Comcast Spotlight, Starcom Report Ad Trial Results

Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable, announced the findings of their second market trial of addressable advertising technology, completed in Baltimore, MD, in 2009.

The household addressability trial improved ad relevance by delivering different ads within the same commercial break on selected cable networks to different household groupings, based on non-personally identifiable demographics and aligned with advertiser segments.

The trial used INVIDI’s Advatar addressable technology and reached approximately 60,000 households, with SMG serving as the media partner throughout.

Comcast notified all consumers in the trial area in advance and offered multiple ways to opt out, including mailing a form in a self-addressed, stamped envelope; calling a dedicated, toll-free hotline; or completing an online form.

Analysis of the anonymous set-top box data from the Baltimore trial demonstrated that viewers who saw ads directed to households within a particular group were less likely to change channels.

Overall, homes receiving addressable advertising tuned away 32 percent less of the time than homes that received non-addressed advertising. The trial also demonstrated a 65 percent greater efficiency from sending ads only to relevant groupings that the advertiser wanted to reach, based on the per-spot costs of addressable and non-addressable ads.

The Baltimore trial was the second test of household addressability conducted by Comcast Spotlight and SMG. A technical trial involving approximately 8,000 households was conducted in Huntsville, AL, from 2006-2008, and was supported by OpenTV’s SpotOn addressable solution.