Television Advertising that Works: An Analysis of Commercials fro ...

The :05-second spot, referred to as the pod puncher (pod refers to the time when commercials air within a program), would run in the same break with a 30-second spot. The strategy behind is to increase spot awareness by using the pod puncher as a cue for the commercial to come later in the same commercial break (McClellan, 2006).

The growth in fragmentation and clutter has diluted the confidence advertisers have in television commercials. Even though traditional television viewing habits have changed, the television commercial remains important for all types of video content. For the advertiser, the growth of nontraditional viewing combined with the integration of advertising within these new avenues has shifted the emphasis from traditional exposure philosophies to more of a mindset of engagement.

Engagement

The term engagement became a hot topic in the advertising world in 2005 and continues as a highly contested term. Barbara Bacci-Mirque, senior vice president for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) reports, “ANA members have told us that—in the face of media fragmentation and consumer control over how they receive advertising messages—new forms of advertising are needed to reach today’s consumers. In this age of accountability, new metrics are necessary to adequately reflect the impact of nontraditional messages” (Advertising Research Foundation [ARF], 2005). This perceived need for the new measurement term arose from the need to measure new technology such as blogs and gaming, as well as mobile devices (Pilotta, 2005). No longer do Nielsen Media numbers describe reach and frequency sufficiently to measure impressions leading to advertising effectiveness. Advertisers want return on investment (ROI) or return on objectives (ROO) engagement evidence for the commercials they run on television and elsewhere (Consoli, 2006).