Kantar Media publishes annual DIMENSION report

Kantar Media launches report calling on advertising industry to improve creativity and standardised measurement

Kantar Media, a global leader in media intelligence, has today published the second iteration of its annual DIMENSION report. The study reveals that while consumer attitudes towards advertising have stayed consistent over the last year, there remains an opportunity for marketers to improve creativity and holistic cross-platform measurement.

DIMENSION explores the key communication planning, buying and measurement issues faced by the industry from the twin perspectives of the industry’s leaders, and the consumers they are trying to reach.

Kantar Media’s UK findings, based on a survey of 1,000 connected consumers and in-depth interviews with 11 industry experts, reveal a number of growing trends.

An opportunity to raise creative standards

According to DIMENSION, 57% of UK consumers surveyed believe advertisers are better at communicating with them now than in the past. However, this figure has fallen from 59% last year, and more than three quarters (77%) of consumers today report seeing the same ads over and over again. Technological changes have enabled advertisers to improve channels of communication, but there is still work to be done.

55% of UK consumers state that that the ads they see on websites are not usually relevant to them, 38% saying they dislike advertising and 53% say that they are ambivalent to it. Accordingly, ad blocking remains at similar levels to 2017, with 36% of UK consumers saying they use ad blockers sometimes, and 26% of 18-34-year-olds saying they always use them.

The rise of cross-platform and need for holistic measurement

DIMENSION also reveals that multi-channel continues to increase in popularity, for consumers and brands alike. Established media forms remain resilient with 96% of respondents still accessing TV via a television set, 86% listening to the radio offline, and 73% and 72% reading print newspapers and magazines respectively. Today’s consumer will, on average, use three different content sources to proactively gather information about a brand – led by the internet (64%) and friends and family (52%).

For marketers, cross-platform activity still presents a host of challenges for both creativity and measurement, in ensuring that advertising campaigns work across multiple platforms, and that the success of these campaigns can be properly measured.

Richard Poustie, CEO, Kantar Media UK & Ireland, commented: “This year’s DIMENSION report reveals an industry struggling to make sense of the myriad of communication options out there. Marketers are exhibiting some skepticism of the role of digital in the media supply chain, with some of the big players going as far as moving advertising spend away from such platforms due to a lack of transparency. At the same time, we continue to see pessimistic headlines around the future of traditional advertising.

“One clear trend is a momentum towards integration across platforms, with both brands and consumers increasingly active on numerous devices. We know from experience that advertising which delivers consistent messaging on multiple platforms and across paid, owned and earned forms of media, is highly effective at engaging consumers. Not surprisingly therefore we are seeing a growing call for the establishment of a universal set of consistent, recognised measurement standards across platforms.”