MB and Kantar Launch 'Tuneaway' Study

WPP companies Millward Brown and Kantar Media are to measure the relative impact of creative and of media placement in causing TV viewers to change channel or otherwise tune away from watching an ad.

The new 'Tuneaway' study has identified three main mistakes which lead to this: ads either lack personal relevance, have a negative emotional reaction, or contain information that isn't (generally) relevant or believable.

While poor creative content plays a 'critical role', the study showed that improper media placement accounts for the majority of audience tuneaway.

The study also identified seven component variables in tuneaway, including channel, program, duration of ad, position in pod, daypart, product category, and pod position in program.

Mitzi Lorentzen, VP Client Solutions, Communications Development Research at Millward Brown, comments: 'By analyzing second-by-second tuning data, we are now able to identify the relative impact of the creative message on retention of audiences, as well as measure the specific media influences that impact audience tuneaway by product, category and brand'.

Lorentzen says the joint offering will also be able to identify creative elements and media strategies which help to combat tuneaway to enhance advertising ROI.

Web sites: www.millwardbrown.com and www.kantarmedia.com .