Cracking the Code on Cross Media Engagement Five Things Every Marketer Should Measure by Ginny Musante – Trade Marketing Manager - Microsoft Advertising December 9, 2009

Introduction: If you are like most marketers these days, your advertising budget is under closer scrutiny than ever before. The new economic reality is demanding that every campaign deliver concrete value and clear return on investment. But how do you know if you are spending your money in the right places? How can you tell which forms of media are yielding the greatest impact? The importance of finding a consistent way to measure audience engagement and advertising impact across media types has never been greater. People are multi-tasking like never before. You know your ad was delivered, but how do you know if anyone paid attention? Survey based ad effectiveness research is helpful. But the methodology differs with different media types, making direct comparison difficult, if not impossible. Behavioral data is helpful too. But that’s most often collected only in the digital domain. We wanted to do better. We wanted to find a way to not only measure impact, but also audience engagement. And we wanted to compare the results across media types.

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Overview: What began as a small innovative pilot study by Microsoft, Mediabrands, and EmSense, a neuroscience research company holds enormous potential for the industry. • The goal - to find a way to measure consumer engagement and advertising impact cross media. • The result – a new approach to research that could help all marketers make the most of their media mix.

Comparing Xbox LIVE ads to :30 and :60 second spots

Results showed there was more time spent, greater recall, and higher levels of emotional and cognitive response in association with the interactive Xbox LIVE campaigns than with traditional 30 and 60 second spots.

Executive Summary: “Being able to accurately measure cross-media engagement is a holy grail for marketers,” said Mark Kroese, general manager of the Microsoft Advertising Business Group, Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft. “We are very excited about the methodology used in this initial study and its tremendous potential for the industry. If we can truly crack the code on this, marketers and advertisers will be able to pinpoint solid ROI on dollars spent and know which campaigns in which media are yielding the greatest impact.”

For years marketers have been measuring what people say through self-reported measurements and survey data. The digital age bore witness to what people actually do through behavioral measures and metrics reports. Today, insight can be gained into how people feel using biosensory measures of cognitive and emotional responses. By combining survey data and behavioral data with biosensory measures, the team found a compelling way to compare engagement cross media. As mentioned previously, researchers set out to compare ads encountered on Xbox LIVE to traditional :30 and :60 second spots. They did this for two major brands – Hyundai and Kia. While both types of advertising showed positive impact, consumers in the study spent more time, demonstrated greater recall and exhibited higher levels of emotional and cognitive response in association with the interactive Xbox LIVE campaigns. “The interactivity of Xbox LIVE played a key role in driving metrics like emotion, cognition, and time spent – in other words, in increasing the overall impact of the campaign,” said Tim Hong, senior vice president of Product Development & Analytics at EmSense.

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Even more compelling than the result is the approach used in this study, because it may hold the key to cracking the code on code on cross media measurement. Test subjects were recruited to a lab where they were exposed to various media and various campaigns while wearing a special sensor laden headset. The data collected focused on five things we believe every marketer should measure:     

Memorability Favorability Purchase Consideration Time Spent Cognitive and Emotional Response

The first four are not new. What’s unique about this study is that they were measured in a consistent manner across media types.

Methodology: Research subjects were recruited to a test facility where they were exposed to various media and campaigns while wearing the EmSense bio-sensory EmBand (shown below), a wireless, lightweight headset. The EmBand tracks brain activity, breathing rate, head motion, heart rate, blink rate, and skin temperature. Test subjects were also asked to take a post exposure survey.

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Methodology: (continued) A two-study group design was utilized to compare the impact of Xbox Live advertising campaigns against the traditional 30- and 60-second spots. Study Group #1 – Interactive advertising campaigns on Xbox LIVE 150 respondents from the target audience were recruited to test facilities. There, while wearing the EmSense bio-sensory headset, test subjects were exposed to:

1. Randomized image reel

Randomized image reel target/clutter of of target/clutter brands brands

2.Xbox Xbox LIVE Spotlight channel LIVE Spotlight viewing including exposure channel – including to Hyundai/Kia toexposure Kia/Hyundai content content

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3. Randomized Randomized image reel image reel of of target/clutter brands target/clutter brands

4. Finally, respondents Respondents were asked were askedthetoEmBand remove the to remove and fill out a fill out a selfEmBand and questionnaire. completed questionnaire

Methodology: (continued) Study Group #2 – Traditional 30- and 60-second video ads 150 respondents from the target audience were recruited to test facilities. There, while wearing the EmSense bio-sensory headset, test subjects were exposed to:

Randomized image reel of target/clutter brands

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Reel of traditional video ads – including Hyundai and Kia

Randomized image reel of target/clutter brands

Respondents were asked to remove the EmBand and fill out a questionnaire.

Methodology: (continued) Key Measures - Multiple dimensions of the experience were captured.

Bio-Sensory Measures: (during experience) Including emotional and cognitive response to branding

Behavioral Measures: (during experience) Can include: time spent

Self-Reported Measures: (after experience) Can include: memorability, favorability, purchase consideration

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Xbox LIVE Example: Bio-Sensory Measurement of the Experience The line graph below illustrates one person’s experience, tracing the viewer’s emotional response to the images with the Kia content on Xbox LIVE. You can see that positive emotion builds strongly and finally peaks on the repeat image of the Kia Soul surrounded by blue and white lights.

