STUDY: VOD ADVERTISING DELIVERS MEASURABLE SHORT-TERM SALES GROWTH

Streaming TV-on-demand advertising drives measurable, incremental sales rather than just brand awareness, according to research conducted by WPP Media in conjunction with Amazon Ads.

The six-month study set out to test whether advertisers who expanded their TV investment to streaming-on-demand could deliver real, measurable business outcomes. The research covered Prime Video campaigns for eight UK brands that do not sell on Amazon, spanning retail, automotive, healthcare and travel. It found a mean lift in modelled business outcomes of +1.65 per cent, with the best-performing individual result reaching +6.63 per cent.

If the same results were replicated for a £10 million (€11.9m) brand, it would deliver the equivalent of £165,000 in incremental revenue over a single campaign flight. The findings highlighted streaming TV's value as a measurable driver of business outcomes for the brands, with the campaigns involved in the study generating a 22 per cent stronger return on investment (ROI) against the benchmark of the all-channel media average of the brands involved.

“Advertisers have long understood the brand-building power of TV, but this research gives us much clearer evidence of its ability to drive measurable business outcomes in the short term too,” commented Mark Stephenson, SVP, Commercial Strategy & Solutions Development at WPP Media. “By isolating the incremental impact of streaming TV, we can show that adding services like Prime Video to the media mix can translate directly into sales. For advertisers, the opportunity isn't about choosing between linear and streaming but understanding how each works together to make total TV investment work harder.”

Driving revenue outcomes for brands and measuring the impact streaming provides

Each campaign ran for four weeks between December 2025 and May 2026, covering approximately 20 per cent of the UK population at an equivalised national spend of circa £100,000. To isolate the incremental sales impact of Prime Video from all other media activity, WPP Media applied its proprietary geo-lift solution, supported by a meta-analysis to aggregate results across the eight campaigns. This was triangulated with Amazon Ads Brand Lift Studies, client Marketing Mix Modelling data and industry benchmarks from Profit Ability 2.

Amazon Ads Brand Lift Studies conducted alongside the incrementality research recorded a mean uplift in ad recall of +5.43 percentage points, with purchase intent and consideration rising by +2.01 percentage points. Using YouGov data, the relationship between current customers and advertising awareness has been used to predict the longer-term impact, resulting in a multiplier of 2.5x over two years, in line with Profit Ability 2.

The findings add to a growing evidence base that TV and video advertising delivers not only brand-building but tangible, measurable business outcomes – and that streaming TV on demand is a valuable, measurable layer within that mix rather than a substitute for it.

“We set out to ask whether streaming TV can drive sales, not just awareness,” added Krishan Patel, Director, Agency UK, Amazon Ads. “This research with WPP Media shows brands across sectors including automotive, healthcare and travel achieving measurable sales lift with Prime Video. It gives advertisers the confidence to invest in streaming TV knowing it can deliver immediate commercial impact as well as long-term brand growth.”

Source: advanced-television.com