Virtual product placement in the holidays boosts audience reach by 39%

Mirriad’s in-content advertising during the 2021 holiday season delivered approximately 130 million additional impressions and 39% higher audience reach when compared to equivalent TV spot breaks in the same content. 

Fall has arrived, and brands are battling to maximize their remaining media spend for the year. Luckily, they can break through the upcoming shopping season by embracing virtual product placement during the holidays.

Traditionally, the holiday season is a peak period for brand advertising, but the industry noise is deafening. Now more than ever, many brands are searching for ways to overcome ad fatigue, tackle fragmented viewership and maximize their media spend. Holiday virtual product placement can provide them this opportunity.

Last year, Mirriad helped a multinational financial services company and global media and advertising agency break into a brand new audience of investors, using virtual product placement to access an entirely new consumer segment closely aligned to the brand’s target.

WHY BRANDS ARE USING VIRTUAL PRODUCT PLACEMENT DURING THE HOLIDAYS

The holiday season represents a key sales period for many brands, and with media companies placing a strong focus on holiday content, there’s a wealth of content for advertisers to leverage. However, during the busiest advertising season of the year, the high cost of traditional ad slots sees further growth, and consumers are bombarded with increasing volumes of ad content in a saturated market.

Luckily, virtual product placement can maximize the power behind a brand’s holiday media spend and effectively win over consumers. Virtual product placement reaches audiences when they are most engaged with the screen and seamlessly integrates brands into their chosen content, rather than interrupting their viewing with ads that are easily skipped or cause ad fatigue.

As a result, virtual product placement has the power to establish top-of-mind awareness, brand affinity, and purchase intent. In fact, recent research from Nielsen showed that Mirriad’s in-content advertising during the 2021 holiday season delivered approximately 130 million additional impressions and 39% higher audience reach when compared to equivalent TV spot breaks in the same content.

HOLIDAY VIRTUAL PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN ACTION

Classic holiday content is always in high demand over the winter season, particularly industry-leading programming. According to a report by Cynopsis, Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” has led to it being the most-watched entertainment cable network among adult women in Q4 for the last eight years in a row.

In 2021, Mirriad’s in-content advertising technology integrated brand signage for our financial services client within contextually relevant moments in Hallmark Channel’s iconic “Countdown to Christmas” holiday movie franchise. By integrating the brand into crucial moments in the storyline, placements were aligned to characters whom the brand’s target audience found relatable.

As a result, our client enjoyed incredible results. Among viewers with a household income above $200k or more (the brand’s target demographic), the campaign delivered a 34% increase in ad awareness and a 24% increase in purchase intent.

Most interestingly, viewers were strongly in favour of the virtual product placement format. An impressive 81% of the audience between the ages of 35-44 agreed it produced a positive brand appeal, while 69% agreed they would rather see branded integrations than other ad formats.

MIRRIAD'S UNRIVALLED IN-CONTENT ADVERTISING REACH

Last holiday season, Mirriad saw a 600% increase in the number of in-content advertising campaigns executed compared to the previous year, delivering media partners an 850% increase in combined net revenue.

Since then, Mirriad’s access to premiere titles has grown significantly, providing advertisers and brands with a huge range of content for holiday virtual product placement opportunities. Partnerships with a range of broadcast channels, including Hallmark, Lifetime, Up Entertainment, GAC and Scripps, are complemented by Digital, Social, SVOD, AVOD, Streaming, CTV and other content verticals.

What’s more, our patented Academy-Award winning in-content advertising technology can target specific context, locations, narratives and settings, to place products, signage, and other ad formats in the most impactful moments of a consumer’s viewing. The result - coveted primetime impressions during an increasingly valuable time of the year.

The recent pandemic has seen seasonal spending patterns change. According to JPMorgan Chase Institute, a quarter of consumers spent an additional $1,000 during last year’s holiday season than the year prior. If brands use their media spend wisely, they can successfully claim a share of this value, all while building brand awareness and delighting their audience.

Download our new case study on virtual product placement during the holiday season.