Nickable studies

The need for meaningful research has never been greater to condense and make sense of the enormous changes experienced by the video landscape. Thankfully we have Thinkbox whose commitment to investigation and examination is helping advertisers and marketers everywhere make better, more informed decisions. 

In 2024 Thinkbox undertook three major studies which looked at advertising, it’s challenges and opportunities from very different perspectives.

These detailed reports have now been slimmed down into one handy round up with all the main findings. Here’s brief look at what to expect:

Profit Ability 2 challenged existing thinking and brought advertising’s collective knowledge bang up to date by proving its strength as a profit-driving business investment.

The first in-depth post-Covid evaluation of advertising’s financial impact was formed from a comprehensive analysis of 141 brands representing £1.8 billion in media spend from 2021 to 2023. The main finding? All forms of advertising pay back. The report is packed with recommendations and useful insights including how profitability varies by media and payback differs by sector, why short-termism short changes brands, how looking beyond just ‘digital’ yields rapid payback, and why channel risk is an under-considered factor.

Context Effects quantified advertising’s quality, using an innovative blend of research techniques to reveal that the right advertising context increases ad recall by up to 6.3 times.

This study analysed 348,000 data points to quantify the value of advertising context, identifying six key factors affecting ad recall: location (living room being most effective), device (TV screens performing best), shared viewing (23% boost in ad recall), professional content (60% higher ad recall vs. non-professional content), viewer mood (peaks when relaxed/happy), and overall satisfaction with the viewing occasion. The optimal combination for ad effectiveness? Watching professionally-produced content in the living room on a TV set with others.

The Value of TV: A Behavioural Science Perspective revealed the emotional, human instincts that lie behind rational effectiveness studies offering a behavioural science take on what makes TV such an effective medium. 

This study identified five behavioural biases that explain TV advertising's unique effectiveness.

1. Claims made publicly (e.g. on TV) are more trustworthy than those made privately.
2. The costly signalling of TV builds trust; viewers associate TV's higher costs with quality and brand confidence.
3. The proximity effect means brands benefit from appearing alongside other high-status advertisers on TV.
4. Mood significantly impacts advertising effectiveness - happy, relaxed viewers recall 52% of ads compared to 35% for unhappy viewers.
5. Mood affects more than recall though: a good mood also makes customers like you more. If viewers are feeling generally happy, as can often be the case when watching TV, they will be inclined to think positively of the brands they see.

The report is packed with valuable statistics, innovative ideas and insights all of which will help your business and brand make more informed decisions and choices when planning your future campaigns.

You can download the full report here.

Thinkbox are Partners of The Marketing Society

Published 6 March 2025