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Study Shows There’s One Kind of Ad That Doesn’t Get Zapped by DVR Owners

Apr 16, 2013  •  Post A Comment

One group of advertisers appears to have less to fear from the DVR, with its ad-zapping capability, than other marketing groups. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a new study concludes that movie ads appear to be insulated from fast-forwarding, with DVR owners as likely as non-DVR owners to watch the spots.

The study by Worldwide Motion Picture Group surveyed 1,500 moviegoers, focusing on the movie industry’s target audience of people age 13 to 64 who go out to at least six movies a year.

The piece reports: “About half of DVR owners watch shows live, and another 25% record shows and still watch movie ads. As a result, the total is ‘not statistically different from people who don’t have DVRs’ who often avoid commercials by doing other things, says WMPG chief Vincent Bruzzese.

Bruzzese adds: “The frantic rumors about the declining efficacy of advertising for movies is overblown.”

THR reports: “Some 87% of the DVR owners said that they stop to watch an ad for an upcoming theatrical release. By contrast 65% watch commercials for upcoming television shows, 52% do so for consumer electronics, 47% for video games, 39% for food products, and 23% for cars.”

Bruzzese notes that movie ticket-buying decisions are being made farther ahead of time than in the past, suggesting that studios should launch their marketing campaigns earlier. He cites the proliferation of websites targeting movie fans with information that in many cases is available before the studios launch their ad campaigns.

Said Bruzzese: “There’s a lot of information out there that’s outside [the studios’] control and is reducing the number of people that marketing can impact.”

2 Comments

  1. What people say they do and what they really do are sometimes different, so beware self-report research. If the movie ad is in the middle of a pod, I doubt anyone backs up. Remember, too, that movie trailers abound on the Internet, where people watch them over and again without payment to TV stations taking place.

  2. Ever since getting my DVR I have stopped and checked certain ads. I do skip 90-95% but I do stop for movie ads and certain quirky looking things that catch my eye as they zip across the screen. The latest were the movie “42” and the Dr Pepper ad which was bizarre and funny. But that’s just me. I’m nearly 60 and still go to about 8-10 movies a year.

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