Revolutionizing  Ad  Impact  Measurement  

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Single-Source Measurement of Digital Campaign Impact

                           

Becky  Wu,  Ph.D.,  Luth  Research  

 

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 Online ad measurement research has gone through a number of evolution milestones. We

have advanced far from the early stage of focusing on just click-throughs, and yet still

have many current barriers to overcome in order to achieve an accurate, holistic view of

the true ad impact.

This research employs single-source, non-cookie based computer tracking, together with

survey, to measure campaign ROI, which goes beyond branding metrics and provides

visibility into the impact on consumer behaviors. Linking advertising to quantifiable

effects on behaviors relevant to the advertiser has been a legacy vulnerability for many ad

measurement methodologies. The more common approaches have relied on self-reported

data, miniscule click-throughs or limited post exposure data tagged with the ads. Cookie-

based tracking, the existing currency in the ad measurement world, is now under critical

examination and called into question for its accuracy and value1. The missing puzzle

piece lies in the ability to track the same individuals’ over all digital activities over time,

offering a well-rounded assessment on behavioral changes immediately and long after the

exposure. This research bridges the gap by demonstrating both a viable methodology and

the resulting clarity the advertiser can now gain on ads.

Background

The technology client of this case study’s current practice in measuring ad campaign

effectiveness has been rooted in two separate sources of measurement: survey for brand

KPIs and digital data originated from ad serving platforms. Recognizing the limitations in

lacking the ability to have a true single-source view using the current methods, the client

was seeking a new approach combining behavioral and attitudinal measurements on the

same group of consumers that can inform the following business questions/objectives:

1. Determine the level of engagement consumers have with the target ad campaign

2. Evaluate the success of the call to actions for the target ad campaign

3. Determine ad effectiveness by ad type (banner vs. video), platform (e.g., specific websites)

4. Understand campaign impact on both attitudinal measures (e.g., perceptions, purchase intent) and

behavioral measures (e.g., purchase/interest oriented behaviors including search)  

                                                                                                               1 Brian Boland, 2014, AdAge, http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/cookies-cut-anymore-online-ad-measurement/292225/

 

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To address these business objectives, Luth Research leverages its ZQ Intelligence™

digital behavior measurement technology. It combines Luth Research’s online panel with

proprietary web and mobile tracking technologies to correlate consumer actions and

attitudes. At its very core, ZQ’s ad tracking technology consists of two components: 1)

the ability to identify ad tags that are generated for ad creatives when they are being

served, and 2) the ability to collect the user’s digital data across browsers, operating

systems, and devices. Because each ad creative must have a unique ad tag in ad serving,

detecting the ad tag is the surest way to accurately pinpoint if and where the ad is being

shown to the user across publishers and ad networks. This detection mechanism is not

effective without ZQ’s holistic digital behavior data collection. After a user has

downloaded the tracking technology, ZQ captures granular http/https requests and

responses from both PC and mobile devices. Specifically for mobile, ZQ enables unified

data collection across iOS and Android, and across mobile web and mobile app. The ad

tag identification is performed for the target ads within this digital data. More

importantly, ZQ makes it possible to directly correlate the individual respondent’s ad tag

exposure(s) with his/her other digital activities collected 24/7 and over time with user

permission. Hence, post-click/post-impression attribution is attainable and included as an

important metric for ad measurement.

Methodology

The research methodology consists of three key components:

1) Custom recruitment of a sample of client’s target audience for digital tracking in

parallel to the ad campaign.

A total of 718 consumer respondents were recruited and determined to have met the

criteria for target audience via a screener survey. The target criteria included intent to buy

a tablet or a 2-in-1 device in the next 12 months as well as being classified into three

consumer segments based on a segmentation algorithm. These respondents were asked to

install Luth Research's ZQ Intelligence™ tracking app onto their computers and agreed to

be tracked for 30 days during the ad campaign timeframe.

 

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The study starts with a clearly defined audience relevant to our client. Due to the bulk of

campaign coverage being delivered on PC based web (vs. mobile), it has been decided

that computer tracking is adequate in capturing ad exposure and subsequent behaviors.

The computer tracking is not limited to the web activities directly linked to the ads. It

collects all of the respondents' online activities regardless of whether or not they have

been exposed to the ads; it also covers online activities before, immediately after and

long after (weeks after) any incidence of ad exposure. This comprehensive tracking

provides the critical foundation for observing and comparing behaviors among the

exposed and unexposed respondents, and determining the correlation between ad

exposure and ensuing behaviors related to the outcome intended for the campaign.

2) Identifying ad exposure by detecting ad tags instead of using cookie tracking.

Ad exposure is identified by first obtaining a list of ad tags our client was using in ad

serving for the campaign, and then applying exact matching on the ad tags among the

digital data captured from the respondents' computers. In addition to all the html URLs,

Luth's ZQ tracking app collects http and https data. Every ad served on every website,

video and display ads alike, is captured in the http and https data. By matching against the

ad tags, ZQ was able to pinpoint where and when the ads showed up, how often a person

was exposed to the ads and what kind of ads a person was exposed to. Unlike cookie

tracking, ad tag tracking is not prone to inaccuracy or duplication errors. Every ad

exposure can be precisely linked back to a specific respondent.

