New Research Proves Impact Of Social Video On Brand Metrics

Viewers are far more likely to recall a brand name and engage with an ad’s message if a branded video has been recommended to them.

That’s according to startling new research commissioned by Unruly into the effectiveness of social video advertising.

The survey - which surveyed online video viewers, aged 18-34, from July to November 2011, using four social video campaigns from top FMCG brands Guinness, Coca-Cola, Unilever’s Cornetto and Energizer Batteries - found that social recommendations had a direct impact on traditional brand metrics and ad enjoyment.

In particular:

• Brand recall and brand association rose 7 percent among viewers who had been recommended the videos versus viewers who found it by browsing;
• 73 percent of respondents who viewed a recommended video recalled the brand when prompted versus 68 percent of viewers who had browsed to the video directly;
• There was a 14 percent increase in the number of people who enjoyed the video following a recommendation versus those who had discovered it by browsing;
• People who enjoyed a video were 97 percent more likely to purchase the product featured in the video;
• There was a 14% increase in the number of people who enjoyed the video following a recommendation versus those who had discovered it by browsing. Moreover, a recommendation reduced the number of people who did not enjoy the video by 41% (see chart below).

The study, conducted by Decipher Research, sought to determine the impact of peer recommendations.

“Social video is a powerful format for engaging consumers. If a brand creates great video content and makes it easy to share, it will see impressive results across the entire purchase funnel,” said Unruly COO Sarah Wood.

The survey, organised in conjunction with the brands’ agency partners Carat, Vizeum, Mindshare and MEC, was issued last week in a white paper titled 'Social Ad Effectiveness: An Unruly Whitepaper' and was part of a presentation at the iStrategy conference in San Francisco on February 1 by Art Zeidman, Unruly’s President, Americas.

The white paper concludes: "This research demonstrates that social video significantly increases brand attention.

"The power of social video lies in the recommendation to view content. This recommendation comes not only from peers in social media environments, but also from authoritative blogs and news sources covering advertiser content editorially."

To download a free copy of the white paper, please visit: http://unr.ly/w9jyNn.

Earlier this year, we released a special insights report into what you can expect from the social video market in 2012. To read the report, click here.