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You’ve put together what seems like a knockout campaign; the creative has been achieved to perfection, the budget is on side, the analytics are mined for the potential achieve. Could not it be a shame if all of that work has been jeopardized because people viewed the advertisement together with the sound off?
The dilemma of how to get customers to connect with advertising has been one marketing teams have faced since time immemorial. Nevertheless a new bit of research from Kantar Millward Brown — and AdColony — formerly Opera Mediaworks argues from subtitling their commercials brands can gain.
The research analysed two versions of commercials — with and without subtitles, obviously — out of Bose, Disney, Sony Pictures and Volvo, and found that subtitled creatives for film and entertainment campaigns found a 9.9 percentage point uplift when the KPI was brand awareness compared to the equivalent. As it came to purchase, some ads had as much as a 26 percentage point increase, while a technology product effort saw a 23 percent point boost in communication key product attributes through utilizing subtitles.
Nick Crowe says there is still lots of work to be done as these are possibly encouraging findings. “As is often the case with study, the research raised a lot more questions and left the door open for further research into the area,” he told MarketingTech. “Whilst the general trend the study demonstrated was to some extent anticipated, we were amazed by the degree the degree of impact varied across the verticals and individual attempts.
“Even within particular verticals, the impact subtitles had on the various sizes diverse, with some seeing only small improvements and others viewing substantial uplift,” Crowe added.
The company notes that on mobile in particular, many consumers are pleased without listening to it to watch content. It may be because the clip they’re watching doesn’t demand sound for your message. Some programs take umbrage against people who press the button users onto the ad-supported version of Spotify have to obey the ads, and if they are muted Spotify waits before the consumer has changed their mind.
In the end, it’s a different issue to consider for campaigns. “Overall the consumer public is quite accepting of advertisements as they know it funds the content they consume,” said Crowe, adding that this is AdColony’s mobile video formats view high end prices. “At the same time, the core aim of any advertisement would be to communicate a message and ensure the audience comprehends it as easily as possible.
“So as the viewers are happy and prepared to view the content, so it makes sense for the advertiser to do anything they can to ensure the user understands the message behind it,” he added. “Subtitles are a great method of achieving this when audio is inaccessible or deactivated by the user.”
The analysis noted however that for FMCG campaigns, despite the benefit of subtitles to communicate certain advantages and key functions of this item on display, it “failed to provide any significant advantages over non-subtitled video concerning brand recognition or affinity.”
