Searching for the new normal
A region-by-region snapshot of how fundraisers are using DRTV to remain visible and vocal during lockdown.
As countries around the world move another month into, or out of, various phases of lockdown, we bring you another snapshot of global DRTV fundraising.
In terms of overall trends, we are seeing:
A continuation of more favourable media availability as high-spending commercial advertisers reduce or cancel media spend.
No decline in the inspirational desire of the public to find ways to help.
More causes showing first-time interest in DRTV.
Emergency DRTV appeals for causes with COVID 19-related work, or whose income (such as large-scale street collections) has been adversely impacted by lockdown.
It is clear that everywhere remains in a transitional stage. Nowhere is yet moving back to what was once normality.
Some country specifics
Our aim here is to give you some diverse DRTV snapshots. We also work on many digital campaigns, but these campaigns are so varied that we are not yet seeing trends emerge, at least not at a level of detail that would drive a change in strategy.
In terms of DRTV, across the globe we are seeing increases in return on investment. This is not about isolated success stories. Nor is it limited to established DRTV fundraisers. We see both new and experienced DRTV causes generating strong results from Brazil to Australia, from Korea to Ireland, and in the UK.
India
Emerging DRTV fundraising markets, such as India, are seeing seismic changes, as DTV’s head in India, Mukesh Nauhwar reports:
‘Overall, India saw a 27% increase in overall TV viewership through April into May. And of course, audience sizes are enormous (even regionally, never mind nationally).
‘Some trends which stand out are:
Afternoon viewership increases by 48%!
Primetime up by 8.2%.
Time Spent Viewing is up by 31% across the entire day, and 17% higher during Primetime
When Prime Minister Modi gave his key speech on lockdown measures, English news viewership spiked by 257%, Hindi news by 55.4% and regional by 61%. Just to clarify that huge spike in English news viewership, that comes from a low starting point here in India — with ‘low’ meaning a pre-spike of ‘only’ a few million viewers.’
Australia and New Zealand
Marcus Lewis, Managing Director and Partner at DTV’s Sydney-based Sanctuary Media Group, shares the following:
‘Aussie audience numbers increased up to 50% and demand for TV advertising fell by around 30%. These declines led to CPMs less than 50% of normal trading, leading to improved Costs Per Regular Giver and ROI across the board.
‘New Zealand is a moving market as lockdown eases. April saw CPM’s as low as $3.60 allowing NGO clients to record their best ever CPRG’s.’
Country Head of Australia, Nicola Long adds:
‘Even though we’re close to emerging from lockdown, performance is still holding up. As Marcus has said, amazing CPM’s and larger audiences means the net gain for our clients is considerable. We are now looking at data to better understand if we are getting more response from the typical daytime audience or additional response from the new WFH audience. Hopefully some data to prove or challenge our theories in our next bulletin.’
Hong Kong
Our Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, Alex Daniel, commented that in keeping with the other markets mentioned, response rates are staying strong in a stagnant media market with a gloomy economic outlook, even as more people return to work:
‘Response rates and conversion have held strong which is reassuring, and even the average gift value hasn’t dropped as some were anticipating. Results from digital remain particularly good, helped a little through increased decision-maker contact rate as more people are at home during what would normally be office hours.’
Korea
Probably the market that is furthest ahead of the curve, despite recent panic about a local outbreak in Seoul. Our country head, Borie Han, sees a normalisation of results.
‘The peaks we saw between February to April are gradually returning to ‘normal’ response levels. Some of this is because commercial advertisers are coming into the market and inflating the costs a little, but results are just as positive as they were before the crisis.’
A more detailed look at the UK
We asked our London MD, Chris Dickens to pull out some topline issues.
‘The UK is still getting to grips with exactly what stage one of easing the lockdown will mean in practice.
‘In the meantime, it’s an understatement to say that the UK TV Market has had its biggest ever shock. With many advertisers pulling out of the market (automotive, holiday/travel, airline), some sales-houses have seen a fall in revenue of up to 70% year on year. Meanwhile, since the lockdown, on average the UK population has watched an additional 50 minutes of linear TV per day!
‘Although daytime media costs are fixed Costs Per Thousands, we are seeing some scope to negotiate. There are also some advantageous prices for specific spot buys in peak which, if coupled with relevant programming, could prove efficient.
‘From a messaging perspective, it’s crucial to retain everything we know about what makes DRTV effective. At the same time, we have seen a notable increase in corona virus messaging and bespoke ‘emergency adverts’ where we see strong ROI. Of course, you need a salient reason for referencing the impact of the virus. Clearcast understandably want not-for-profit advertisers to provide hard evidence for any coronavirus related messaging
‘As the status of lockdown and work patterns change, there will be potential impacts on the climate for DRTV fundraisers. When commercial brands come back into the market, media prices will begin to rise. Media prices returning to pre-lockdown levels is unlikely in the next 4–6 weeks as it will require the bigger commercial spenders to return to the market.
‘We would encourage charities to avoid the risks that come with spending too much on individual appeals; there is certainly a strong case for taking advantage of the current DRTV marketplace, but ROI will start to fall if spend levels go too high.
‘Over the next 2 months, we don’t forecast any return to normal viewing levels among adults. We would expect the general improvements in results to plateau.
‘From Sept onwards we are more likely to see the market settle back to pre-virus levels, especially if and when commercial brands get anywhere near close to their previous levels of expenditure in November/December.
‘As always, it’s a balancing act of how much budget to put behind each creative to ensure wear-out and over exposure doesn’t happen …. but at least there is some light in incredibly challenging times for fundraisers.’
Your experience?
If you would like to share your views and experiences, please feel free to contact any of us.
Peter Muffett, peter.muffett@dtvgroup.co.uk, Angie Brooker, angie.brooker@dtvgroup.co.uk, Chris Dickens, chris.dickens@dtvgroup.co.uk Alex Daniel, alex.daniel@dtvgroup.asia,