By now the entire advertising industry is buzzing with news of the new ways coming to rate commercials.
While ratings have always calculated how many people (the industry term is “eyeballs”) watch a particular ad, the new system will report on how many people change the channel or turn the TV off when measured ads come on.
All of a sudden, clients, agencies and networks will be able to assign value to the creativity of the ad based on its measurable ability to retain viewers. And advertising awards, claims of “breakthrough creativity” and arrogance will be replaced by measurable metrics on an ad’s effectiveness.
I can hear the desks being cleaned out already. Can you?