What I learned being a Nielsen family
I just sent back my family's TV viewing diary for Nielsen — you know, the folks that do the TV ratings to tell advertisers what people are watching. Besides showing me that I'm more into reality shows than I care to confess, the whole process raised some other questions:
- Do you really think everyone writes down everything they watch? I'm a stickler for following the rules, but my teenage son couldn't be bothered and probably didn't want us to know how much or what he was watching. (Phineas & Ferb doesn't really sound like homework, does it?) And if it's anything like a diet diary, there's a whole lot of rationalizing going on.
- The diary shows what programs we watched and even accommodated DVR playback to watch programs later. But do they think that I watched only part of the whole hour-long show when I logged it in for 30-45 minutes? Or do they just assume I whizzed through the commercials? That seems to be quite a leap. I'm sure they know what they're doing, but it feels like voodoo to me.
- Even when I wrote down what I was watching, it was in 15-minute increments. Sometimes I'd spend 5 minutes just deciding if I wanted to keep watching, but then change to something else. Or the TV was on one show, but I was focused on setting the DVR or resetting timers on the DVR or deleting shows from the DVR. Managing the DVR can be as much of a chore as managing email.
- Note to advertisers: You know how your ad tells a great story capped off with your logo at the end? People are watching the entertaining part, then clicking through your logo. So they know the great ad but aren't making that critical brand connection. Might want to rethink the ending — save a last zinger or twist for after the logo to keep us watching. Or you could do what TV networks all seem to do – leave their logo on the screen all the time. I'm seeing that more but it's a little annoying.
What else is Nielsen missing?
Comments
I've never been a Nielsen family (Of course I have always wanted to, I love giving my opinion), but I think it would be great if they had you complete a survey before the diary period begins. I think it would be an interesting test of the research results -- measuring what you think you watch against what you actually watch.
I have realized I watch a lot of reality programming too. Mostly programming about models and fashion - I didn't even realize fashion was an interest of mine.
Interesting stuff.
Seems like, when one "becomes fully aware" of what one watches,
it kind of changes the whole process. Hmmmm.
Another note to us advertisers:
What if we never showed a logo at all. Instead, incorporated the brand into the commercial. Like branded content (almost). That way people get the branded story, emotional connection, and product relevance.
As a DVR, commercial skipping devotee (I know bad marketer), I would think they would want to know what commercials were actually good enough for me to stop and rewind and watch. Personally, I almost always watch movie trailers if I haven't seen it before.
Thank you for the Phineas and Ferb shout-out!
Hey, where's Perry?
Leave a Comment