A new study by Kantar has revealed Are Media’s commercial content drives brand uplift across every measure, with inspiration and information driving customers to take real action along every step of the purchase funnel.
The research was conducted to discover what consumers thought of Are Media’s content for brands including Porters Paints, L’Oreal Paris, and Tourism Queensland to understand if its content pieces impacted brands’ key campaign objectives. It revealed the combination of print, digital and social drove strong brand uplifts across every measure.
Speaking about the results, Allan Breiland, Kantar’s senior director, media said: “The strength of these results is a testament to the well-crafted fit-for-purpose content that shows an understanding of how the media are being consumed as well as the influence of some of Australia’s most beloved brands. This combination has also proved Are Media’s ability to take consumers through the full purchase funnel.”
The research found advertising created by Are Media’s brands drove significantly higher brand awareness across the board, along with improved brand favorability and message association. Purchase intent and consideration was also higher after the ads were viewed
Eye-tracking data added another layer of evidence to reaffirm the engaging nature of magazine content, with print images drawing the respondents in, and highly persuasive content keeping them there for longer.
As part of the research, 300 respondents were shown a condensed version of Are Media’s Country Style magazine, featuring a double-page spread for Porter’s Paint. The test content was shown in a ‘flippable’ truncated magazine piece, with content embedded alongside general editorial.
On average, the results found top-of-mind awareness increased six-fold compared to the control group, while message association doubled and purchase intent and consideration increased by +11%. The content was particularly successful in shifting metrics at the top of the purchase funnel and was equally as strong amongst those intending to renovate in the next 12 months.
Relevancy is a huge factor in creating engaging, memorable content and the Porter’s Paint findings were no exception. First, researchers considered if the content was relevant to audiences. They found the content created for Porter’s Paint was served to the right people, with the great majority (86%) of respondents saying the content to be relevant to them.
In fact, three out of four respondents found the content relevant to them – 1.5 times Kantar’s norms. A huge 88% felt the content provided them with new information, which was also 1.5 times more than Kantar’s norms.
People read magazines to get inspired, whether it’s to make changes to their home, plan a wedding or book an exciting trip overseas. It’s critical advertising content reflects this desire for inspiration. The study asked respondents: ‘thinking about the article you’ve just read, how inspirational were the points made in the article to you?’ to which over three-quarters of people either agreed strongly (33%) or slightly (43%).
The Porter’s Paints article not only inspired, but inspired action. As one respondent said: “I had never heard of Porter’s Paints before but now I have seen the effect I will definitely be going to Bunnings to see the different colours and ideas.” Another added: “Anything with colours and paints always catches my eyes. It seems to be so fresh and refreshing. I just love the combination on the paper so wondering in real life how it would be. I want to go and see and try.”
Ultimately, the Porter’s Paints feature managed to boost brand attributes thanks to a wide range of inspiration and information-driven factors, including ‘inspires me to try something new’, ‘helps me bring my home to life’ ‘has high-quality products’ and ‘has a diverse and complex range of colours’.
In the highly competitive beauty and cosmetic market, prestige brand L’Oreal Paris wanted a creative solution that resonated with audiences and cut through the category’s marketing clutter.
Featuring Australian star Jess Mauboy, a 30-second native video display, where Mauboy talked about the journey of her self-worth, ran on marie claire’s mobile website. Across all key brand metrics the content over-indexed, with top of mind awareness, brand favourability, message association and purchase intent increasing.
L’Oreal Paris ANZ media director, Lyndall Campher, said: “The native display video with Jess Mauboy resonated with consumers and was pitched perfectly for the L’Oreal Paris brand. KPI brand metrics saw top of mind awareness rise by 51% and purchase intent up by 10%. The branding and messaging featured at the beginning and end of the video enforced the L’Oreal Paris brand and message association and there were strong lifts in brand favourability which also rose by 12%.
“We have worked closely with Are Media’s creative content team on a number of bespoke campaigns. The team understands women and how to effectively capture their attention, ensuring our brand remains top of mind with its audiences.
The full white paper can be downloaded here along with a new three part podcast series Captive, revealing the secrets to capturing the attention of women.