This week’s egtabite features an in-depth ROI study of the Finnish market – conducted by Screenforce Finland, the national TV trade body and Sellforte, an independent tech company specialised in granular marketing ROI measurements – which proves that Total TV (in this case meaning linear and online, with no programmatic) brings the highest incremental sales in the long-term and delivers a strong argument for advertisers to invest in Total TV.
Total TV advertising measurement
In Finland, 99% of the population watches TV content on any device. The viewing time of just under 3 hours per day (2h 42min) has remained pretty stable for the past decade, with commercial broadcasters representing 52% of the market. Nonetheless, there was a need for an in-depth ROI study, with advertising measurement added to Total TV.
Therefore, Screenforce Finland, in collaboration with Sellforte, conducted a unique piece of research by analysing purchase data from Gigantti, the largest retailer of electronic and household appliances, with over 41 stores nationwide. With the huge amount of data, the research takes into account, among other things, the effect of discounts made by Gigantti.
The objective of the study was to discover the strengths of TV from a brand that uses both tactical and brand-building marketing and to understand which media channels generate the highest incremental sales.
The study compared more than ten million receipt lines collected over Gigantti’s sales and marketing data. The advertiser’s data showed that 18% of their media budget goes into Total TV, while one-third of the total media budget goes in direct mail, as their marketing is driven via weekly promotions.
As part of the study, two years of extensive sales data (item, location, date) were analysed together with marketing data and media spend, which enabled the researchers to obtain a comprehensive, reliable and actionable model and results.
Sales data was split into three components, the base sales, that would occur without any promotions, the offer, as an uplift for the promotion of a product and finally the media, an ad for a certain promotion. ROI was calculated by dividing media-driven uplift by media investments.
The long-term results
Results of the study demonstrate that search engine marketing stands out with the highest ROI in the short term, but TV generates a much higher ROI than any other media in the long term. In the incremental sales that occur the following week after the campaign, search engine marketing is the most efficient turnover driver.
However, TV has a positive spill-over effect on web traffic and it is the biggest media driver of total turnover. The results show that 4% of search engine marketing-driven incremental sales belong to Total TV.
The study proves that Total TV has the best total performance and is the best media channel to drive incremental sales over a long period. Each euro invested in Total TV generates 17 euros of total turnover.
The ROI study sparked a dialogue between TV, agencies and advertisers. “Gigantti is one of Finland’s largest advertisers, and the results of the study certainly give food for thought in many corner rooms,” said Anna Lujanen, Executive Director, Screenforce Finland.
“We spend a significant portion of our marketing budget on TV advertising because it effectively generates demand. Our industry is highly competitive and hectic, and we need to know the return on our marketing investment. The efficiency of marketing can only be increased with the right information, ”
says Sami Särkelä, Marketing Director, Gigantti.
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