“We know from our standard performance metrics that our Xbox LIVE campaign is effective,” said Michael Hayes, executive vice president, Managing Director of Digital, Initiative. “What’s compelling about this research is that we now know that consumers are making an emotional connection as well.”

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Traditional Video LIVE Example: Bio-Sensory Measurement of the Experience The line graph below illustrates one person’s experience, tracing the viewer’s emotional response to the traditional :60 second spot. The initial response to the hamsters is positive, as is the response when the car accelerates. The most positive emotions occur in the first half of the ad.

Hamsters in Wheels

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Product Reveal

Product in Motion

Final Branding

Results: As mentioned previously, results demonstrated there was more time spent, greater recall, and higher levels of emotional and cognitive response in association with the interactive Xbox LIVE ad campaigns than with the traditional 30- or 60-second spot. Kia Summary

Hyundai Summary

 Respondents spent a significant amount of time interacting and exploring Xbox LIVE interactive ads, resulting in extended exposure to the brand and product.

 Respondents spent an average 365 seconds interacting with Xbox LIVE ads versus 30 seconds with traditional TV ads - over 12 times more brand interaction.

 Respondents spent an average 298 seconds interacting with Xbox LIVE ads versus 60 seconds engaging with traditional video ads.

 Xbox LIVE content effectively engages viewers cognitively, communicating new information about the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

 The Xbox LIVE ads delivered more positive emotions and high cognitive engagement around the brand and product.

 The traditional TV spots utilized music to elicit more positive emotions around the brand on average.

 The Xbox LIVE ad delivered 90 percent unaided brand recall rate; this was a significant difference versus 78 percent unaided brand recall for the traditional video spot.

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 The Xbox LIVE ads delivered a 67percent unaided brand recall rate.

Results: (continued) What follows below is a closer look at the five things that we believe every marketer should measure to crack the code on cross media engagement.

Memorability

Favorability

Better unaided recall of Kia in the Xbox LIVE study suggests that its content is more memorable, one indicator of greater engagement.

Before and after comparison of the visceral, biosensory response to the image of the Kia Soul indicates a significant positive emotional visual lift as a result of the exposure to Xbox LIVE content, as well as lower cognition, suggesting “easy enjoyment” of the product visual.

90% 78%

Bio-Sensory Responses Before & After Emotional Response: Negative Emotions

% Listing “Kia”

Positive Emotions more positive emotionally

42nd Percentile

94th Percentile

Cognitive Response: Low Cognition

Xbox LIVE

less thought provoking

Video Spot 3rd Percentile

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High Cognition

38th Percentile

Results: (continued) Purchase Consideration

Cognitive and Emotional Response

Thirty-eight percent of respondents indicated that they were more likely to purchase a Kia Soul after viewing the Xbox LIVE content. Continued research in purchase consideration will allow for the comparison with other media types.

The positive emotional and high cognitive response to the Xbox LIVE Photo Gallery significantly outperforms brand imagery seen in the video ad, indicating higher levels of engagement with the brand in the interactive context.

Time Spent High Cognitive Response

COGNITION

Respondents spend a significant amount of time interacting and exploring Xbox LIVE content, resulting in an extended exposure to the brand and product. 298 seconds

Traditional Ad Brand/Product Response

Low Cognitive Response

Avg duration of brand interaction

Negative Emotional Response

60 seconds

Xbox LIVE Spotlight

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Xbox Live - Photo Gallery

Video Spot

EMOTION

Positive Emotional Response

Conclusion: While it’s impossible to predict trends or draw conclusions from a single study, we believe this research is ground breaking in that the methodology allows marketers to measure five critical indicators of engagement in a consistent manner across multiple media types.     

Memorability Favorability Purchase Consideration Time Spent Cognitive and Emotional Response

These five indicators may hold a key to measuring consumer engagement and impact across media; something that will help all marketers make the most of their media mix and generate greater return on their advertising dollars.

For more information: Contact the author: [email protected]

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About the author: Ginny Musante has vast experience in the media business. On the content side as a television journalist, on the agency side as founder and creative director of Network Media, Inc.,and finally on the client side as a marketer at Microsoft. In her current role, Ginny leads the global trade marketing efforts for the Entertainment & Devices Advertising Business Group, the team that’s responsible for the ad monetization of Xbox, Zune and other emerging platforms.

About Microsoft Advertising: Microsoft Advertising provides world-class advertising tools and solutions for digital advertisers and publishers to drive brand and consumer engagement. The portfolio includes all of Microsoft’s digital advertising businesses: its global media network that includes MSN, Windows Live, Office Live, Xbox LIVE, Live Search, Facebook and more, and its global technology platforms and tools that include Atlas, AdECN, adCenter, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic, which together create engaging digital advertising experiences for their consumers. Microsoft Advertising helps make buying and selling media simple, smart and cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond, which spans 42 markets globally and 21 languages. Visit http://advertising.microsoft.com for more information.