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The arrival of the first real fall TV season in two years and the return of football (with fans) combined to drive big viewership in September, with broadcast programming gaining 2 share points to represent 26% of total TV usage. The rise represents the second consecutive increase in broadcast viewing and a high since the May 2021 debut of The Gauge, Nielsen’s Total TV and Streaming viewing snapshot.

The new NFL season has attracted a wealth of enthusiastic sports fans, while the new broadcast TV season has provided an infusion of new content and excitement, both of which were largely absent last year as a result of hampered production due to the pandemic.

While the share of broadcast viewership was a big mover in September, the “other TV” category of The Gauge lost 2 share points, which is attributable to a decrease in video gaming. That decline coincides with both the new school year and the new football season.

Streaming and cable’s aggregated shares of viewing both remained consistent with August, but Netflix and Disney+ each dropped a share point, while YouTube, which includes YouTube TV, stayed constant at 6%, according to Nielsen’s Streaming Platform Ratings. The “Other Streaming” category also gained in September, driven by a combination of engagement with additional services and linear streaming services, such as Sling TV.

Take me to the methodology details below.

Watch the video to hear Brian Fuhrer, SVP, Product Strategy at Nielsen dive into the interesting underpinnings of The Gauge. Stay tuned to see if broadcast will maintain its momentum next month or if new content being introduced on the streaming services will lure viewers to that platform. 

In an ever-changing world, brands must acclimate to new realities. However, the fundamental notion of brand building remains the same: brands need to create and build trust with consumers and be authentic in their messaging and in what they stand for. 

In recent years, we have seen influencer marketing grow in popularity. As brands seek ways to establish deeper, more personalised connections with consumers, many are looking to social media influencers and the significant engagement that many of them boast across channels like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

WARC estimates that brands in Ireland will increase their social media ad spend by 24% this year, which is a stark reversal from the drop of 2.4% in 2020. The trends in Ireland are consistent with those across Europe. Research from IAB Europe found that creator marketing (influencer marketing) investment in Europe increased 14% to €1.3 billion, noting further growth expected for 2021. In addition to increased interest from advertisers, the pool of influences continues to rise. According to Nielsen InfluenceScope, there were 93,437 Irish influencer accounts with more than 1,000 followers on social media platforms in August 2021, a 58% increase from 2020.

Why are brands increasingly considering influencers as part of their marketing mix?

The realm of influencers is vast, and not exclusive to big-name celebrities. While celebrity endorsements can be powerful, social media influencers are growing opportunities for brands, as they have a passion for their specialty subjects, create their own content and relate closely with the day-to-day lives of their followers. The people who follow them have actively chosen to do so, and for that reason, they can be powerful brand advocates and help to drive purchase intent. Using niche topics to resonate with their followers offers a targeting possibility to reach specific audiences for brands and when executed well, influencer marketing can deliver an impactful outcome.

So what drives a successful influencer campaign?

Like any marketing or advertising campaign, the success of an influencer campaign ultimately rests on its execution, and influencer marketing comes with its own unique set of challenges, most notably around transparency and authenticity. According to research conducted by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) in October 2020, over half (51%) of Irish consumers are concerned by a lack of transparency, and 59% consider influencers who do not seem authentic to be “annoying.” Across the influencer campaigns measured by Nielsen Brand Effect in Europe, one-third of those exposed stated that the content was “irritating,” suggesting that brands need to improve the strategies they employ in their influencer marketing efforts. 

Good content is and always will be the foundation of any effective campaign, and influencer marketing is no different. Poor content will lead to incongruity in messaging meaning that, at best, consumers just won’t remember and, at worst, will result in consumers resenting the commercialisation of their favourite influencer’s content. 

Over the past three years, Nielsen has been running Influencer Brand Effect measurement across influencer campaigns in Europe to help advertisers and agencies understand their impact on brand image and on people’s propensity to purchase their brand. The key metrics measured are brand awareness, favourability and consideration. Our research has found that the following best practice guidelines hold true: Content must be relatable and authentic.

Relatable content helps drive purchase intent. Of the influencer campaigns we’ve measured, just over half of those surveyed felt the content they were exposed to was relevant to them. Our analysis indicated that 65% of people remembered the content for the campaigns that drove high brand favourability, and almost 60% of people exposed to influencer marketing said they were likely to want to try or buy the product.  

Regardless of category, brands need to navigate the growing pool of influencers to  partner with to ensure the authenticity of your brand and message. Once you’ve identified the right influencer for your brand –by analysing their posts, follower comments and the products and services they enjoy —work with them to create authentic content. Even when the ultimate goal is to sell a product or service, marketers are increasingly seeking ways to be perceived as authentic and real. This is where influencers can assuredly help. Consumers are more likely to align themselves with brands that share their beliefs and values. If followers trust an influencer and their recommendations, they’re more likely to follow the brand and stay loyal.

