The revolution will be televised (as advertised)

Thinkbox has excelled in Media Week’s Trade Body Research category for the far-reaching, comprehensive insights delivered by its Profit Ability 2 project. Working in collaboration with Ebiquity, EssenceMediacom, Gain Theory, Mindshare and Wavemaker UK (an ‘Econometrics supergroup’), the report evaluates advertising spend and Profit ROI in multiple channels – and the results demonstrate the true value of investing in brand promotion.

Profit Ability 2 isn’t simply a reheated version of its 2017 predecessor. By 2023, the world was a different place. Thinkbox widened the scope of the original study, encompassing more channels and industries, to accurately depict the industry as it is, not as it was.

Despite Thinkbox’s position as the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, the cross-channel range of the report makes it a vital resource for every marketer and advertiser in the UK.

The report worked with data from 141 brands with £1.8 billion of media spend across 10 channels and 14 product sectors. The breadth and depth of this research produced a report that tells a crucial story about the power of advertising in every channel, not least of course, TV.

What did we learn?
In Thinkbox’s own words, “advertising works – and how!” Using data collected over three years after the covid lockdowns, Profit Ability 2 highlights the concrete returns advertisers receive from each £1 in spend. And every £1 does generate Profit ROI, though some channels and sectors perform better than others. 

The econometric insights the report provides to agencies and brands will have a transformative effect on their capacity to tell the story of their worth to clients and the wider marketplace. 

The impact Profit Ability 2 has had on the industry has been profound. With media coverage in the trade and mainstream press – estimated to have reached 2.9 million people so far – and the warmest of receptions from senior marketers in business, the report “has quickly established itself as the new touchstone for advertising effectiveness.”

Time Matters
One of the key outcomes of the research has been to highlight the importance of the relationship between time and profitability for advertising. The report measures the impact of ad spend across four different time measures. The evidence points to 58% of total profit generation manifesting after 13 weeks.

Advertising Delivers
Profit Ability 2 showed that advertising works - it has an average short- term Profit ROI of £1.87 per pound invested which increases to £4.11 when sustained effects are included. The study also revealed how profitability varies across product categories and media channels. TV was found to account for 54.7% of advertising's full profit payback (but just 43.6% of total advertising investment). 

What the judges say…
“Very thorough project analysing profitability of media channels using econometrics across 3 years.”

“More quality work for the good of the industry, not just TV.”

“Really key piece or research that was excellent the first time round and building on the original great work is a testament to collaboration of the industry to help clients understand the changes in the market.”

“It's hard to not be impressed with the scale of this collaborative study and the outcomes. The fact that the TV industry shows itself in context to other media channels is brave given how many are coming after them for revenue and eyeballs."

For industry players with a material interest in the direction, costs and profitability of advertising, the Profit Ability 2 report is an indispensable resource for knowing where your budget is going, what it’s achieving and what it could be achieving. Thinkbox has produced a report of which it is rightly proud. It’s a testament not just to the key players in its ‘econometrics supergroup’, but to the power and potential of the whole industry. 

To find out how you can make the most of the report’s findings, as well as to consult on your wider media strategy, contact Thinkbox. As you’ve seen, they know what they’re doing.