Despite an onslaught of new media platforms and devices, established forms of media – such as radio and TV – remain resilient, according to new study from Kantar Media. Nearly every consumer surveyed for the research firm’s Dimension 2018 report, across the U.S. and four other global markets, continues to access television through a TV set and 88% listen to radio “offline” or through a traditional broadcast receiver. Around 80% continue to look at print versions of newspapers and magazines.
The new numbers “speak to the power of these established platforms,” Kantar says in the 125-page report. “This isn’t to say that the overall trend toward online services has been massively exaggerated or even that it is slowing, but it is worth remembering that we are currently living in a mixed media economy,” the report notes.
Consumers who feel that advertisers are doing a better job of communicating with them now than in the past declined slightly year-over-year, “highlighting that there is still work to be done to improve the standing of online advertising (in particular) with the end user,” the report reveals.
Other conclusions from the study: Consumers and industry leaders agree that improvements are needed to ensure relevancy in messaging; and that there is a balance between privacy and creative appropriateness. Advertisers and their agencies need help navigating the huge quantity of data available to them from multiple sources. And common standards are needed across all platforms to allow for full use to be made of all data, and for industry learnings to be maximized.
Kantar surveyed 5,000 “connected consumers” aged 18+ across Brazil, China, France, the UK and the U.S., with 1,000 surveys conducted in each country. Connected consumers are defined as those who use two out of a PC/laptop, a tablet or a smartphone to connect to the internet.
