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Introduction
Often, an ad break starts with a sponsorship bumper saying, “this program was brought to you by the program-sponsoring brand”. These sponsorship bumpers, usually about 5 s, convey little more than the sponsoring brand’s logo and perhaps a slogan. Brands can sponsor TV programs, advertise during ad breaks or do both. The sponsorship bumper’s 5 s of brand exposure should add to the effectiveness of a subsequent TV spot ad for the same brand. This study tests the effects of sponsorship bumpers on TV spot ads. Does this potential boosting effect work for ads immediately after the bumper or after a delay and does this boosting effect happen for familiar or unfamiliar brands?
Research has shown that 5-s sponsorship bumpers can deliver as much or more brand recognition and brand liking as 30-s TV spot ads, for both familiar and unfamiliar brands (Arrazola et al., 2016; Olson and Thjømøe, 2012). Together with their low cost – regulation restricts bumper creativity and television networks can produce bumpers for no cost to the advertiser (Arrazola et al., 2016; Olson and Thjømøe, 2012) – this high level of effectiveness attracts advertisers to bumpers. In addition to buying bumpers alone, advertisers can buy sponsorship bumper and TV spot advertising packages. This study tests whether, such sponsorship boosts a 30-s TV spot ad for the same brand. We use a sample of US consumers to compare the effectiveness of 5-s bumpers, 30-s TV spot ads and bumpers combined with spot ads.
As the first exposure to an advertising campaign is the most effective (Taylor et al., 2009), the recommended media strategy for growing brands is to reach as many customers as possible with a single exposure (Ephron, 1995; Jones, 2007; Sharp, 2010). In such a reach strategy, a repeat exposure to the same customers of a sponsorship bumper and a TV spot ad makes little sense. The money spent on the second exposure would have been better spent in reaching different customers. The reach strategy’s supporting empirical generalizations, however, limit it to established consumer goods brands (Taylor et al., 2009, p. 199), suggesting product category and brand familiarity as potential boundary conditions.
Advertisers launching unfamiliar brands may use a frequency strategy to create brand awareness...