Revolutionizing Ad Impact Measurement Whitepaper … · · 2016-06-14Luth's ZQ tracking app...
Transcript of Revolutionizing Ad Impact Measurement Whitepaper … · · 2016-06-14Luth's ZQ tracking app...
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.