14-month study narrows 'winning' tablet ad models down to 3 options

Tablets have been on the scene for the last three years, but many digital marketing groups are still working on cracking the code for advertising on this particular mobile platform.

Turns out there might only be three possiblities, based on a new report from digital communications group VivaKi.

The results stem from a 14-month research study conducted by VivaKi’s The Pool, an initiative with the agenda to investigate potential future advertising models based on evolving technologies.

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The Publicis Groupe subsidiary argues that there are essentially "three winning ad models proven to outperform standard ads on tablets."

Researchers described the trio with fairly basic labels: Web, video, and print. Based on the best practices outlined in the report, it's more about focusing on one of these three types of media in a single advertisement and taking advantage of the device's hardware and software capabilities to the fullest extent.

To naysayers who might be hesitant about mobile in general, The Pool study stressed that "tablet ads work," adding that "all attitudinal metrics were positively impacted by at least one new model.

The key is engagement as researchers added that these new models all worked better when users were obligated to respond and participate with the advertisement.

The Pool also included some statistics about the current state of the tablet market in the United States, painting a newer picture of what tablet consumers might look like in general.

For example, researchers found that tablets are increasingly skewed towards non-family households, also noting that males between the ages of 18 and 44 are the most likely to own tablets.

Despite the obvious mobility factor and design, the tablet also continues to be regarded as more of an at-home device while smartphones are still used primarily on-the-go.

For reference, in conjunction with ad-serving partner Medialets, The Pool considered 37 different original ideas, tested 130 different executions, spent over 26,000 hours with industry peers, and spent over 871,000 hours with more than 20 million consumers examining qualitative, quantitative and field trial research.

The agency approximated that with 70 million tablet owners in the U.S. as of December 2012, the initiative covered roughly one in three of them.

The full study is available online now, and it can also be downloaded in app form for Android and iOS devices.

Images via VivaKi