Diversifying ad formats works better for advertisers, says study by Twitter, MAGNA & IPG Media Lab

According to the report, media-mix helps marketers for better storytelling and to drive awareness, purchase intent and brand favorability

In a new study “Mixing It Up: Diversifying Ad Formats to Achieve More” by Twitter, MAGNA and IPG Media Lab, results shows that diversifying ad formats in digital advertising can help marketers better convey their story and create bigger impact on awareness, brand favorability, as well as research and purchase intent.

In addition, being thoughtful about the order in which ad formats are delivered can further boost performance.

The main objective of the study was to find out if the collaboration of ad format is real, and if so, explore how advertisers should leverage it to make budgets go further. 

Additional key findings:

• A mix for better storytelling: Seeing an ad in a variety of visually different contexts makes the ad stand out and ultimately tell a compelling story. Using multiple formats leads the impact on research intent six times and doubles the impact on purchase intent. In addition, the study found that maximizing the variation in look and feel across ad exposures by breaking up more similar formats leads to lifts in positive brand perceptions. 
• First impression count: The study said that casting the widest “attention net” with the first exposure maximizes overall campaign impact. Advertisers should aim for the first exposure to be the most attention grabbing, which in this case was the ‘First View’ ad format that appears at the top of consumers’ content feed. This tactic is 27% more cost efficient at impacting purchase intent than using another format first.

• Leverage unique strengths: While a mix of ad formats works harder in part because a mix simply offers variation for the consumer, the unique role of each ad format also plays a part. ‘First View’ generates mass attention, while pre-roll and promoted video work together to drive new consumers and past purchasers.
• Pre-roll drives awareness to a broad group of consumers plus 8% new product awareness and leads consumers to learn more plus 8% research intent.
• Promoted Video leaves powerful impact among consumers with a previous relationship with the brand, past purchasers of the brand plus 14% more likely to complete promoted video, boosts awareness of cultural connections plus18% cultural associations and fosters positive brand perceptions, plus 9% brand is good quality

Kara Manatt, SVP, Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA, said. “For a long time, many brands thought it made sense to put a majority of their budget into an ad format that worked for them, but our study’s findings are a major differentiator because it indicates that a mix works better at driving awareness, purchase intent and brand favorability. Creating this sort of variation in ad experiences doesn’t necessarily require creating a whole host of new assets. In our study, the same exact ad led to better results when presented differently.”

Also read: OOH to outperform traditional media: Magna Report

 The research was conducted in two parts: via eye-tracking to test eyes on screen and ad effectiveness to test impact on branding metrics across different ad formats and ad mixes. The ad effectiveness portion included around 4,000 Twitter users for participation on mobile devices across three ad types including Pre-roll (which is known as Amplify at Twitter), traditional Promoted Video, and First View. The test was conducted across six industry verticals and 136 different ad scenarios.

 The report can be found here