ANA on "devalued ad investments" on screens

December 10, 2010 by Dave Haynes

The Association of National Advertisers is going after TV networks that use the space created when standard-definition commercials air on high-definition feeds to run their own promos, reports MediaWeek.

The ANA’s Television & Video Committee took TV networks to task for filling up the pillars to the right and left sidebars of standard-definition ad spots with stuff like promos for network shows.

For example, TBS ran a promotion for Conan O’Brien in the pillars while an ad was airing.

“Any network logo or promotion competes for viewers’ attention and therefore reduces the effectiveness and devalues the investment of the advertising,” the ANA said. “The sidebar pillar real estate belongs to the advertiser and should either be left alone (and black) or enhanced only with the input and permission of an advertiser.”

Which brings me to my point, as it relates to DOOH.

The ANA is saying the same thing a lot of the more experienced people in the DOOH space have been banging at … forever. Zoning up a screen so weather and news and second ads and so on can run means ALL those content elements compete for viewer attention and therefore, as the ANA succinctly states, devalues the investment of the advertising.

Want to up your recall rates (and you chances at buys)? De-clutter the screen and let the ads have the attention they bought. TV and DOOH are different animals, but the same basic logic applies about screen real estate how people watch.