BrightLine Study Finds that Mothers Engage More Often and Longer with Interactive TV Ads

Interactive TV advertising agency, BrightLine, said Tuesday that it has conducted a study--drawing on its own research and on "complementary data from other public sources"--which shows that "tech-savvy moms in the US" use their remote controls to engage with interactive TV ads at higher rates than they engage with online ads or traditional 30-second spots. In addition, the company claims, mothers show a higher propensity to click and engage with relevant content on TV than do other key consumer segments, including males 18-24. (Note: Last June, BrightLine also issued a report that claims that Hispanic/Latino consumers click on interactive TV ads at rates more than twice those of the general market--see the article published on itvt.com, June 25th.)

According to the company, mothers click on ads targeted to them via interactive TV experiences at a rate 19 times higher than they interact with targeted ads they encounter online. In addition, BrightLine says, mothers spend an average of almost four minutes interacting with branded content on their TV sets--i.e. "seven times longer than is possible with the one-way message in a 30-second TV commercial." This length of engagement is over 20% longer than that of male audiences in general, according to the company, and 10% longer than that of the traditionally highly valued male 18-24 demographic segment. "With an estimated 80 million moms in the US who have more than $2 trillion in collective spending power, it's pretty clear that the mom segment is 'large and in charge,'" BrightLine co-founder and CEO, Jacqueline Corbelli, said in a prepared statement. "These findings show that consumers overall, but especially the influential mom demographic, are very receptive to personalized ads that they can engage with through advanced TV advertising techniques."

Other findings of BrightLine's new report, according to the company, include 1) that mothers, more than any other consumer segment, "like receiving offers and information regarding special value coupons, sweepstakes and relevant, complementary content like recipes as a seamless part of their TV viewing experience, especially for personal-care items"; and 2) that "a strategic mix of advanced-TV ad features can bolster the cost-efficiency of the traditional TV buy, yielding a record $0.13 cost per voluntary engagement."

In related news: Terra, a digital media company serving the Hispanic/Latino community, has commissioned a study from comScore that appears to show that Hispanics are also potentially fertile targets for interactive TV advertising, and, in general, are more active in a wide range of online activities and more receptive to new technology than are non-Hispanics. Among other things, the "Terra comScore Ad Value Research Study" (more information on which can be found here), found that 37% of Hispanics vs. 25% of non-Hispanics enjoy the interactivity of online video ads, and the ability to obtain additional information that is unavailable through a traditional TV ad.