Google has released a research report that shows adverts on its online video service, YouTube are far more effective than traditional TV adverts.
The report, commissioned by Google, found that the return on investment (ROI) for online video is 50% higher than that of adverts made for television.
Goolge EMEA president, Matt Brittin, presented the report at Advertising Week Europe, taking place in London at the moment. The report, entitled 'The (Entertainment) Revolution will not be Televised', shows how online video contributes to offline sales.
It meta-analysed 56 case studies across eight countries. The research was carried out by a range of firms including BrandScience, MarketShare and Data2Decisions.
The report shows that advertising on YouTube delivered a higher ROI than TV in nearly 80% of cases.
Lucien van der Hoeven, EMEA GM at MarketShare, said: "We found [in our projects] that digital video is under-invested in several categories we measured in the UK, France and Germany."
Paul Dyson, founder of Data2Decisions said: "We have been modelling online video for clients throughout the past five years and our experience consistently finds higher ROIs from online video compared to TV. So it was no surprise to see this repeated in the studies we conducted with Google."
It's remarkable content that matters
Mike Sharman, founder of local digital agency Retroviral, says SA is still a little behind in digital spending, "but it is picking up and that is exciting because there are so many creative opportunities in the digital space."
But Sharman says he is weary of blanket statements, like Google saying online video is more effective than TV adverts, because each platform has its own strengths.
"It does not matter where the advert is shown, if the content is not remarkable, it will not be retainable. The strength of the video determines the strength of the conversion rate."
He says, even though he works in the digital space, if budget allows, a mix of relevant mediums is always best. "It all depends where your audience is and how you want to engage with them," says Sharman.
Sharman says TV becomes very expensive, even for a 30 second slot, "but there are ways brands are using small slots on TV to drive people to the digital space."
He cited the American Super Bowl as an example where companies show a shorter version of their advert on TV and the longer version online.
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