The AdReaction: Video Creative in a Digital World report examined video use and creative response across screens and the impact for marketers based on responses from more than 13,500 consumers across 42 countries.

Total video viewing time in the UK among consumers with access to a TV, a smartphone and/or a tablet was found to be 212 minutes a day, compared with a global average of 204 minutes and a European average of 173 minutes. Globally half of this video viewing (102 minutes) is on TV, one-third is now conducted via mobile devices (45 minutes smartphone, 20 minutes tablet), and the remainder (37 minutes) is viewed on laptops or PCs.

In the UK, ** the report found that consumers have yet to reach equity between digital devices —such as a laptop, tablet and smartphone — and their big screen, with TV, including on-demand viewing, reaching 62% of total video exposure. Video viewing via smartphone was significantly down on the global average at just 15%. The strong performance of on-demand TV viewing also helped the big screen to retain its title.

The AdReaction Video report also found that UK consumers watch an average of 64 minutes of on-demand TV a day, the fifth highest figure globally, 28% higher than the global average, but 2% lower than the US.

Critically, consumer receptivity to digital video ads, both in the UK and globally, was much lower than for live TV ads. In real terms this was 19% favourability globally and 18% in the UK, and 29% favourability globally and 27% in the UK, respectively.

Millward Brown also found that even for on-demand TV platforms, consumers are more sceptical about advertising than they are on live TV. Only a fifth of UK respondents were favourable to ads during on-demand shows, although this is significantly higher than the European average of 14%.

That said, the AdReaction Video report also showed that consumers are most receptive to video ads targeted based on their interests (41% globally and 38% in the UK) or preferred brands (40% globally and 40% in the UK) and least receptive to ads based on their Web browsing history (25% globally and 21% in the UK). Sensitive application of targeting is likely to work best, Millward Brown concluded.

"It is now possible to reach consumers at scale through multiple video channels, but simply applying the same thinking to each will make consumers skip or switch off," said Amanda Phillips, head of marketing at Millward Brown UK. "Consumers expect content to be bespoke to the context in which they watch it and receptivity to ads that fail to take this into account is extremely low ... The learnings from AdReaction Video provide a clear roadmap that will help marketers build effective media plans and creative approaches that target the right people in the right context with the right content."