Thinkbox
Brands still matter. In fact, in a world racing toward emotionless, bot-to-bot, algorithm-driven commerce, they may matter more than ever.
Why? Because brands live in our heads. They’re mental shortcuts that guide – even automate – fast, confident, rewarding decisions. They fuel our happiness and shape our identity.
Strip away a brand and something essential disappears. As the From Brand to Bland 2 study showed, people feel uncertain and disconnected without their trusted brands. Brands carry memory, meaning, trust. Bots can’t replicate that.
But brands don’t build themselves. They need time, care, and the right mix of media and creativity to grow.
TV’s scale, storytelling power, and emotional pull make it unmatched for building mental availability – the bedrock of lasting brand value.
TV turns products into brands. It creates meaning. It’s the antidote to commodification.
TV’s unmatched long-term profit performance
Every major study into advertising effectiveness – even those commissioned by rival media – agrees: if your brand needs growth, TV is the safest, smartest investment you can make.
Profit Ability 2 (2024) concluded that TV advertising is the most effective investment a business can make:
- TV delivers the highest total volume of profit: Linear TV and BVOD account for 54.7% of advertising’s total payback, with a profit ROI of £5.61 (vs. a media average of £4.11).
- 58% of advertising’s effects arrive 6–24 months after airing – long-term value that short-term tactics miss.
- Linear TV’s effects triple over two years; BVOD’s more than double.
TV is also the #2 driver of immediate profit – second only to generic search – and generates 41.5% of all short-term media-driven profit. It works fast too.
But its sustained effects are how brands are built. Too much short-termism short-changes brand. Sustained advertising effects are crucial for creating and maintaining a brand's relevance and driving lasting profitability.
TV delivers more, for longer
Because it’s watched by millions all the time. It has scale for a vast number of advertisers to build their brands and keep growing:
- TV has the highest saturation point – the point where adding spend still delivers returns.
- Advertisers can spend 3x more on Linear TV than on the next biggest channel (Print), and 8x more than Online Video, and still generate incremental profit.
- The profit impact of Linear TV grows by 194% after the first week – compared to just 79% for Online Video. That’s the power of memory.
TV is the supreme storyteller
Humans are wired for stories. They bring us together, stick in our minds, shape our feelings.
TV is the home of great commercial storytelling. It gives brands the canvas – sound, vision, time, screen quality – to tell emotionally powerful stories that last.
And emotion matters. Ads that make people feel something are far more likely to drive long-term brand preference and loyalty.
Think of a great ad – a drumming gorilla, a CGI meerkat, or Olivia Colman eating crumpets – and it’s likely to be an emotional ad – and a TV ad.
That’s because TV ads are the most likely to make people feel emotional, the most likely to make us laugh, and the most likely to be remembered.
TV’s 30-second format – still the most popular – strikes the perfect balance between storytelling freedom and cost-effectiveness. Unlike a silent glimpse on a tiny screen, TV gives brands the space to resonate.
And it’s not just emotion. TV also works brilliantly for showing, telling, and explaining – from product demos to service benefits. Time on screen enables clarity as well as creativity.