In 2020, influencer Holly Carpenter became an ambassador of Dogs Trust Ireland. As Holly suffers from mental health issues, she was keen to promote her belief that“man’s best friend” could help people cope with and possibly overcome similar issues. As ambassador, she created a campaign for her vision, which was well received by her followers. According to Nielsen InfluenceScope, Dogs Trust Ireland’s Instagram account gained 30% new followers. 

We believe the momentum behind influencer marketing will continue, particularly as the pandemic has inspired higher traffic on social media platforms. Social media and influencer marketing have become useful marketing options for brands looking to expand their online presence. To be successful, influencer campaigns need to be carefully planned, executed and measured to ensure they deliver on key objectives. When used well as part of the marketing mix, they can be successful in achieving key objectives, help build positive brand associations and ultimately drive purchase intent. 

Most brands would be hard-pressed to think of a more disruptive time for business than what they’ve experienced over the past 18+ months. From shifts to digital to advertising cutbacks to supply chain challenges to rising privacy and data security needs—all amid a global pandemic—the landscape for advertisers has been anything but smooth sailing.

Given the environment, which remains very much in flux, the focus on efficient marketing and tangible returns on investment (ROI) remain elevated, especially in industries where the ad recovery has been slower than others. With so much at stake, it’s not surprising that many brands have started exploring the prospect of bringing their marketing analytics in-house. In the face of all that’s happening in the world, it’s not an irrational notion. But it needs to be executed in the right way.  

Importantly, the world of marketing technology has matured significantly in recent years, offering brands an array of solutions to help with everything from promotion to social media engagement to commerce. According to the Chief Marketing Technologist’s Marketing Technology Landscape report, the landscape was rife with 8,000 different martech solutions last year—up more than 13% from 2019. That’s a lot to navigate—and well before any actual analytic work comes into play.

As vast as the growing sea of available solutions is, marketing mix modeling (MMM) is the most critical solution for advertisers to understand and optimize their marketing dollars holistically. MMM can be leveraged globally, whereas certain data-needy solutions only provide coverage in top markets. Amid a rapidly fragmenting media landscape, in-market MMM expertise is a foundational need for brands looking to ensure that they’re spending their marketing dollars in the most effective channels. 

While MMM is invaluable, it requires experience and accuracy to be truly effective. For example, Nielsen’s MMM studies have found that marketers waste between 25% and 50% of their spend because they aren’t able to determine the impact on ROI. In order to narrow that waste, brands need robust and time-tested MMM to successfully determine the qualitative results of each marketing activity.

At its core, MMM is the use of statistical analysis to understand the impact of previous marketing efforts on sales and to predict the impact of future initiatives. For marketers, MMM considerations should cover four key points:

• A holistic view of marketing performance
• Ability to impact planning and optimization of marketing budgets
• Comparable measurement metrics
• An eye for the future (privacy considerations, consumer consent, etc.)

MMM—just one analytic capability that some brands are considering bringing in-house—is complicated. Creating what is, for all intents and purposes, an in-house analytic agency is not a small effort. The technology, staffing needs and expertise requirements are extensive and likely very costly. And to do it right, those costs are perennial. That being said, advertisers can properly in-house aspects of their analytic framework if they have a solid plan and partner with the right analytics provider. 

The first thing every advertiser needs to do is harmonize their data and formulate a data strategy. Having access to accurate data and a strategy on how to use the data is the cornerstone of reliable and speedy MMM results. Reliable in-house data alleviates any stress around privacy and security with respect to MMM. Properly safeguarded data gives advertisers the comfort in knowing that data sharing is controlled, that privacy is maintained and that the data can be delivered in an automated manner at the right level of granularity. 

The second thing that is a key to success is scheduling a regular analytics update cadence that aligns with decision making and planning periods for each brands’ individual business. Technology has advanced in such a way that with automated data delivery, model results can be updated and delivered where and when they need them. This removes the Herculean effort it would take to stand up an in-house analytics team responsible for both developing and maintaining the technology as well as actually running the analytics. This also allows advertisers to continue taking advantage of the superior analytics and industry-leading solutions that a focused analytics agency provides.

Advertisers should also look for an MMM partner that can provide expert consulting when needed, as well as one that provides results and simulation/optimization capabilities in an easy-to-use interface. Partners should also have an understanding of different markets and maintain benchmarks in order to gut check MMM findings.  Generating MMM results is part of the battle, but ensuring you’re able to understand and apply the results is another challenge entirely, which is a skill that MMM analytics companies have developed after years of working in the industry. This affords advertisers the flexibility to in-house none, part or all of the actual interpretation and strategic consulting that is required to take advantage of MMM results.

Once an advertiser automates its data collection, has access to a user interface that can be updated on a regular cadence, and has a plan for strategic consulting based on the MMM results, it has the in-house requirements needed without the heavy lifting involved with analytic upkeep and modeling, helping ensure that marketing dollars are spent effectively and efficiently.