Commercial Recall Through Fast Forward

I love research: usually there is a nugget of information that is revealed and gives us an "a-ha" moment.  But I also love research because it always confirms things we instinctively know, but provides the data to support those instincts.  That is what an article in today's WSJ does for me.  The article is all about recall of commercials watched through fast forward on a DVR.  Some key findings reported that the most successful ads:

• Concentrated the action and the brand's logo in the middle of the screen.
• Didn't rely on multiple scene changes, audio or text to tell the story.
• Often used familiar characters.
• Were more likely to have been seen once before live.

Duh.  But the implications are interesting:

• Advertisers may want to unveil new campaigns during live events like sports games and then re-run spots during programs likely to be recorded.
• Advertisers may want to test multiple edits of a spot to see how it performs when it is fast forwarded.