Barb has again shared an advertising tier estimate for Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon. The number of UK homes on the Netflix ad tier continues to build, reaching 3.8m (13.1%) up from 2.78m (9.5%) in Q2. The Disney+ ad tier averaged 1.2m (4.1%) up from 820k homes in Q2. A different approach to moving homes to its ad tier means 86% of homes with Amazon Prime Video access in Q3 are on the ad tier – 11.5m homes (39.3%).

Doug Whelpdale, Head of Insight at Barb said: “After strong growth in Q1 and Q2 it was perhaps inevitable that the growth in homes accessing subscription VOD services would slow. The overall number of homes accessing at least one SVOD service remained above 20m, but the number with more than two services dipped to below 14m homes. Suggesting viewers continue to remain wary of economic turbulence.

This stability in overall subscriber numbers further demonstrates why services are exploring other avenues to continue revenue growth. While Amazon is likely to be the biggest ad tier for some time, it’s interesting to see the growth of the Netflix ad tier towards 4m homes and Disney+ past 1m homes. With darker evenings and the festive season on the horizon the number of ad tier homes for Netflix and Disney seems likely to grow.”

Barb’s viewing data shows how new titles and library programming combine to drive time spent with these streaming services.

Streaming services with a household penetration of more than 5% are reported. Caution should be applied when comparing Barb’s sample-based numbers to audited numbers published by the SVOD services. Respondent recall of access to these services is subject to some uncertainty – this could occur where the respondent is not the subscriber in the household, or the service is provided in a package with other services.

Source: Barb

LG Ad Solutions, in collaboration with MediaScience, today released a groundbreaking study that underscores the effectiveness of creating a seamless Connected TV (CTV) advertising experience. The study, titled The Connect Effect, demonstrates that integrating CTV Video, Native, and Mobile Video ads within a single campaign boosts key brand metrics and performance.

The study revealed that brands incorporating a full TV experience – spanning CTV Video, Native ads, and Mobile Video – into their campaigns saw significant improvements in performance. Brand awareness increased by 4.7 times, ad recall surged by 8.7 times, and brand consideration grew by 11.2 times, all while reducing cost per visit by 23%.

“Since 2014, Smart TV adoption in the UK has surged to 74%, transforming how viewers, advertisers, and content publishers interact beyond traditional TV. To fully capitalise on CTV environments, brands must look beyond the 30-second spot and focus on the complete TV viewing experience.“ said Ed Wale, VP Europe of LG Ad Solutions. “Appearing on the first screen people see, offers a unique chance to capture consumers’ attention at the very first moment of engagement, setting the tone for the entire viewing experience and making a lasting impact where first impressions matter most.”

The Smart TV home screen is becoming a more important factor in the path to content. On average, people access more than seven different content sources on their Smart TVs, and 42% of viewing starts without a specific plan in mind, making the Smart TV home screen a crucial gateway for engaging consumers. LG Smart TV users will visit the home screen three times per day on average. MediaScience’s eye-tracking phase of the study revealed that:

• LG Smart TV users stay on the LG Smart TV Home Screen for 33 seconds on average. 
• 85% of viewers looked at the Native ad for an average of 7 seconds or 14% of their total screen time. 
• Viewers looked at the Native ad +132% longer if there was a video component and +46% longer if there was a QR code.

Although linear TV still commands two-thirds of ad spend, its longer ad breaks and lack of frequency control have diminished its effectiveness compared to newer platforms. The study found that including linear TV in a campaign mix negatively impacted ad perception across almost all tested attributes.

The total TV experience doesn’t stop with the Smart TV ecosystem. Ninety-three percent of viewers use other devices while watching TV, with 71% holding their phones throughout their viewing. Advertisers can enhance engagement by creating connected experiences that span multiple screens.

CTV campaigns that combine Native and Mobile Video components achieved a significant lift in brand recall—over 60 percentage points—while also being perceived as less intrusive. Brands already using CTV Video strategies can increase brand recognition by more than 10 percentage points and ad recall by over 13 percentage points by incorporating CTV, Native and Mobile Video formats.

