Tapping Into The Two Screen Consumer

The list of things in the world that one can reasonably expect to pay $9 million dollars a minute for is short, and if we had to guess, we’d say that many of those things are those that can only be paid for using bitcoin and in the darkest corners of the internet.

But then there’s Super Bowl ads. Which this year are fetching roughly $9 million dollars a minute. That, by the way, is a sum that in practical terms would buy an average American family groceries for around 600 years. 

While that sum can seem insanely exorbitant, it’s not hard to see why businesses are standing in line to open their checkbooks to pay that price. Last year’s game set the viewing record with 112.2 million people settling in to watch the Seahawks take on Broncos – even though the game was a blowout.  This year’s game, with the returning champion Seahawks set to take on the “deflategate-d” (but highly unlikely to be blown out) New England Patriots – the game is widely forecasted to surpass last year’s record.

That aside, the lure of pitching a product  to 100+ million captive eyeballs is undeniably attractive, and for at least the last 30 years had delivered results for those who cough up the cash to be part of the greatest show on turf.  The ads have become such an ingrained part of the game that in 2010 Nielsen study found that 51 percent of viewers prefer the commercials to the game itself, a proportion that had grown to 54 percent by 2012.

But while viewers love those Super Bowl ads, those viewers themselves are changing, too, with respect to how they watch those ads. Those 100 million or so eyeballs are less captive on that screen than they once were, according to data released last year by Nielsen. Thanks to smartphones, the TV is only one of many screens that the average consumer spends 60 hours a week staring at. In fact, Nielsen says that consumers consume content and access the web across an average of four internet connected devices.

And yet with this giant change in consumption habits – 60 hours per week is more time than most people spend at the jobs – the ways Americans are spending their “average” day isn’t changing all that much.

In looking at the break-down in how Americans are spending their time each day, it becomes pretty clear that the U.S. population isn’t carving a special time to “be online.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics studies what Americans do with the 24 hours in our day. They’ve been doing it for a while now. That’s what this chart shows. And, remarkably, since there are only 24 hours, still, in any given day, the way that consumers spend their day has changed very little year in and year out for pretty much the last decade.  

But, thanks to smartphones, how we actually spend that time has changed a ton. People are accessing apps while eating, while working (we know you’d never do that to your employer), while commuting, while exercising. And, while watching TV. And, Nielsen’s data tells us that 84 percent of smartphone users say that they use a second device while watching TV to check email, to text, look something up – and to shop.   

And, Super Bowl advertisers can’t wait to tap into that trend.

For example, shopaholics will be able buy Katy Perry merchandise during the Pepsi halftime show. Ad-tech company Delivery Agent and Visa are joining forces to present the “Hyped for Halftime” show which will be shoppable through several platforms.  Those interested in purchasing Katy Perry swag can do so through Twitter, their Samsung television or Roku device in real-time as they watch the show unfolds, using Visa Checkout to complete the transaction.

This takes what Delivery Agent did last year to a whole new level. Last year, H&M used Delivery Agent’s technology to make its David Beckham campaign shoppable. In that case, the TV commercial was connected to a mobile app WHOSE MOBILE APP? so that people could buy Beckham’s clothes in real time while watching the ad.

But not everyone is as excited to shop til they drop in front of the TV. New research published by Wharton suggests that even though consumers may be online while they’re watching television, they aren’t necessarily interested in shopping.

At least not German consumers. This study detailed the habits of German consumers during a a major television event (and controlling for “x factors” like weather). The conclusion was that there was actually “a negative relationship between TV viewership and online sales.”

The study’s explanation pointed to divided attention – users are doing so many things online while they are watching TV, it’s hard for shopping to rise to the top of the pack.

“Asking viewers to participate in polls, to tweet, to post on Facebook — all of these activities potentially have the unintended consequence of impacting online sales,” study co-author Oliver Hinz of the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany noted in an interview.

Hinz further commented that for all the cheerleading about the potential for second screening, there is still some work to be done in figuring out how to best harness it for sales purposes.

“There’s a lot of hype about “second-screening,” and what people are doing while they’re watching television. And I think there’s this general belief that it’s actually a good thing for television shows and for online sellers and for sellers in general. Here, for the first time, we have data that’s saying, “Well, maybe we should take a step back and think about what the impact of television is on online sales. Maybe second-screening isn’t positive for sellers just yet.”

The study authors didn’t note that second-screening was bad for advertisers, just that perhaps the strategy around it needed to be more nuanced and reflect the fact of consumers divided attention.  The study is also entirely focused on German consumer habits, which may well be different from the U.S. – though the next phase of the study is set to zoom in on American habits.

What is 100 percent certain is that over 100 million people will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday, and a smaller, but highly enthused group will be waiting and watching for the “shoppable half-time show.”

Certainly, its sponsors are banking on the fact that what people will be doing during the halftime show is, well watching the halftime show. And, if they present great stuff that people want to buy and all  they have to do is use their phone to interact with the show that they are watching (and not competing for their attention) that those impulse purchases just might rack up the sales.

We’ll let you know how many Katy Perry T-shirts we buy on Sunday evening.

Win, lose or draw, what’s clear is that television’s big events are going to get a lot more interactive, especially from a commerce point of view.