of 48% during the TV campaign but still higher than the pre-campaign level of 29%. Among those who were not exposed to the VOD ads, advertising "decay" set in and only 26% made the brand-message connection.

Digital Video Advertising: Cost-Effective, Too

3. Among light TV viewers, Aviva found that it was more cost-effective to increase unaided brand awareness and message association, per person, via TV and VOD than via TV alone.

Ad Industry Taking Notice
While the TV and VOD: Friends with Benefits study explains how VOD advertising helps brands, other reports are confirming the VOD industry's growth. According to the IAB UK/PwC Digital Adspend Study released last week, the U.K.'s digital video advertising market increased 46% from £109 million in 2011 to £160 million in 2012.

"Given the size and sustained growth of VOD, it's important to understand how it works and how it complements TV campaigns," said Tim Elkington, director of research and strategy for the [ IAB UK ]. "The TV and VOD: Friends With Benefits study should help answer these questions and aid marketers in understanding how they can leverage both media."

Note to Editors: Methodology
Tremor Video and the IAB UK co-funded the TV and VOD research, which took place from October 2011 to November 2012. Nielsen fielded the study, analyzing with Tremor Video the campaign performance of several ZenithOptimedia clients. The cross-media research approach was designed by all four stakeholders:

Phase 1

• Looked at cost efficiency and incremental reach across five TV and VOD ad campaigns in the retail, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), tech, and finance sectors. Each campaign reached between 11 million and 25 million UK consumers in the following categories: people ages 16-34; and, women and men in the lower-, middle, and upper-middle classes.

Phase 2

• Measured effectiveness of TV and VOD advertising to raise awareness and message association for Aviva. Survey of 1,375 British consumers.

About Tremor Video

Tremor Video is a leading provider of technology-driven video advertising services enabling brand advertisers to engage consumers across multiple Internet-connected devices including computers, smartphones, tablets and connected TVs. Our clients include some of the largest brand advertisers and media agencies in the world. These relationships have helped us create a robust online video ecosystem that includes more than 500 premium websites and mobile applications, 200 of which partner with us on an exclusive basis. Our proprietary technology, VideoHub, analyzes in-stream video content, detects viewer and system attributes, and leverages our large repository of stored data to optimize video ad campaigns for brand-centric metrics such as user engagement, brand lift and time spent. Through our enterprise solution, VideoHub also provides advertisers and agencies with advanced analytics and measurement tools enabling them to understand why, when and where viewers engage with their video ads.

Tremor Video is based in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with international offices in London, Singapore, and Toronto. For more information, visit [ www.tremorvideo.com ] and find Tremor Video on [ Twitter ], [ Facebook ] and [ LinkedIn ].

About the Internet Advertising Bureau UK

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is the UK trade association for digital advertising. With over 800 members, most of the UK's leading brands, media owners and agencies take part in the IAB. Given the rapidly evolving nature of the digital landscape, the IAB works to ensure that marketers can maximise the potential of digital media and mobile devices, helping members engage their customers and build great brands. By disseminating knowledge and fostering dialogue through research, policy guidance, training and events, the IAB aims to be every marketer's authoritative and objective source for best practices in internet advertising. To access the IAB's current research, policy briefings, training opportunities and events schedule, please visit [ www.iabuk.net ].

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: [ NLSN ]) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit [ www.nielsen.com ].