Magna Media and Yahoo released findings Tuesday from a study that analyzes the role that creative plays in ad effectiveness, as well as the elements that contribute to quality in the advertisement.

Kara Manatt — executive vice president, managing director of Intelligence Solutions at Magna, the intelligence and investment arm of IPG Mediabrands — believes media placement and using creative to reach the right audiences are equally important in successful advertising campaigns, but great media cannot perform well if the creative is “mediocre.”

The joint study polled more than 4,100 marketers to examine how ad creative impacts 61 metrics such as lift, search intent, click-through rates and more in auto, food delivery service, and CPG.

The study tested 108 display ads with a variety of attributes across desktop, laptop and mobile devices.

The study suggests that marketers can benefit from making small improvements to their creative in order to optimize ad performance, while also driving brand quality and trust. Poor-quality creative can lead to wasted budgets.

Topline findings suggest that creative quality drives 56% of purchase intent, boosting awareness and shaping consumer opinions. Some 56% is attributed to creative quality, and the remainder to media placement.  

Advertising memorability hinges on high-quality creative, yielding more than a 23% increase in aided recall versus a mere 2% for poor creative. In addition, informative advertisements keep viewers engaged longer, extending on-screen time by more than eight seconds, lift by 32%, and an increase for brand consideration by more than 27%.

Findings also suggest that marketers should be optimizing their media across devices — for instance, taking advantage of mobile screens by ensuring compelling brand propositions and calls-to-action (CTAs).

On desktop and laptop, brands should consider prioritizing imagery to attract attention on the larger screen size and use people in ads to more effectively connect with consumers.

Creative quality can lead to 23% aided ad-recall, which drops to 2% for ads with poor creative quality.

Consumers looking for the product are 20% more likely to notice — and 13% more likely to enjoy — ads with improved visuals such as a human presence, product images, or prominent logo placement.

The findings suggest that improved imagery on desktop leads to high search intent by 23% lift, as well as improved message association by 50% lift.

Ads with more informative messages keep viewers watching the screen about eight seconds longer, prompting consumers to look for deals. These ads are 27% more likely to prompt consumers to consider the brand.

Improving the call-to-action with direct messaging and strong design can pique consumer interest in the product by 11% lift. It is 41% more likely the consumer will visit the brand’s website, and 77% more likely the consumer will look for offers and deals.