Television was the most memorable type of advertising in 2010 and had the greatest impact according to a report to be published by Deloitte.

Television was the most memorable type of advertising in 2010 and had the greatest impact according to a report to be published by Deloitte on behalf of the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, which takes place 27-29 August 2010.

James Bates, media partner said: “The UK’s appreciation of television advertising appears to remain robust. It is now regarded as a top three advertising format by 56 percent of respondents, compared to 64 percent in 2009 – it still leads by a long way. Television was way ahead of newspapers (30 percent) and magazines (17 percent). In contrast, banner adverts polled poorly in both years (4 percent) and a new option for 2010, online video adverts, also underwhelmed (3 percent).”

Television advertising’s appeal to the young

Television advertising’s appeal was strongest amongst the youngest, with 18-34 year olds rating television advertising’s impact the highest at 63 percent. Among those aged over 55, a third stated that no form of advertising had a great impact on them, compared to among 18-24 year olds, for which group the proportion was just 13 percent.

TV adverts most widely remembered

When respondents were asked to think of the advertising campaign they considered to be most memorable in 2010, 52 percent ranked television highest followed by 10 percent for newspapers. This compared to just 1 percent for banner adverts, 1 percent for iPhone or iPad adverts and 2 percent for online video adverts.

Relevance of the traditional television advert

Just over a third (36 percent) said they were most likely to pay attention to the traditional, 30 second advert, compared to 1 percent for a video advert before an online video clip or as part of the web site.

Online video formats were particularly poorly rated – only 3 percent of respondents were most likely to pay attention to a pre-roll advert. Less than one percent of respondents cited a video advert shown on a mobile phone, or an advert played in the middle of an online video as the format they were most likely to pay attention to.

James added: “Questions over the relevance of the traditional television advert have been raised for years, yet when asked about their most favoured video format, respondents voted for the standard 30 second commercial.

“Online advertising’s poor showing relative to television may surprise given that the former has often been portrayed as television’s nemesis.

“What television does best – display and brand building - is what online struggles with. Online advertising is best at search, which previously newspapers, particularly for classified, had excelled at.

“However, despite the positive perception of television advertising, its bed of roses is not free of mildew. Among television advertising’s greatest preoccupations is measurability. While television generates billions of commercial impacts every day, it is hard to measure precisely how many of these are viewed.”

Viewers’ television advertising behavior

When television viewers were asked about whether they watched the entire advertising break when watching television live, 13 percent always or almost always watch the entire advertising break, while 11 percent said they never watched it, and 2 percent never watch any television which has advertisements.

Of viewers watching pre-recorded television via their PVR, 86% reported that they always fast forward through the adverts.

Shorter advertising breaks (48 percent), more memorable advertisements (32 percent), and shorter advertisements (17 percent) were the top three reasons that would encourage viewers to watch all the advertisements in a break. Less popular were advertisement breaks that focused on one theme, such as cars or food (8 percent) or personalised advertisements (14 percent).

Other key findings

o Over the past 12 months 33 percent of viewers have watched the same number or more adverts than before.
o When watching a non-staged television programme, such as a football match 21 percent are less likely to watch the entire advertising break than if they were watching a drama, film or documentary.