Media Analysis: Breaking down habits

The IPA's first TouchPoints survey gives an intimate look into the way people consume media. Bill Britt reports.

The IPA's TouchPoints survey released last week was developed at a cost
of more than £1m. It claims to break new ground by tracking the
minutiae of 5000 people's lives over the course of one week to gain a

thorough understanding of how they consume media, taking into account

where they are, what they are doing, their moods and who they are
with.

TouchPoints takes the idea of the traditional survey a step forward for
the benefit of advertisers, by overcoming one of their biggest
limitations: they are often published by one media owner or on behalf of
a single media type, which always raises questions of favouritism.

The result of this latest survey is not a single lifestyle report, but a
database that is intended to help marketers craft precise communications
strategies.

By giving participants a PDA (personal digital assistant), TNS collected
data every half hour for a week on how consumers spent their time. There
was also a self-completion survey with questions on their attitudes to
media and advertising, along with shopping habits and demographic
information.

'It means a chance for more relevant communications for marketers. It is
particularly relevant in hitting the right people with the right message
and the right medium at the right moment,' says Paul Edwards, chief
strategy officer at Publicis. 'Timing is crucial. Knowing what people
are doing before they go shopping helps us to target them.'

TouchPoints covers media including TV, print, radio, the internet, SMS
and direct marketing, and it is supported by 11 media agencies and 10
media owners, including AOL, the BBC, Guardian Newspapers and ITV.

Exploding myths

Backers say that an initial look into the database has already shot down
some widely-held myths about media and lifestyle.

'Although the internet has had a huge significance on people's lives,
the TouchPoints survey has shown that old-guard media, such as TV and
newspapers, are still highly important,' says Jim Marshall, chairman of
Starcom UK and chairman of the IPA Media Futures group.

'People receive so many consumer messages, and the problem for the
marketing world is getting cut-through. This study will help marketers
to see how people use media,' he adds.

Although the BBC has conducted similar surveys by distributing PDAs to
5000 licence-fee payers to track their activities, its last survey was
conducted in 2003 and only over a three-day period. The intention is to
update TouchPoints more frequently.

'The information will become much more valuable if it is updated on a
regular basis, and it will enable the industry to see trends develop,'
says Marshall.

Ivor Hussein, technical director on the TouchPoints Survey, says that
one of the key conclusions to be drawn from the initial survey is that,
contrary to what planners may think, different media do not compete
against one another.

'In actuality, media is competing against life in general; it's really
important to understand,' he says. For instance, mothers who work full
time may watch TV on weekday evenings, with interruptions by kids, but
they tend to view TV in a relaxed state only on weekends and so would be
more receptive to communications messages.

It is less that the medium is the message and more that the mood affects
the medium.

DATA FILE - CONSUMER ACTIVITY (% SHARE)

2hrs - 15- to 24-year-old home internet users spend two hours every
weekday surfing the internet

41% of over-65s find advertising to be intrusive

45% of people open most direct mail

75% of youth viewing is accounted for by commercial TV

MULTIMEDIA USE

- Weekdays, adults watch 3.9 hours of TV, listen to 1.3 hours of radio
and spend 0.8 hours on the internet

- Weekends, adults watch 4.5 hours of TV, listen to 1.5 hours of radio
and spend one hour on the internet

- Adults in full-time work consume eight day hours of media - a mix of
radio, TV, internet, newspapers and magazines

TV vs INTERNET

- TV is the top medium for most adults of all ages and irrespective of
internet access

- Weekdays, 15- to 24-year-old home web users surf the net for two
hours, and 2.4 hours at weekends. A third of them watch four or more
hours of TV on a weekday; commercial TV makes up 75% of viewing

- TV remains the core shared family activity

LETTERBOX ACTIVITY

- Daily, the average person gets 4.9 items of personally addressed
direct mail and 3.6 items of unaddressed mail

- 45% of people open most direct mail

- 55% of adults are happy to get info from firms they have bought things
from

- 4.8% respond to direct mail

- 53% are annoyed by direct mail

ATTITUDES TO ADVERTISING

- 63% would welcome advertising on the BBC in return for axing the
licence fee

- 31% find advertising intrusive

- 41% of over-65s find advertising intrusive compared with 27% of
younger people

- 89% of people say some ads appear with irritating frequency