Millward Brown Measures 'Viral Potential'

Millward Brown has unveiled a new 'Creative Viral Potential' (CVP) metric which aims to spot the potential of an ad to 'go viral'.

Billed as the first pre-testing metric to help marketers predict the likely viral viewing of video advertising, the metric is available immediately to customers of Millward Brown's LINK™ pre-test research tool.

CVP was developed using analysis of behavioural viewings data from YouTube for 102 video commercials (31 UK and 71 US) alongside survey-based pre-test measures. As a launch showcase, Millward Brown conducted additional analysis of eight recently successful US viral videos, highlighting the importance of a high Awareness Index and the three other measures of success identified: Buzz, Celebrity and Distinctiveness. The company says that less than one in six video ads achieve high viral viewing volumes, defined as greater than 1,000 views per week in the UK and greater than 5,000 views per week in the US.

Global Innovation Director Duncan Southgate, presenting results at today's WARC Measuring Advertising Performance conference in London, commented: 'As an advertiser, your chances of a major viral success are relatively low, but it's a prize worth aiming for and our new validated pre-test metric makes it an easier target to hit.'

'There are many media factors which can drive viral viewing' says Southgate, including TV advertising support, viral seeding or PR activities. 'However, this research clearly shows that creative factors (awareness-building engagement, buzz, celebrity and distinctiveness) play a huge role in determining viral success.'

The full findings of the CVP validation exercise are due for publication in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Advertising later this year. Millward Brown is part of Kantar within WPP and is online at www.millwardbrown.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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