Sky AdSmart ‘increases engagement by a third’

Addressable TV can increase ad engagement by 35% and cut channel switching by 48%, or almost a half, according to a five-year study of Sky AdSmart from the pay TV operator.

According to the study, facial recognition analysis showed that when addressable ads are on TV, viewers’ attentiveness to the screen could be as much a third higher, with viewers on average 21% more engaged.

An analysis using 52,000 ad breaks showed that channel switching was reduced by 48%) when addressable ads were in the first three positions of a break, compared to standard linear TV ads.

The survey also found that viewers of addressable TV ads are 10% more likely to spontaneously recall an ad compared to linear TV advertising.

According to Sky, combining linear with addressable TV advertising increases ad awareness by 22%. When the frequency of addressable ads is equal or higher to linear exposure ad recall is boosted by 49%.

Sky found that the increased engagement created by addressability increased purchase intent by 7% overall and by as much as 20% for new to TV advertisers who benefit more from the exposure and credibility TV delivers.

Sky claims that AdSmart has a a return rate of 70% among advertisers, with 75 of the top 100 UK brands usingit.

Sky expanded AdSmart to Virgin Media’s home on July 1 after striking a deal with the cable operator, meaning that advertisers using it can now target a much larger group of homes, with up to 40% of UK homes becoming addressable.

“We’ve seen from day-one the amazing impact AdSmart has had for advertisers and it’s great to share our learnings of the AdSmart journey so far. TV is well-known for its impressive brand building abilities. Now with clear evidence of the effective performance of highly targeted campaigns across TV, its full potential is being discovered and unleashed by broadcasters, viewers and brands,” said Jamie West, director of strategy and capability planning at Sky Media, the pay TV operator’s advertising arm.

“And why wouldn’t it work? It makes perfect sense – if an ad is more relevant to you, then you are more likely to remember it and that translates in greater impact. Marrying the expectations of digital targeting with the brand safe and transparent environment of TV is winning trust of brands, both new to TV and those that are well established.”