3) A 15-minute online survey at the end of the tracking to measure brand metrics and

purchase funnel metrics.

The survey is a mechanism to evaluate awareness, consideration, intent to buy as well as

several branding related ROI metrics unique to the campaign performance. Because the

survey was administered to every respondent who was also being tracked, the survey

data, ad exposure and web activity data were integrated on a single-source basis.

The above three components are the cornerstones of the measurement technology that

makes it possible to leapfrog the traditional metrics and truly connect ad exposure to

brand and behavioral impact.

 

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Insights

The research results have translated into immediate business actions and implications for

our client’s marketing planning and strategies on several fronts:

1) Optimizing target segments

A key takeaway from the research centers around what consumer segment(s) will yield

the most ROI and can be influenced positively and significantly by our client’s marketing

efforts. The data reveals that SavvyAdopters, a segment who is highly savvy with

technology and typically the natural target, can be hard to sway and can take more effort

to overcome the challenge of differentiating our client from competitors. On the other

hand, additional segments who responded well to the campaign and were the "low-

hanging fruit" for better targeting have been identified. Our client’s marketing team has

made an emphasis to better understand these new targets, and create additional media

targeting strategies including micro-targeting tactics for them.

Table 1. ROI Metrics by Segment

  Savvy  Adopters     Trendy  Mobile     Mobile  Achievers    

Tablet     All   Exposed     Diff.   All   Exposed     Diff.   All   Exposed     Diff.  

Awareness     77%   79%   2%   58%   65%   7%   56%   64%   8%  

Consideration   68%   72%   4%   67%   54%   -­‐13%  

66%   65%   -­‐1%  

Purchase  Intent    

54%   55%   1%   43%   35%   -­‐8%   43%   46%   3%  

2) Media targeting

A direct benefit of having integrated digital behavioral and attitudinal profiles of the

target respondents is to be able to efficiently draw insights on where the consumers who

can be best influenced through ad campaigns are spending their time digitally and thus

target them accordingly. Our client’s marketing team has taken the digital profiling

insights at both the website category level and individual website level and built it into

the next media plan.

 

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Specifically, the low hanging fruit candidate audience is the Exposed but No Recall

Group. Increasing this group’s awareness and recall can convert more relevant

impressions and behaviors. Understanding their demo and digital profiles is naturally

important in optimizing the media plan. Exposed, No Recall are older, include more

Trendy Mobile with stronger mobile usage (see Chart 1). They are most likely to be

found on Beauty & Fitness, Health and Travel sites (see Table 2). These tactical insights

help our client elevate mobile marketing for better targeting for Trendy Mobile.

Chart 1. Demographic Profile of Key Segments

Table 2. Websites Where Exposed but No Recall Scores Higher

%  of  Visitors  to  Site  Categories     Exposed  but  No  Recall  

Exposed  and  Recall  

Beauty  &  Fitness     92%   83%  

Health     98%   82%  

Travel   91%   78%  

50%  

35%  

9%  

18%  

Exposed,  Recall   Exposed,  No  Recall   Exposed,  Recall   Exposed,  No  Recall  

Age  34  or  Younger %  of  Trendy  Mobile

 

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3) Revisiting the current campaign

The research has provided further validation on the current campaign having challenges

in differentiating our client and consumer engagement especially for 2-in-1 products and

for display ads. At the time of the submission of this abstract, new creative ideas are

being proposed and brainstormed.

In summary, our client has been able to not only put the research insights into use by

effectively implementing near-term tactics on media planning and revising creative, but

also develop a fresh way of thinking about the optimal consumer targets by truly

understanding how consumers respond to the campaign in digital behaviors and

attitudinal shifts.

Implications & Takeaways

There are a number of significant takeaways from the study. First, the overall campaign is

a success when evaluated in terms of not only brand metrics, but also impact on relevant

consumer behaviors. The ensuing organic consumer behaviors clearly indicate where the

campaign has the most effect and what are the contributing factors, both of which are

derived from the integration of behavior tracking and survey measurement. Second, the

campaign yields a rising tide effect lifting all boats. Digital tracking reveals that exposed

consumers equally likely engage with our client and competitors on retailer and brand

sites, and validates this challenge in differentiation. Third, the integrated survey and

digital insights uncover alternative consumer segments and their digital and attitudinal

profiles for effective targeting, connecting the dots from media selection to ROI

outcomes.

The success of the research has demonstrated the viability of employing a non-cookie

based, digital behavior tracking methodology together with a survey instrument in

campaign effect studies. Furthermore, the clear benefits offered by the approach open the

door to expecting true integration of behavioral (non self stated and non cookie based)

and attitudinal measurement for ad impact.