Engagement Initiatives

Why Engagement is Important to Advertisers

Every day marketers recognize that advertising’s role must go beyond teaching about brands to making certain that advertising is relevant, engaging and works hard to generate brand demand among consumers. Because consumers have become more selective about media, messages, brand dialogue and relationships, marketers are turning to creating greater brand meaning and better brand-consumer relationships in order to increase brand demand.

We know that firms are experimenting with a combination of the traditional paradigm and the new paradigm. Increasingly, companies taking an Engagement approach are achieving greater marketing impact and efficiency. eBay, iPod, Starbucks, Yahoo, ESPN, Jet Blue, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Red Bull have created strong brand demand and loyalty by doing so.

But little was known beyond the individual cases. So important is Engagement to advertisers, agencies and researchers that the ARF, along with the Association for National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), formed an overall steering committee to lead the Engagement Initiatives.

The Engagement Research Program

ARF Research set out to build a core body of knowledge for members and industry. In 2006 we established a disciplined research program that continues through this day.

Phase I. Completed Engagement Studies

ARF started with a core group of four studies concerned with definition, Engagement in practice, and validation: We set out to:

• Define Engagement:Understand how seems like this should be lower case: Engagement is and has been defined, leading to a working definition for the research program.
• Test Engagement with Advertising: Study a group of the same commercials using different Engagement research methods
• Test Engagement with Experiential Marketing: Explore the role of event marketing for B2C and B2B marketers
• Validate Engagement: Commit a diverse group of advertisers to add Engagement-based approaches to their marketing and research, learn how to improve the process, and share their learning. A White Paper, “Rules of Engagement,” should be available on or after April 1, 2008.

The four activities are complete. ARF Research is undertaking two new initiatives that expand the program: For consistency, we might also want to number these.

Phase II. Engagement Studies in Progress

Now that the basic research is complete, ARF is moving to new, challenging studies that will ultimately influence media planning and throw light on the large and important direct marketing industry. Studies in development will:

1. Explore Cross Media Engagement: Effectiveness is more important than sheer advertising weight or “tonnage.” This research deals with the core media planning issues, especially the transition from reaching audiences to moving consumers.
2. Direct Marketing Engagement: this research will determine how adding an Engagement focus improves impact of direct marketing pieces.

For Further Information

Please contact ARF Knowledge Center at info@thearf.org.