Disney Unlocks Magic Kingdom of Online Advertising
Disney are conducting detailed research to monitor the effectiveness of online advertising in order to learn more about how consumers react when they see different adverts online.
The company is due to make a presentation today to 200 advertising executives in New York on the findings of its consumer research. Dr Duane Varan, the leader of the Disney study told The New York Times: “Everybody is still shooting in the dark,” when it comes to online marketing, “We’re trying to turn on the lights.”
Whilst there is certainly quite a lot of digital mediaintelligence around from companies such as Nielsen, comScore and Hitwise which monitor online advertising trends through how often people click on adverts online (otherwise referred to as clickthrough rate), there is very little research that has been done to monitor how consumers observe ads without necessarily clicking on them.
The Disney research uses eye-tracking techniques to see which adverts are drawing attention and which are not. Analysts are observing how small a banner advert can get before it is ignored, how well people respond to animated ads, and where the best ads are placed online.
As well as the eye-tracking scan, heart rate, skin temperature and facial expressions are all carefully recorded and analysed so that the research team can see what works and what doesn’t. “The goal is ultimately to have laws that apply,” commented Peter Seymour, the executive vice president of the strategy and research department responsible for the Disney study.
Disney wants to play a big part in the future of online advertising, a 37 billion dollar industry by 2013 if analyst predictions are on target. “We see this as a very powerful research and development tool for the entire Disney company,” said Artie Bulgrin, SVP of research at ESPN.
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