National Study Helps Advertisers Find the Right “Micro Moments” to Engage Consumers During Football and Other Live Sporting Events

Ahead of the biggest football event of the year, Advocado today released a new survey detailing American media consumption and brand engagement behavior following TV ad exposure. Nearly half of individuals (49%) use two or more screens while watching football, and 69% use a second screen—typically a mobile device or laptop—after seeing an ad to find more information on a product or service that piques their interest. This data indicates there is a timely opportunity for brands and agencies to improve consumer engagement and business ROI through cross-screen advertising.

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“In order to truly engage with consumers and maximize ROI in today’s ecosystem, brands and ad agencies require real-time insights that understand consumer behaviors across all screens and platforms,” said Jeff Linihan, co-founder, president and COO of Advocado.

Fans of this year’s big game will predominantly watch on streaming platforms (47%), cable (41%) or over-the-air TV (36%). While most people care about the game itself, the survey found 42% tune in specifically to enjoy the advertisements. In fact, 50% of viewers have purchased a product or service based on on of these commercials.

When viewers want to learn more about a product or service advertised on TV, they use a second screen to explore on a brand’s website or app (34%), via a search engine (30%) or by visiting an ecommerce site (19%). This is especially apparent when consumers view live sports. Individuals use two (30%) or even three or more (19%) screens while watching football to simultaneously use social media (45%), view another game (39%), or check statistics and box scores (34%).

“While the majority of American sports fans still favor the ‘lean-back’ experience of watching on linear, big-screen television, the rise of supplemental viewing activity on smartphones and tablets – especially among younger cohorts – is undeniable,” added Tim Hanlon, founder and CEO of media consultancy The Vertere Group. “Fueled by an insatiable appetite for programming enhancements such as  game stats, social chatter and commerce enablement, the ability to augment the sports viewing experience by interacting with consumers is quickly evolving from clever curiosity into experiential mandatory.”

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Additional findings from the study include:

• TV Still Reigns With Big Game Viewing: Most consumers (59%) will watch the game on their TV. Some will use their mobile device (16%), laptop (13%) or tablet (12%).
• Where to Find Early Big Game Ads: Of the 41% of people who view early releases of big game ads, most do so on YouTube (32%), social media (27%) or through mainstream media (19%).
• Sports and Social Media Go Hand-in-Hand: Over half (57%) of people post and monitor social media platforms while watching sports, typically using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
• Shoppable TV Not Yet Taking Off: Consumers are divided on whether or not they’d like to buy products and services with their TV remote. Just over one-third (38%) are interested in this, 35% are not, and 30% might, depending on the product or service.

“Through Data-as-a-Service measurement offerings, advertisers gain much more granular, channel-specific insights across TV, mobile, social and apps, allowing them to deliver the right micro moments wherever consumers are viewing or interacting,” added Linihan. “Be it big-ticket events like the big game or year-round programming in CTV or linear, there has never been a better time for advertisers to boost the overall effectiveness of omnichannel campaigns through data.”

Findings in the release came from a nationally-representative survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, ages 18-54 (January 2022).

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