Nielsen published a new report about US consumers use of connected devices, including how most have four devices, and spend 60 hours a week consuming media across them all.
84% of smartphone and tablet users admit to using their devices “as second screens” while watching TV, which is the key takeaway from this study. Viewers want to engage with what they’re watching on TV, whether it’s to read up on people or topics in the show, purchase items they see on screen, or share their thoughts (it’s hard to find a program that doesn’t have a Twitter hashtag in the bottom of the screen).
In the 2013 Superbowl, Twitter was mentioned in 50% of commercials, compared to Facebook’s 8% and Google Plus’ 0. However, the hashtag replaced platform-centric mentions, and was generally in 57% of all ads, which linked to campaigns across each network. For major cultural events, it’s important to recognize that your viewers want to engage with your brand, for good or bad, so it’s as important as ever to have a strong presence to provide them with what they need.