Advertising channel selection is challenging at the best of times but changing media consumption habits have complicated matters further.

With changing video viewing behaviours, it’s only natural for advertisers to follow audiences to digital platforms. But just how effective are digital-only campaigns at building brands, relative to campaigns that combine digital with TV?

That’s exactly what The Halo Effect, Digital Loves TV study set out to explore. And what we found was that if your campaigns solely use commercials on social video platforms such as YouTube or Facebook, they'll be more impactful if you add television to the mix.

Through measurement based on eye-tracking, the study found more visual attention leads to better recall, which leads to higher purchase intent.

Brand recall more than doubles when a digital ad is accompanied by a TV ad and for new brands, consumers are 35% more likely to purchase after watching a commercial on TV and digital compared to exposure on digital alone.

The combination of TV and digital leads to a 12% lift in brand attitude when digital ads are preceded by a TV ad and digital ads are even perceived to be less intrusive and less annoying after TV exposure.

The reason for this is that the combination of advertising on TV and digital produces more visual attention to the ad versus digital alone. This leads to a significant lift in brand memory. 

The key takeaway from all this is that brands, no matter the stage of maturity or size, stand to benefit from a combined TV plus digital strategy. One without the other could erode brand strength and purchase consideration over time.

This study proves the memory effects of digital video are enhanced with the brand-building power of TV, and, ultimately, that’s why digital loves TV.