Indiantelevision.com Team

(24 July 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Toyota has announced that it has reached an agreement with US broadcaster NBC whereby NBC will guarantee a specific level of viewer engagement for its television programmes.

Unlike traditional audience-size metrics, viewer engagement measures audience recall of television program elements. Studies show a strong
correlation between recall of show details to viewers' retention of the accompanying advertising components.

Thus, gauging the level of viewer attentiveness to television programmes helps Toyota understand the value it receives from television advertising.

Toyota corporate manager, marketing communications Kim McCullough says, "Toyota places a premium on working with media outlets that are committed to accountability. "Beyond audience size, we want the networks to focus on attention-grabbing, highly-engrossing shows that keep audiences tuned in."

NBC Universal executive VP sales and marketing Marianne Gambelli says, "NBC understands the need to demonstrate commercial effectiveness, and
we have aggressively created innovative solutions to help our clients achieve their marketing objectives and prove that our product works EVP.

"We know our programmes will attract and engage the quality audience that Toyota is seeking, and we look forward to working with them to provide further insight beyond standard audience ratings."
To gauge how accurately show details are remembered, an audience panel is surveyed. The guarantee will be tracked by using television engagement scores supplied by IAG Research.