Although mobile ads received less visual attention than those on TV, the study found that brand recall remained comparable across CTV Video and Linear TV.

Source: MediaScience

A new study has revealed that one in three US teens under the age of 18 have been approached by a brand to sponsor a product through their social media or know someone who has.

Additionally, over 1 in 5 (23%) US teens under the legal working age of 16 have been approached by brands for sponsorship opportunities.

The study found that nearly half a million (486,101) US teens earned $1,000 or more in brand-sponsored social media earnings in 2024.

To explore the scale of teen earnings through digital channels in the US, Whop, the all-in-one platform for digital products, gathered survey data from US teenagers aged between 12-18 years old to produce the US teen digital earnings report 2024. The findings show that teenagers in the US are capitalizing on their digital presence and turning screen time into serious income.

Findings show that nearly 1 in 3 (31%) US teens believe brand sponsorships through social media are realistic methods of making money online.

A further 28% of teens believe product review videos are a realistic way of making money online. Over 1 in 5 (22%) teens believe viewer earnings from social media are a good money-making method.

How much are students making in brand-sponsored social media posts?

Two in five (42%) teenagers in the US are actively earning money online, an average of $717.62 was made by teens through online activity in the last year. Meanwhile, just 38% of 16-19 year olds were in employment or searching for a job in May 2024¹.

Those in the youngest age bracket below the legal working age, at 12-15 years old, earn $560.99 on average every year online. While those of legal working age (16-18 years old) earn $908.94 in an average year.

The data shows that there are entrepreneurial teenagers going even further than this. Approximately one student in every high school, around 40,000 US teenagers², earns $10,000 or more each year via their digital channels.

Operating online has given teenagers a platform to leapfrog the traditional roles to become their own boss, highlighting a whole digital economy that US teenagers are at the forefront of.

Cameron Zoub, CGO and co-founder of Whop, says:

“The way people make a living is changing — Gen Alpha and Gen Z’s entrepreneurial mindset alone is proof of that. They aren’t mindlessly scrolling as some would have you believe. They’re building their networks, meaningfully engaging with brands, and creating their own path to financial freedom.”

“Our findings are clear: younger generations are hungry for opportunities to make money online. It’s a sign of the times, and what more is to come.”

Source: Whop

Industry pioneer in intelligent app linking, URLgenius, and impact.com, the world’s leading partnership management platform, joined forces to unveil key insights from their latest Commerce Creator Lightning Survey¹. The findings spotlight new opportunities for Brand Marketers to align with Commerce Creators and thrive amidst the evolving consumer holiday shopping behaviour and challenges of a nervous economy.

“In this climate, Commerce Creators have a direct impact on audience buying decisions and brand loyalty, as shoppers become more selective with their spending,” said Brian Klais, CEO & founder of URLgenius. “While 51% of creators have begun their holiday campaigns, brands still have time to refine partnerships and position themselves for success in 2025.”

Key insights from the Commerce Creator Lightning Survey include:

Fierce Competition:

• 45% of creators say rising competition for audience attention is their top challenge this holiday season 
• The pressure to produce fresh content (25%) and to maintain a work-life balance (23%) were also notable challenges.

Compensation Balancing Act:

• 47% of brands prefer flat-fee with performance bonuses, with nearly half of creators citing rate negotiation as their biggest challenge in working with brands.
• The silver lining? Pay-per-post plus commission emerged as the top compensation model across all follower counts, offering a win-win by sharing both risk and reward.

Unease of the Unknown:

• Both parties rely on measurement to illustrate success, but are concerned with it being outside their control.  For brands, sales figures and engagement metrics ranked first and second respectively when assessing the success of an influencer marketing campaign with 41% citing difficulty in measuring campaign effectiveness as a common challenge.
• For creators, 64% marked shifts in social media algorithms changing as their top concern in the next year, impacting their income and business. 

