Lotus Awards Poll
Vancouver, BC - A new Ipsos-Reid public opinion poll, conducted in partnership with the Advertising Agency Association of BC, reveals that the general public in British Columbia is more likely to turn the channel or do something else rather than watch the advertising that appears on TV. The percentage of advertising that is categorized as good or excellent is relatively small, and the public is divided on whether they like advertising or dislike it or if advertising overall is getting better or worse compared to a few years ago. However, people are willing to pay attention to great ads, and talk to their friends about them.
The poll results show that it is becoming increasingly difficult to capture the attention of consumers through television ads. Only 28% of British Columbians claim to watch advertising when it comes on TV, while 42% usually do 'something else' when an ad is on, and 26% say they are more likely to turn the channel. On average, consumers rate about 32% of advertising as either "good or excellent." Interestingly, when presented with the idea of 'sitting at home with nothing to do,' the majority of respondents (55%) would rather take part in a five-minute telephone survey than watch five minutes of television advertising (39%).
Events such as the Lotus Awards demonstrate that there is plenty of interest in recognizing the best advertising in the industry. There is also a sizeable group of consumers in BC (26%) who have watched a TV program in the past year that shows the best TV ads of the year.
"The results suggest that it is a tough market to attract the eyeballs and attention spans of consumers," says Steve Mossop, Senior Vice President with Ipsos-Reid. "Advertising is not about all ads making it, it's about some ads making it. These poll results challenge marketers to do a better job in developing break-through, leading-edge advertising."
While many British Columbians are indifferent in terms of their overall attitudes toward advertising (37%), a sizeable proportion either like it or love it (32%), and a similar proportion (31%) say they either dislike it or hate it. The population is equally divided on whether advertising overall is getting better (37%), or getting worse (35%) compared to a few years ago, and a further 27% say it is staying the same, and 2% don't know.
It is clear, however, that some TV ads are breaking through, as opinions toward advertising are quite positive on a number of different levels, according to the poll results. About 64% of British Columbians agree that they generally like to watch television ads they haven't seen before, and a further 51% agree that they often talk about good TV ads with friends or family. A smaller proportion (39%) is willing to admit that television ads often change their impression of certain companies.
"The survey suggests that the polarized views towards advertising are driven by the diverse quality of ads that exists in the marketplace," says Stuart Ince, Chair of the Lotus Awards 2002. "When the work is great, consumers enjoy it. When the work is bad, there are so many ways to shut it out. The challenge among ad agencies is to raise the bar on the quality of work that is produced, and to produce great advertising. And the Lotus Awards recognizes those who are successful in doing so."
Surprisingly, there were few differences across various demographic segments in terms of overall views toward advertising. Across gender, age groups, income streams and education levels, about the same proportion love or hate advertising, or feel it is getting better or worse. On the specific agree/disagree statements, younger segments (18-34) are more likely to agree that they like to watch television advertising they have not seen before (71%), and talk about good TV ads with friends or family (60%).
These are the findings of a BC Ipsos-Reid poll conducted between October 30th and November 4th, 2002 among a representative cross-section of 800 British Columbian adults. These data are statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional, age and sex composition reflects that of the actual BC population according to 1996 Census data. With a provincial sample of 800, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results are within +/-3.5 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire adult BC population been polled. The margin of error will be larger for other sub-groupings of the survey population.
- For more information on this news release, please contact:
Steve Mossop
Senior Vice President
Ipsos-Reid
(604) 257-3200
- For more information on the Lotus Awards Dinner, please contact:
Jonas Young
at Command Post/Toybox
(604) 689-1090
