Member Article

Memorability is the new goal for brands, finds new Havas Study

• Report finds almost half of people (49%) feel overwhelmed by brand messaging

• Study finds memorability leads to consumer action after 60 days

• Online influencers trusted by younger but not lower demographic

Memorability is the most crucial outcome of a brand campaign and has a direct impact on consumer behaviour – but only after 60 days, according to a new study into brand memorability by Havas PR.

According to focus groups and polling of more than 2,000 people, 49% of people felt there was too much information from brands, and this was highest in London (25%). Of those that felt the amount was ‘just about right’, the North of England was highest (54%). The study examined people’s channel preferences and trust, as well as looking at campaign recall and the impact of memorability on consumer action. It found that only 15% of brand campaigns are recalled after 60 days, but campaigns that are remembered after this period have a firm impact on behaviour.

Managing director of Havas PR, Nigel Hughes, commented: “In this age of information, memorability is not earned lightly. Brand campaigns that can be recalled after 60 days become signifiers for consumer action, and the campaign becomes active rather than passive.

“The study found that once a campaign reaches this active recall status 13% of people are likely to buy a product or service as a result of it, while a quarter (25%) will mention it to family or friends. Reputation is also impacted, with 38% of people likely to think positively about a brand or organisation if they remember a campaign and 8% will then follow a brand on its social channels.”

The Havas investigation focused on series of 2018 brand campaigns across owned and earned channels for up to 60 days and recorded people’s opinions of them, including what actions the campaigns had led people to take.

The campaign which received most unprompted recall of 2018 to date was Sky’s ocean plastic campaign, with 8% of people naming it as the campaign they remembered most this year to date.

From the campaigns examined by the focus groups, Havas found memorability did not necessarily follow directly from awareness. Nigel Hughes added:

“Our research has revealed there is a gap between being aware of a campaign and remembering it. Respondents explained that with so many channels broadcasting, they were made aware of many campaigns, but they didn’t remember the messages behind most them a few days later, and many actually discouraged them from engaging or buying from them.

“Memorable campaigns, however, had noticeable positive effects on the focus groups, meaning campaign recall is an objective more brands need to consider in their strategy planning.”

Havas PR will be producing a guide to memorability as a result of the study.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amelia Peters .