Neuroscience Tools for Better Tune-In Promos and More
In your Psych 101 class (or when you started to create PowerPoint
presentations), you learned to reinforce messages by coordinating visual
and verbal ingredients. In the neuroscience course, which you probably
didn’t take, you would learn how to boost that eye/ear reinforcement
even further via “brain synchronization.”
So if you got a job in advertising or promotion, you’d use a tool to
optimize the simultaneous impact. Cable networks including TNT, AMC
Networks, HBO and We, along with ABC News and NBC News have been quietly
testing
“SyncSense,” a software
tool that makes sure the synchronization is instant. Even a 1/10th-
second delay can reduce the impact, says Daniel Fischer, a co-founder of
the eponymous company.
Moreover, SyncScore – a measurement system that is part of the
company’s service – tracks message recognition. In a project for AMC,
SyncScore identified an uptick of 17% to 36% in recall levels for
synched promotions within the 25 to 54 year old age bracket; the major
variable was the placement of a synched message within an advertising
pod.
Initially, SyncSense is concentrating on tune-in promotions, including
on-network video messages as well as program intro segments; those few
moments at the top of the hour are crucial attention-getting
opportunities while viewers are surfing around to choose a show to
watch.
“It improves audience retention during breaks,” Fischer emphasizes,
focusing on the company’s primary selling point: retaining viewers.
Tightly coordinating voice/text messages are already a fundamental
part of commercials, especially direct response and infomercials.
Fischer, an alumnus of Nielsen, Discovery and Warner Cable, believes
that the neural connections can also be used in reality programs,
movies, dramas and short-form videos, such as the fast-evolving online
video sector.
He and his colleagues, who include John Ford (formerly of Discovery
and National Geographic Channel) and Charlene Weisler (an ex-AMC
executive), acknowledge the challenge of introducing a new production
tool to advertisers and TV promotion departments that have an
established format for producing their video materials. SyncSense is
emphasizing the measurement factor, which is at the core of its own
revenue model.
The system has been used on more than 80 shows, ranging from HBO’s
“Real Sports” to NBC Nightly News. SyncScore ratings (developed in
collaboration with Nielsen data) show that tightly synched voice/text
delivery increases full-show ratings by at least 2.8% and up to 7.4% in
the youngest – and most fidgety – age brackets. Fischer and his team are
promoting these viewership bumps as a way to drive viewers “more
efficiently from promos to programs,” which leads to improved Nielsen
results and higher ad rates, as he repeatedly points out.
The company’s patent-pending technology optimizes brain sync, which in
turn increases attention. SyncSense is also exploring other multi-input
factors that can increase viewer attention, such as the context of
on-screen messages. Included in this dimension are color, movement,
luminance, shapes, patterns and even what Fischer calls “gestalt
criteria.” Collectively, these ingredients can be used in various
combinations to trigger those neural sensors that reinforce video
messages.
Plug that into your brain next time you’re looking for something to watch.
The basic concept of SyncSense is that since human brain activity is associated with audiovisual perception and attention, the refinement of such stimuli in a short for video results in more neural synchrony and therefore higher perception, engagement and attention.