Creative Differences:

• While over half of brands surveyed value strong creative control, 35% of creators prefer complete creative freedom to keep content authentic for their audience. Both sides must balance brand safety with a creator’s authenticity to foster trust. 
• 40% of brands surveyed prioritized brand fit when selecting creator partners. Marketers must look beyond follower counts to build lasting partnerships, which both Creators and Brands ranked as the most effective collaboration.

“September is not over and we’re already seeing half of creators actively share holiday content, indicating that brands should be engaging with influencers now, to leverage a cost-effective and ROI-driven channel that aligns with how today’s buyer makes purchases,” said Cristy Garcia, impact.com Chief Marketing Officer. “We’ve seen when brands and creators come together to create and share authentic content, including trusted reviews and recommendations today’s shoppers seek out before making a purchase, they can build stronger connections with consumers and ultimately drive conversions.”

Click here for additional insights and data from URLgenius & impact.com Creator Commerce Lightning Survey.

¹About Commerce Creator Lightning Survey Data: URLgenius & impact.com Commerce Creator Lightning Survey was conducted from August 15, 2024 – September 4, 2024, across 143 brands and 148 URLgenius client creators. Brand Respondents: 66% of brand respondents surveyed stated they oversee both their affiliate and influencer marketing teams with nearly 50% having their influencer and/or affiliate marketing programs for at least three years and 60% stating it is very important to their marketing mix. Client Creator Respondents: 51% of respondents’ follower count is between 100K-500K with 74% identifying it as a career.  Nearly all creator respondents selected affiliate commissions as their primary source of income, while ad revenue (36%) and selling their own products & services jumped dramatically YoY.

Source: URLgenius

Six out of 10 marketing leaders struggle to demonstrate the impact of their marketing investments because they are measuring the wrong metrics!

40 per cent admit this is because they tend to focus on vanity metrics like social media likes, impressions, or website traffic instead of revenue, customer retention, or lead quality; they prioritise metrics that are easier to collect, versus metrics that show true impact on sales and customer behaviour.

To tackle this widespread issue, Lancashire-based specialist performance marketing agency Door4 is hosting a free event in Preston for businesses operating in the home and garden sector to underscore the importance of shifting marketing measurement towards metrics that directly correlate with business success, such as ROI, lead quality, and customer engagement over time.

Leon Calverley, Director and founder of Door4, explains:

“It’s shocking how many companies, including those operating in the home and garden sector, measure the wrong marketing success indicators. These report findings come against a backdrop of decreased sales in the sector and forecasts warning that reduced consumer spending on products for the home is set to continue for some time.

“Our extensive research has shown that many businesses track what is easy rather than what is meaningful, often due to the lack of clear business objectives or poor alignment between marketing and sales teams; metrics such as likes, shares, and impressions often provide a false sense of success without linking to revenue, conversion, or customer acquisition costs; and there is a prevalent focus on immediate results rather than long-term metrics like brand equity, customer retention, or lifetime value.

“Our free upcoming in-person event, ‘The Metrics That Matter for Home & Garden Marketing’, aims to show marketers and senior business leaders how to simplify their metrics and focus on what will drive Home & Garden brands forward.

“With content tailored specifically for the home and garden sector, we want to stop business leaders feeling overwhelmed by conflicting data and start making decisions with confidence. We’re offering hands-on learning with interactive and practical activities and expert insights from the Door4 team, who have helped countless brands navigate the complex world of digital marketing and analytics.”

The Metrics That Matter for Home & Garden Marketing, is the third in a series of quarterly events hosted by Door4 designed to give marketeers and business owners in the homes and gardens sector crucial insights to improve the ROI on their marketing campaigns. The event takes place on Thursday, 3rd October (09:00 – 12:00) at Brockholes Nature Reserve, Preston. Breakfast is provided.

For more information or to register to attend visit: https://door4.com/nextevent

Source: Door4