Brands primed to bask in glow of popular programming
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Editor
| 05 July 2017

A survey from UK commercial TV’s trade association has delivered the central finding that Brits love their favourite TV shows and brands that sponsor them can share in that love and borrow from it.

The Thinkbox research, Get With The Programmes, carried out by YouGov and House 51, revealed the mechanics of TV sponsorship and its ability to build affinity for brands. It is designed to provide marketers with the evidence and benchmarks with which they can measure the impact TV sponsorship will have on their business.

The study highlighted how, on average, the personality fit between a viewer of a sponsored TV show and the sponsoring brand is 53% higher than the fit between the sponsoring brand and a non-viewer. This, said Thinkbox, was because viewers have strong affinities with their favourite TV shows and sponsoring brands borrow from the show’s personality. It added that such ‘brand rub’ effect encourages viewers to feel that the sponsoring brand is more for them.

It also showed that TV sponsorships magnify brand stature leading to what is known as costly signalling. Such partnerships are perceived to be costly and therefore a signal of success. Viewers of a sponsored TV show were found to be significantly more likely to believe the sponsoring brand is popular than non-viewers (78% vs. 68%). Moreover, the reach and frequency that comes from sponsoring a TV show raises brand awareness for all brands. For lesser-known brands this is particularly the case, underlining the impact TV sponsorship offers new brands.

TV sponsorship was also seen to increase automatic positive brand associations. Using an implicit timed response test, House 51 found that viewers were twice as fast as non-viewers to agree they would recommend the sponsoring brand. The report also asserted that TV sponsorship turbo-charges awareness, especially for lesser-known brands. For less well-known brands, both their brand and advertising awareness scores were substantially higher for viewers of the TV shows they sponsored. Brand awareness was 17.2% points higher than for non-viewers. It was 1.1% points higher for well-known brands.

In the six months following the end of a TV sponsorship, whilst ad awareness fell as expected, brand health metrics decayed at a far slower rate.

Commenting on the research, Matt Hill, Thinkbox’s research and planning director, said: “People judge you by the company you keep, and this is at the heart of TV sponsorship’s power. Through this research our understanding of how TV sponsorships work is better than ever. We know what they deliver and we know how to get the best out of them. Marketers need to know that their investments make a real difference to their brands – this research enables them to do just that. Crucially, we’ve found very strong evidence that TV sponsorships’ impact is long lasting and that, if advertisers want to see them work at their hardest, they should ensure they’re integrated with the rest of their advertising and making use of the additional promotional tools the broadcasters provide.”