American Culture, British Culture & Dual Screening

The British are steadily adopting more and more of America's culture.

We’ve started to have our own Black Friday, we've imported American food - like Marshmallow fluff and Lucky Charms - to our supermarkets and more British people are watching the Super Bowl each year. Even the infamous Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show held its first London show in 2014.

These wonderfully-branded events (and foods) have little relevance to us in the UK and yet they're still widely adopted. Yet it seems that sometimes we're not so sure what exactly is happening.

According to data released by Google, 76% of Britons use the internet on their smartphone or other connected devices while they watch TV. We reach for a second or third screen because we know we can receive instant results and satisfy our curiosity at these precise moments. Including when we get confused over a few cultural differences.

The Super Bowl is as American as you can get but for the many Brits that tune in, they don’t know much about what is actually going on. So, thank goodness for mobile phone and being able to search for answers to all types of questions!

At mporium, our research revealed that questions asked on mobiles during Super Bowl 2017 ranged from ‘What is the Super Bowl?’ to ‘When is Lady Gaga appearing on TV?’ and 'Why do NFL players wear face paint?' These stats provided insight into the way British people thought throughout the major American sporting event.

Searchability

People tend not to search for brands but for generic terms. These searches often relate to TV programmes or perhaps something specific that appears in the ad, an object or a comment from someone.

When we have our mobiles by our side on the sofa, we don't just search for answers to questions that relate to what we're watching.

In fact, people will search for whatever jabs at their interest at a particular time, and these topics are not always the most obvious things that advertisers might imagine.

Current popular searches include; ‘When is Easter 2017?’ and ‘When do the clocks go back?’ or even ‘What happens when you die?’ Given the fact that the Premier League is underway, there have been an increased number of searches about various teams like Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Middlesbrough FC, particularly about when specific matches will be played.

The emphasis on generic rather than brand-specific searches is worth noting because generic searching is not that cost effective for advertisers. Which is why marketers and agencies are sometimes reluctant to focus on it.

But generic keywords are good at creating brand awareness and recruiting new customers.  People are often in the mood to buy when they're watching TV and on their smartphone. They're in the mood.

The answer is to turn on paid searches on generic terms as and when required to improve the ROI of an ad campaign. If a brand can capture the audience when they are in such an engaged frame of mind, it's possible to drive mobile conversions.

The trend for people to continue searching on their mobiles while they watch TV will only grow especially if consumers don't understand what they're actually viewing.

I mean, surely everyone knows where footballer Garry Monk is headed this summer...? Don’t they?