TV is widely regarded as a long-term advertising strategy, primarily due to its ability to build trust over time. TV is highly regulated, and people know it to be a credible source of information, which leads to greater trust in the brands featured on it.
This trust grows as customers repeatedly see a brand on TV, keeping it top of mind when the time comes to make a purchase. A memorable TV ad can continue to influence consumers for months, even years, after it airs.
While online channels are often seen as a go-to for driving short-term results, thanks to their direct response design and the speed at which they can be launched and adjusted, the Profit Ability 2 report – conducted by Ebiquity, EssenceMediacom, Gain Theory, Mindshare and Wavemaker UK and commissioned by Thinkbox – reveals that TV advertising also has remarkable short-term power.
TV’s reputation as a long-term strategy
Profit Ability 2 shows that, of all forms of advertising, linear TV ranks second for immediate payback (return within a week of the advertising), just behind generic PPC. However, TV is primarily recognised by brands for its ability to deliver substantial long-term value.
“ TV has in the past produced brilliant long-form brand-building adverts that make people go ‘wow, this is fantastic,’” says Matt Chappell, global client success officer at Gain Theory. He cites the John Lewis Christmas ads as a prime example of an advertisement that has become a highly anticipated part of the UK holiday season, thanks to its focus on storytelling, memorable music and beloved characters.
Chappell adds, “Because of this, brands sometimes lose sight of TV’s ability to also drive fantastic short-term returns.”
How the rise of streaming has impacted the TV advertising opportunity
The rise of streaming and the growth of streaming platforms have also expanded the TV advertising opportunity by shifting the way audiences consume content. Most subscription video on demand (SVOD) companies have now introduced ad-supported tiers, which has increased the potential for TV advertisers within high-quality programming.
Chappell says that, in most cases, advertisers should consider TV, SVOD, broadcaster video on demand (BVOD) and online video as part of a unified strategy. “It’s 30-second advertising viewed on a TV screen, regardless of whether it’s ITV, ITV2 or ITVX,” he says.
He notes that one key advantage of linear TV is the ability to create a “water cooler” moment, where everyone watches at once. “This can drive increased impacts through social media or through old-fashioned word of mouth,” he says.
Brands are over-relying on social media
Many brands rely heavily on social media, attracted by its promise of precise audience targeting and often lower cost compared to other advertising forms. This makes it especially appealing to small- and medium-sized businesses with limited budgets. However, this reliance may not always be beneficial in the long run.
“There’s a lot of eyeballs on social media,” says Jane Christian, executive vice-president of analytics at Choreograph UK. “But an eyeball on something isn’t the same as an increase in sales and ROI. Marketers need to use studies like Profit Ability 2 to better understand what channels are delivering actual financial return, not just eyeballs.”
An eyeball on something isn’t the same as an increase in sales and ROI
Social media’s flexibility is another reason brands gravitate toward it. “It’s easier to plan things more quickly in social. If you’re booking a TV campaign, you’ve got to do it well in advance,” explains Christian. Social media platforms provide real-time campaign performance tracking, giving brands immediate insight into their ads’ effectiveness. TV advertising currently lacks this level of real-time insight, although there is a new industry initiative, known as Lantern, that aims to address this.
Chappell also notes many brands also use social platforms for brand building. He refers to Currys’ TikTok channel as a notable example, where colleagues engage in popular trends to connect with audiences.
Looking beyond social media
While social media certainly plays a role in brand building, the most successful strategies often blend the strengths of both traditional and digital platforms.
Insights from Profit Ability 2 emphasise that linear TV advertising, alongside print, offers the lowest ROI variation, positioning it as a stable and lower-risk investment. Perhaps one of the most notable reasons for this is that it’s harder for brands to do TV ads badly. “There are well-known rules of how to do TV well,” says Christian.
In contrast, she points out that social platforms like Facebook offer multiple ad formats, which can make achieving optimal results challenging. “For social, you probably could deliver a higher return than TV, but there’s a high risk that it could be a lot lower because it’s just much more variable,” she says.
How brands can reassess their media mix to optimise their TV spend
Many brands that rely heavily on digital advertising often focus on digital tracking. However, Christian suggests that brands should reconsider relying too heavily on this. This is because a focus on tracking may mean they miss out on the broader and longer-term impact that other forms of advertising can have.
“It gives you a false view that you understand exactly what’s driving all of your business,” she says. “The reality is when you invest in TV, there’s no click. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that TV wasn’t a key influencer on the customer decision journey.”
For brands considering the switch to TV advertising, Chappell emphasises that it typically takes more time to see the full impact of their efforts. “If you launch a six-week TV campaign with a completely new brand on TV, even if you’re following best practices with lots of distinctive assets, you’re going to see more of a relative impact at 26 weeks than you will at 6,” he explains.
He says: “In pretty much every single case we see, the second or third time that someone runs something works a lot better than the first time, because you’re building up familiarity.”
He gives the example of Aldi’s Christmas ads, which feature Kevin the Carrot, the brand’s now-iconic holiday mascot. The ad has been running since 2016 and, like the John Lewis ad (cited above), has become a cornerstone of the holiday season for many.
“They’ve learned from the past. They’ve got this character now, he’s in people’s brains, and that seems to work really well for them,” Chappell says. “Sometimes you do need to stick at it to reap the rewards.”
