The "market maturity test" of an advertising poster

Economy

The masked lady's bewitching gaze tells of fairytale Venetian nights. In summer 2015, the colourful advertising poster attracted visitors to the operetta "A Night in Venice" on the lake stage in Mörbisch.

Acronym

Market maturity test Advertising poster

Project running time

01/01/2014 - 31/12/2015

As a marketing manager, how do you actually choose the "best" poster from the agency's suggestions? Project manager Claudia Kummer from the Department of Economics gives us a look behind the scenes.

Interview with FH market researcher Claudia Kummer

Ms Kummer, what does the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences have to do with the Operetta am See?

The Mörbisch Lake Festival Association wanted to modernise its advertising presence and appear more confident - but without unsettling its long-standing regular customers. There were two poster designs, one traditional and one "bold". The question was: which poster would sell our new piece better? Our marketing research team at Burgenland University of Applied Sciences - Department of Economics - used scientific methods to find the answer.

What must a poster "be able to do" in order to convince festival visitors?

Firstly, it must attract attention. Imagine this: I'm driving in my car, there's a billboard next to the road - I see it in the corner of my eye. Do I look at it? Secondly, I have to understand the message. What is it about? The billboard has a maximum of two seconds to explain it to me, then I've driven past. Thirdly, the emotional level must be right - do I like it? Does it have something for the heart? Every poster must pass these three test questions if it is to survive in our saturated market.

How did you research these questions?

Advertising impact research is complex, which is why we opted for a combination of two methods: a quantitative online survey of 242 typical Seefestspiel customers and an eye-tracking observation study with 49 students from Burgenland University of Applied Sciences. Eye tracking uses infrared rays and high-precision cameras to record the eye movements of the participants, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the duration and course of their gaze.

Can eye tracking be used to look into the hearts and minds of customers?

Yes and no. The special thing about it is that the glances are spontaneous and are not subject to "censorship". If 49 people consistently look first at the lady's eye and only then at the competitor's poster, then I know: I've already got their attention. The only problem is that the reason for this attention may or may not be positive. To find this out, we then conducted interviews. Only then were we able to say: Yes, there are positive feelings involved!

So in terms of attention and emotion, the poster "passed" positively. How was the message received?

That was particularly exciting. We know from marketing research that particularly attractive or erotic images are also dangerous for advertising - because they distract from the actual product, i.e. they obstruct the message. We were a little worried about this so-called "vampire effect". The eye tracker provided the decisive clue: although the woman's eye attracted attention first, the test subjects only lingered for a few fractions of a second.

What happened then?

The eyes turned away and focussed clearly on the title of the operetta "One Night in Venice", i.e. the actual product, within the first second. This meant that the message was recognised within the first two seconds.

So fortunately no "vampire effect". How can you explain the good test results?

The poster with the lady had several design advantages over the competitor's design. The title is placed in the centre, in front of the setting sun, which is a natural point of attraction for the eye. Strong contrasts are used, black on yellow is quickly recognisable. The game dates, framed in a circle with a white background, were also particularly effective and were clearly focussed, especially from the 5th second onwards.

Were there any criticisms of the poster?

The Seefestspiele logo was recognised on average one second earlier on the other, "traditional" poster. Because the logo consists of a lot of text, it competes with the operetta title. We also realised that the footer (note: the black bar at the bottom of the image) with the contact details is hardly noticed or noticed very late. Information could be saved here.

What would you recommend to an advertising agency based on your research?

The popular wisdom has been confirmed: Less is more. Also: create a clear visual hierarchy so that the eye is clearly directed. And: the courage to change often pays off, but it always harbours a risk. With the eye tracking study and the online survey, we were able to test the reaction of consumers in advance. This has encouraged the Lake Festival on its way to a strong new advertising presence. And we can pass this experience on to our students in a practical way.

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Literature

Kummer, Claudia & Bäck, Evelyn (2014): Attentive glances for the "Night in Venice". With eye tracking to the new advertising line, in: planung & analyse, issue 6/2014, p.16-21

Kummer, Claudia & Semmler-Matosic, Tonka (2015): Eye tracking for the advertising subjects of the Mörbisch Lake Festival - which design gains attention? In: Proceedings of the Research Forum of the Austrian Universities of Applied Sciences 2015, Hagenberg.

Kummer, Claudia (2015): Advertising impact research using eye tracking - the "Night in Venice" in Mörbisch, in: Hauptfeld-Göllner, Petra, Mayrhofer, Walter & Pehm, Georg (eds.): Meinung im Mittelpunkt. Selected contributions on the results of market and opinion research in Burgenland. Series Science Research Pannonia, Volume 6, pp. 31-44.