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We nevei use the Nielsen total audience figures foi such pui poses.
I niil there exists a reliable basis foi comparing the cost, coverage, impact and, most important of all, the Bales effectiveness "I ;i magazine campaign v-. a comparable expenditure in net« work radio or television, practical advertising men will continue in make such inter-media comparisons even though thej maj have little confidence in them.
NBC exploratory -ale effectiveness studies provide indicative figures for radio and television programs. Could i oi similar figures be developed l"i magazines and other media.'' Don't these studies point out the direction li'i the ultimate solution of the mosl serious and mosl perplexing problem faced b) advei tisers t<>da\ ?
I nquestionably, the full potential of television's unique combination of sight, sound and motion has rarel) been achieved in the presentation of commercials. The health) future of television depends upon the degree of effectiveness with which advertisers use
our medium.
lor this reason NBC has lor \ears emphasized the values to he achieved l>\ sponsors in improving their commercials. Last year we published *i booklet entitled Hon to lncrea.sc the Effectiveness of Television Coimnerrials. In the introduction we stated, ""Our publication of this report affirms a deej) interest in helping adverti-ermake their television campaigns as effective as possible. . . . Furthermore, improving the 'rating' of the sales mescan be just as profitable as 1mproving the program rating and it can usuall) he done more readilv and at far [ess • ost, too."
We welcome the Starch "Immediate Recall Surveys" as another useful device for determining quickl) and inexpensivel) the extent to which certain elements of a commercial can be "played hack." I sing a -talT of welltrained, experienced interviewers who can establish rapport with respondents over the telephone and who know how to probe for the desired information £Mid can make an accurate record of what was said, the immediate recall survevs can he a highly valued tool for copy research on commercials. But let's not destrov the utilit) of thi- service as a copy-testing tool by misusing it in media analysis. * * *
h> Jack ll<>\ till ■ h, Daniel 8tarch a
\i the outset, we would like to make cleai the Starch organization's polic) m ith regard to the use ol either publication advertising readership or iele\ i-ion commercial identify ation figures. We have said, tor many, man) years, that readership scores are not absolute figures and should not be used as absolute figures.
Projection of such figures to print media circulation is statistical!) invalid, particularl) when it i used in the held ol media comparisons. We -av now that our t\ identification figures are not absolute and should not be projected to rating or total audience figures.
There are man) reasons wh\ these figures are not absolute. In the case of both t\ and print, we are dealing
with memory, articulation and comprehension, all subject to unknown variables. Some confusion exists in all such rj pes ol inten iew ing.
\n additional factor that applies to magazines is that interviewing is ((inducted within an arbitraril) selected period of time after appearance of the magazine and an) readership of advertisements that occurs after the period of interviewing j u-t isn't measured.
kven il it were possible to establish an absolute measurement of readership of an advertisement and the viewing of a television commercial, the two could not be direct]) compared. The net selling effect of having read an advertisement or having seen a commercial can be far. far apart. However, the only thing less valid than using these two sets of figures for direct comparison is to use one set of figures to reduce the circulation of one t\pe of medium and to compare this to the total circulation of the other.
The most common current violation of this principle i to appl) Starch average noted reader-hip scores to print circulation and to make a direct comparison to total audience of broadcast media.
Before getting into a discussion of the meaning and validity of the immediate recall figure-, we must accept the premise that not ever) person counted in the rating of a program see ever)
commercial on that pro-ram. Anyone
with 1 .\ o 1 • e and normal powers of • on< 1 ni ration must gi an) this prei
Now as to Mr. Be\ illi 1 ommenta on the immediate n • all te< hnique, we agi ee h ith Bome, parti) a r« w ith Borne and disagree with others. W. « ith him thai the two techniques ( annol be directl) compared. Readei studies use a ret ognition te bnique wherein the respondent 1 taken thi '-ii.Ii a 1 op) of the magazine and show n ea< h ad> ertisement ' above a
1 ei tain -i/e 1 tO cli< it ie-pon-e a to
w hethei he did 01 did not Bee d and a detailed exploration as to what parts he
did and did not -ee and read.
I he immediate re< all studies do not use the recognition te hnique. The respondenl i not Bhown the < ommen ial at the time ol the inten i<-w . h dor-. however, lake ad\ antage oi a situation not available to the researcher in print
media. This is the Opportunity Ol interviewing immediatel) aftei the viewer's onl) opportunit) ever to Bee the particulai pi og ram's commen ial-.
I'o compare it with a purel) theoretical situation would be like interviewing the reader of a magazine immediatel) alter he had given all the attention he would evei give to that i^sue. \nd the issue contained onl) three or four advertisements. \n«l. the inter\ iew in was < ondu( ted without the presence of the magazine.
I hroughout Mr. l!ev die's article there is an indication that he was no1 Full) aware of the nature of the aided recall used in the immediate re< all -indies. To qualif) under unaided identification, the respondent must volunteer a description that does identifv the commercial. Ml ol the figures released thus far. however, include both unaided and aided. To qualif) as an aided viewer, it i not necessar) for the respondent actuall) to des ribe an) part of the ( ommercial.
If the respondent, at an) point, has said in response to the question. "Please describe the commercials," "'Don't know or "Don't remember," the interviewer will -av. '"Don't you remember the commercial with the (and here gives a kev description of it I .'"
\nv kind ol a positive response -u< h
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