‘Signalling Success’ is the UK’s first study dedicated to media signalling - that how a brand communicates says as much about it as the message itself. The cross-media study aimed to unpick how different media influence brand perception and what this means for advertising in practice.
‘Signalling Success’ was highly experimental in design, with 3,600 people split into groups to judge fictionalised brands in one of four product categories (online retail, mobile phone network, home insurance and FMCG). All they had to base their judgements on were a description of the brands and details of a launch advertising campaign using a single medium.
In each case, the campaign information given was identical except for the medium being used. This isolated the signalling effects of that medium, as all other variables were identical.
The advertising channels tested were TV, newspapers, magazines, radio, social media, and video sharing sites. Cinema and out of home were not tested as fieldwork took place during lockdown, so including them may have biased results.
Results showed that TV consistently delivered the strongest signals. To date, and despite lockdowns, the study has been presented 80 times to more than 2,000 people and downloaded globally.
Judges said it was an ‘excellent piece of research’, ‘routed in behavioural understanding’ and which adds value to the industry.
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