Cond Nast is on a mission to prove itssponsored postsare resonating, using the backingof neuroscience.

In an attempt to demonstratethe efficacy of its branded videos on YouTube and Facebook, the media conglomerate teamed with market research firm Neuro-Insight to measurethe impact of its posts on memory encoding and emotional intensity. Using a method called steady state topography that monitors brainwave activity, Cond Nast tracked how 200 consumers interacted with its sponsored fashion, finance, beauty and auto posts.

The findings showed high levels of resonance forCond Nast posts across both platforms specifically, its videos were 60 percent more effective at memory encoding than traditional YouTube pre-roll advertising and 17 percent more engaging than general Facebook content, including user-generated posts from friends.

Josh Stinchcomb, chief experiences officer at Cond Nast, said ultimatelythe study served to affirm and legitimize the companysexisting digital efforts, butwill also help inform ways for the company to evolve across its brands.

Increasingly our social feeds and our YouTube channels are becoming major distribution points for all content we create, editorial and otherwise, he said. So much of advertising impact is subconscious. We really wanted to delve into how people were responding to advertising within the brain and get a more nuanced and holistic read.

Part of Cond Nasts higher resonance rates can be attributed to targeted advertising techniques that have made it easier to tailor content to a particular type of consumer or reader. For example, its now easier than ever to tailor fashion-centric Cond Nast videos to consumers using YouTube to seek outstyle tutorials. According to a recent study by social advertising consultancyStrike Social, fashion has the second highest ad viewership rate on YouTube across industries after education content at 13.4 percent higher viewership than the industry average, at 31.9 percent versus 27.7 percent.

Fashion has done very well at producing video content, said Jason Nesbitt, vp of media and agency operations at Strike Social. They have engaging creative and often have content that includes a popular celebrity, model of a good looking person. That always does well as far as viewership.

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Stephanie Fried, evp of research, analytics and business development at Cond Nast, said the studyprovides an important look at thesubconscious proclivities of its readers that helpsemphasize the impact of the companysads.

Opinions are subjective and relative to peoples individual perceptions while neuroscience is more objective and consistent across subjects,Fried said. There are some things people dont want to say but neuroscience still picks those things up. Its like a lie detector on the brain.

Nesbitt added that the benefit ofsponsored content in the digital age isbrands and publishers like Cond Nast can receiveinstantaneous analysisthat allows themto test campaigns.

Its not like traditional media where you choose a TVor radio station that might index higher due to a particular demographic, where you might not get the results till later and its harder to measure, he said. The luxury is having this data in real time and having these insights from the sheer mass data that you get.

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Conde Nast uses neuroscience to prove its sponsor posts work - Digiday