Alternative Viewing Causes Jitters for the Traditional "First Screen"

By David Leider, CEO, GSTV @GSTV_David

Where do your customers spend the greater part of their day watching entertainment, news, sports and the commercial time that permeates them? For many decades, the answer has been indisputable:  the television—America’s trusty “first screen” and the focal point of advertising campaigns since the 1950s. But not anymore.

Last August, eMarketer reported that, on average in 2013, the hours spent watching digital media (5.25 hours) would surpass TV viewing (4.5 hours) for the first time. That means people are watching less programming—and the commercials that support them--in real time, preferring to watch digital video on their own schedule.  In addition, recent data released from communicus calls into question the effectiveness of television ads to actually drive purchase, even in times of heavy real-time viewership – specifically, the Super Bowl in 2013. The data found that even with the buzz around advertising content, only one out of five ads would drive a purchase.

The loss of real-time TV viewership is compounded, of course, by DVRs, which can shift daytime programming to night-time audiences and prime-time viewing to anywhere days or even weeks after the original broadcast date. Furthermore, Motorola Mobility recently found that, in the U.S., more than a third of TV viewing is recorded content. But consumers never watch 41 percent of what they record. So not only are Americans shifting programs and timely commercial spots into indeterminable viewing periods, but also in many instances they’re vaporizing unwatched content with the delete command.

Why are Americans turning more to digital sources and creating their own viewing schedules? Because they’re always on the move, and they can take mobile technology with them. They shove everything they need—maps, tickets, money, retail stores, video games, cameras, news—into their shirt pockets in digital form, pulling out their smartphones along the way to guide their lives. As they walk or drive, they are consistently connected through their phone and are surrounded by more displays to draw their attention, from digital scoreboards to digital video, above the treadmills at the gym and along hotel lobby walls. Consequently, advertisers are now able to reach consumers in real time beyond the television, and increasingly they are finding novel ways to do so.

Digital ads present an opportunity for bright, changeable messages, although video loses its effectiveness if viewers skip over the ads. Lobby kiosks and even scoreboard-sized outdoor screens can draw viewership, although it may be measured in seconds.

Digital TV displayed in airports, however, has a captive audience and becomes a good outlet for reaching business travelers. Similarly, news, sports and entertainment displayed on gasoline pumps give drivers a chance for several minutes of engagement while they are fueling up and paying at the pump.  Nontraditional media like these have the ability to offer retailers the guarantee that consumers are viewing their ads in real-time and aren’t forwarding through them. These unconventional media also can consistently deliver higher ad-message recall, and they provide new ways to target specific market segments with strategic ad spends.

At the same time, the attraction of all these other displays around us and close to us has the effect of diminishing the impact of TV advertising, because attention spans have become small and opportunities for distraction are large.

TV unmistakably remains the primary advertising medium in America and across the globe, but many retailers may not be getting the most from their advertising budget if they ignore all the other media that draw the consumer’s attention in real time and can’t be deleted like DVR recordings.

Retailers shouldn’t miss consumers because they aren’t home watching television ads; retailers should be trying to reach consumers anywhere their day takes them.