The TV vs digital debate is over. Digital won

The Brand Reset report involved one of the biggest advertising effectiveness studies ever conducted and is the first study to link attention to both brand equity and sales. Built by Dentsu in partnership with Kantar and Lumen, it draws on 10 next-gen platforms plus Linear TV, involving 20 brands across nine verticals, with 40,000 respondents across the US and UK. The results, says Ingram, are groundbreaking and should be required reading for every marketer and brand manager in South Africa who is serious not just about clicks, but about long-term brand impact. “The core argument is simple: brands have been chasing cheap clicks at the expense of brand building, and now there’s hard data to prove why that’s a mistake,” says Ingram.

Here Ingram shares her top five key findings from the report and what they mean for brands:

Digital video builds brands long term, not just short term

The data confirms that digital video is not merely a short-term performance tool. Short-form formats deliver superior efficiency, achieving a lower cost per 1% long-term lift than Linear TV. “That kills the old ‘TV builds brands, digital drives clicks’ narrative,” says Ingram.

One single ad exposure has lasting impact

The industry study found that a single brand exposure is projected to generate between 1% and 5% more sales in the long term over the next three years, compared to no exposure. Each exposure also has a short-term effect of between 2% and 15%. “That’s a powerful argument for quality over quantity. The brands bold enough to commit to that truth today will be the ones defining their categories tomorrow,” says Ingram.

Connected TV is now nearly as powerful as Linear TV

Connected TV platforms deliver a 3.21% long-term sales lift, compared with 4.43% for Linear TV. The gap is closing fast, and audience behaviour has fundamentally shifted.

Voluntary attention beats forced attention

Advertising on skippable formats that succeeds in holding attention can have a huge brand-building effect if attention is sustained. “While skippable formats have lower impact when viewed for one to two seconds, their impact surpasses non-skippable ones if people choose to keep watching. What this really means is: Earn the attention, don’t force it,” says Ingram.

More attention isn’t always better – 20 seconds is the sweet spot

More attention reaps greater brand-building effects. “However, after 20 seconds, the study shows that attention delivers little additional impact,” says Ingram, “This calls into question the assumption that more attention is always better.”

Ingram stresses that brands need to adapt quickly to catch up with their audiences, who have already moved. She uses the example of coverage for the upcoming Fifa World Cup in South Africa to highlight just how quickly things are shifting.

From 2010 to 2022, SuperSport held exclusive pay-TV rights to the Fifa World Cup, but for the 2026 championship, a streaming platform that didn’t even exist in South Africa 12 months ago now has also secured the right to broadcast. “SportyTV secured all 104 Fifa World Cup 2026 matches in South Africa – a deal that was confirmed on 13 April 2026,” says Ingram. “And on 8 January 2026, TikTok became Fifa’s first-ever Preferred Platform for the World Cup, meaning SA fans could be watching matches content on a short-form social app, not a decoder.”

With Bafana Bafana back in the World Cup for the first time since 2010 and the South African team playing one of the host nations, Mexico, in the opening game on 11 June, Ingram has a stark warning for brands: “Your audience will be watching on a screen you might not have planned for. And while no one is saying TV is dead – the facts are the facts.”

What do brands need to do? First, says Ingram, they need to urgently scrutinise their media plans to ensure they are keeping pace with the changes. “They also need to make sure that their agency has the tools and expertise at their disposal to adapt and evolve.” TDMC works with 100+ clients a month across diverse verticals orchestrating integrated customer experiences to South Africa’s increasingly sophisticated mobile first consumer base. It is one of just four Shopify Plus Partners across Africa and among the top three percent of Google Partners in sub-Saharan Africa. The agency has dedicated team members who have a deep understanding of their specialist platforms.

“At TDMC we pride ourselves on our agility and our ability to pivot and adapt as new data and industry insights come to the fore. This report points out that for brands striving for sustainable growth through video, the era of focusing on short-term results through cheap clicks and performance outcomes are over. It highlights that in this Algorithmic Era, the winners will be those who understand the necessity of balancing brand and performance investment so that the brand can thrive in both the short and long term,” says Ingram. “At TDMC, we have a firm understanding of this delicate balancing act, and the expertise to help brands build and deliver memorable messaging to their audiences exactly where they are consuming their media.”