Adapting to the coronavirus effect
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our lifestyles and, in turn, our media consumption. This is a source of both challenges and opportunities for brands and media agencies who must be quick and nimble to adapt to behaviours which are changing rapidly as we settle into post-lockdown life.
In some cases, the overall picture looks remarkably stable - for example, the proportion of the population watching live TV has grown just one percentage point compared with before lockdown. But if you dig under the surface, there are bigger shifts happening among specific demographic groups which point to these risks and opportunities.
Counter to the historical trend, much of the growth in live TV viewership can be attributed to younger age groups, with a particularly big swing among those under 35s who had previously not watched any live TV at all. This presents an exciting opportunity for advertisers to target a notoriously difficult to reach audience. That said, this age group tends to be lighter users of TV, so targeting them at the right moment, on the right channel, will be key.
With many workers still doing their jobs from home, commutes have reduced to zero in a lot of cases. Accordingly, we find the share of people reporting they take the train for at least an hour a day during the week has reduced by three percentage points and travel by bus is down by seven percentage points. This has huge knock-on effects in terms of exposure to out of home ads like billboards, and advertisers will need to think strategically about how to target those audiences in a different way – for example by placing ads in targeted areas, such as around consumers’ homes.
Another challenge comes from the rise of subscription services. The share of Britons watching TV via streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video is up seven percentage points compared with prior to lockdown, with younger households representing the heaviest users. This poses a challenge to advertisers, because while streaming platforms do offer the potential for highly targeted, personalised advertising, there are fewer opportunities than on other channels.
A counterbalance to this is the fact that we’re now spending more time on social media – offering another route for brands to target valuable consumers. The number of us using social media in any given week has increased by three percentage points, with that growth being driven by under 35s, and particularly by heavy users (those using social media for seven hours or more per week).
It’s clear, then, that the effect of the pandemic has been to accelerate our adoption of digital channels but also, perhaps unexpectedly, to give a boost to traditional broadcast media. Timely insight into how your target audience is consuming media, and when, will give you an understanding of the texture and nuances hidden under the surface and give you best chance of getting your advertising in front of the right people at the right time.
