Canoe and the Association of National Advertisers Reveal Brand Effectiveness of ITV

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Canoe Ventures, the advanced television joint venture of the nation's leading cable companies, and the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) today released information on the initial findings of their collaborative research endeavor coined CEE MEE. Through the CEE MEE initiative, ANA members and Canoe study how the Connection, Emotion and Experience of advanced television solutions, including interactive television (ITV), relate to the Measurement, Efficiency and Engagement advertisers seek. Fidelity, GlaxoSmithKline, Honda, Kimberly-Clark and State Farm were the first ANA members to join the effort which collects insights from a proprietary online panel of TV enthusiasts whose reactions to various advanced television experiences are evaluated. The participants in the CEE MEE panel also give opinions on media consumption, technology and other issues in surveys, discussion boards, blogs and live chats.

“For most members of the ANA, television remains the centerpiece of their marketing efforts, so it's paramount that ANA thought leaders understand how the new capabilities of the television platform and the behaviors these capabilities elicit from viewers will impact their future marketing efforts,” said Bob Liodice, President and Chief Executive Officer of the ANA. “The results from the CEE MEE studies with our initial participating brands are very promising, demonstrating that TV viewers will engage interactively, enjoy the experience and take with them greater awareness and a higher opinion of the brands involved.”

Several of the studies conducted since the launch of the CEE MEE panel have evaluated consumer engagement with interactive offers presented as an overlay to advertising; these applications are typically called “Requests for Information” (RFI). The insights on the effectiveness of RFI were promising. In aggregated results for Honda, GlaxoSmithKline, Kimberly-Clark and State Farm, on average, 18% of adults 18 to 49 years said “yes” to interactive offers and confirmed their choice.

While the desire to evaluate the potential of RFI as a marketing tool for fulfilling additional information, coupons, samples and other items were of interest to the ANA, Canoe and the involved brands, each were also interested in insights beyond the propensity of the TV viewers to make requests. The impact of RFI campaigns on key brand health metrics were also closely evaluated, and the results (again, in aggregate) were equally promising:

• Unaided brand recall for the test brand was 126% higher following an exposure to an interactive offer, regardless of whether the viewer actually accepted the offer.
• Likelihood to purchase the test brand was 29% higher for all exposed to an interactive offer.
• Likelihood to seek more information about the brand was also 29% higher following exposure to an interactive offer.

“Directionally, the findings of the ANA brands through their work with the CEE MEE panel are the same as the findings Canoe has discovered in studies with national brands that have actually run early RFI campaigns,” said Kathy Timko, Chief Executive Officer of Canoe. “We see that some of the most important brand metrics – unaided brand recall, purchase intent and likelihood to seek additional information see a lift from the insertion of attention-grabbing and engaging interactive offers. We appreciate the ANA members for their partnership in the exploration of advanced television through CEE MEE and remain dedicated to our ongoing work together to produce additional insights with the panel in 2012.”

Canoe and ANA are providing additional information about the CEE MEE panel and the research at www.canoeventures.com/ceemeestudy. The initiative is ongoing; Canoe and the ANA are welcoming the participation of other ANA brands in future research.

About Canoe Ventures:

Canoe Ventures is in the business of better television. Founded as a joint venture of the leading cable television operators in America, Canoe is expanding relevant, measurable engagement with television viewers. Canoe enables national networks with advanced capabilities and works collaboratively industry-wide to define, develop and scale advanced television solutions. Canoe is headquartered in New York, with advanced technology operations and collaborative labs in Colorado http://www.canoeventures.com.

About the ANA:

Founded in 1910, the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) leads the marketing community by providing its members with insights, collaboration, and advocacy. ANA's membership includes 400 companies with 10,000 brands that collectively spend over $250 billion in marketing communications and advertising. The ANA strives to communicate marketing best practices, lead industry initiatives, influence industry practices, manage industry affairs, and advance, promote, and protect all advertisers and marketers. For more information, visit www.ana.net, follow us on Twitter, join us on Facebook, or visit our YouTube channel.