TV Pulse 2005, the annual research initiative put together by the Joint Industry Body (JIB) and Tam Media, series continues with the paper - Have you taken my appointment yet? - A study on programme promos.
The paper has been put together by Rashmi Wadhwa, MICA with inputs and guidance from Tam Media Research VP Atul Phadnis and MICA Tara Nair.
Among the various marketing activities undertaken by TV channels, On-air promos are the most prevalent form of marketing used, but at the same time they are also the most debated ones. Considerable work has been done to enhance the returns on these promotions by studying factors like TRPs, reach, frequency, etc. But an area that continues to hold latent potential is the effectiveness of elements intrinsic to the production of promo itself, that is, the constituents of the creative that can act as perpetuators for watching the program.
This paper by Rashmi Wadhwa, MICA (with inputs & guidance from Mr. Atul Phadnis, VP – TAM Media Research & Director, S-Group Dr. Tara Nair, Faculty – MICA) studied the relationship between creative elements of a promo and audience intention to walk-in to the program. Apart from identifying the effective creative elements, this study also understands the influence they can command on the conversion of promo viewers to program watchers. The first stage of the study involved identifying various elements that can constitute an ‘on –air promo’. Eleven factors were identified on the basis of secondary and primary research. The primary study was conducted on three families (SEC A: SEC B:: 2:1) in the form of Focus Group Discussions. Some of the many promo creative elements identified at the end of the study were:
1. Understanding theme 2. Liking the theme 3. Familiarity with cast 4. Liking of cast 5. Interactivity 6. Novelty
7. Age appeal 8. Duration of the promo 9 Background/sets
10 Curiosity generated 11 Background music
The above eleven elements were then tested in the second stage of the study to evaluate the effect they can command on promo viewers in converting them to program viewers.
The study was conducted on a sample of 120 individuals with 60 respondents each in the age group 15-24 and 25-45. The sample was also equally divided across gender. In this stage, each viewer was exposed to a promo (pilots obtained from Adex India) and scores were obtained on each of the eleven creative elements and ‘intention to watch the program’ for the promo shown.
The scores were obtained on a 7-point Likert scale and a correlation drawn between each of the creative elements and ‘intention to watch’ to understand their strength of association.
Findings of the Study
The study analyzed the data obtained across different parameters like genres, type of promotions, gender and age and established the importance of these parameters varies across these elements.
The following chart gives the correlation coeffeicients between the various elements of the promo and the intention to walk in to a programme from the drama genre.
The liking of cast emerged to be the strongest factor for a promo to pull in audiences into a drama genre programme.
The study manifests that a well crafted message of a promo stands an excellent chance of creating addiyional listening. It indicates that certain elements of the promo creative can play a significant role in attracting the promo viewers to the program and thereby, influencing viewership.
Limitations
This study is specific to Delhi and hence should not be taken as being indicative of the preference for TV programme promos across India
The results for the study are applicable to the point in time when the study was actually conducted, since viewership behaviour is liable to change with time
