Attribution

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Navigating Identity Loss: Measurement and Targeting in a Privacy-First Era

• ARF
• ARF Analytics Council

How is the loss of digital identifiers reshaping advertising research? This guide, by the ARF Analytics Council, offers advertising researchers a deep dive into the privacy-first landscape, covering regulatory impacts, measurement challenges and practical identity solutions—from synthetic IDs to advanced modeling—to enable successful targeting and attribution in a fragmented ecosystem.

• Audience & Media Measurement
• Article

Revisit Erwin Ephron's Enduring Lessons for Media and Marketing in this eBook

• ARF

This eBook tribute to Erwin Ephron, compiled by the ARF, revives over 150 of his iconic newsletters—each reinterpreted through a modern lens using AI. Known as the “father of recency theory,” Erwin championed simple truths in media and advertising, transforming industry paradigms. His timeless observations, from reach versus frequency to engagement confusion, remain strikingly relevant in today’s digital, data-heavy marketing landscape.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

The ARF Metrics Survey: Insights into Advertising Strategies

• ARF
• ARF

The ARF Metrics Survey explores critical trends in advertising strategies, including budget allocation, metric usage and targeting solutions. Drawing on insights from agencies and brand-side advertisers, the findings reflect shared priorities, notable differences and challenges in evaluating and optimizing campaign performance. The study highlights the dominance of digital channels, with high-priority channels such as digital video, social media, SEM and television receiving significant budget allocations.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

How Ratio Framing Shapes Marketing Decisions

• MSI

Marketers often use ratios like ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) and ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales) to communicate campaign efficiency. Researchers in this study find that the way in which these ratios are framed can dramatically influence stakeholder perceptions and decisions. Published in a working paper of the Marketing Science Institute (MSI), the study reveals that even mathematically equivalent ratios can shape contrasting judgments about marketing effectiveness, investment continuation and strategy preferences. This research underscores the psychological power of presentation and calls for smarter framing in marketing metrics.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

An Introduction to Robyn’s Open-Source Approach to Media Mix Modeling

• MSI

As privacy-centric changes reshape the digital advertising landscape, deterministic attribution and measurement of advertising-related user behavior are increasingly constrained. In response, there has been a resurgence in the use of traditional probabilistic measurement techniques, such as media and marketing mix modeling (m/MMM), particularly among digital-first advertisers. To address the gap for small and midsize businesses, marketing data scientists at Meta have developed the open-source computational package Robyn, designed to facilitate the adoption of m/MMM for digital advertising measurement.

Robyn is a widely adopted and actively maintained open-source tool that continually evolves. This article explores the computational components and design choices that underpin Robyn, emphasizing how it “packages up” m/MMM to promote organizational acceptance and mitigate common biases. The solutions described are not definitive but outline the pathways that the Robyn community has embarked on.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Improve Marketing Mix Model (MMM) Accuracy by Identifying these Effects

• MSI

This study explores the identification of nonlinear and time-varying effects in marketing mix models (MMM). It highlights the challenges of conflation in model selection and proposes a framework for simulating and estimating these effects using Gaussian processes. The study emphasizes the importance of accurately identifying the underlying response to optimize marketing spending.

The research provides insights into the complexities of marketing effectiveness and offers practical solutions for improving model accuracy. By addressing the issue of conflation, the study aims to enhance the decision-making process in marketing strategies.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Established Activist Brands Have a Competitive Edge

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

Does brand activism—taking a stand on a sociopolitical issue—influence attitudes and purchase intentions, and if so, how? These questions are addressed in new research that identifies a credibility gap between brands that have an established reputation as activists, such as Nike and Ben & Jerry’s, and those that do not. With few exceptions, established activist brands have a lot more to gain than their emergent activist peers when taking a stand.

• Analytics & Data Science
• Article

Data Pooling could Reinvigorate Online Display Ads

• MSI

Buying online display ads in bulk through online exchanges makes it difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of such ads, a situation that’s less than ideal. This is especially true for new websites. One proposed solution is to pool data across advertisers and publishers. Doing so while running matching simulations can substantially improve the welfare of such ads for advertisers, publishers and networks, too.

• Analytics & Data Science
• Article

What are the Drivers Behind Metric Use in a Global Setting?

• MSI

Marketers are under increasing pressure to be accountable for their actions. Using metrics is a big part of how they justify their decisions across the organization. Increasingly, firms are becoming global entities. Yet, there is little to no research looking into what drives metric use across countries. Researchers in this study analyzed over 4,000 marketing mix decisions in 16 countries. Their report offers important insights for top executives who want to understand what is driving downstream managerial metric use.

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

Brands Should Do More to Protect Their Image Online, Study Shows

• Journal of Advertising Research

Brand safety is a hot topic in programmatic advertising, which is lauded for its efficient distribution but comes with big risks—particularly the unfiltered placement of digital ads next to negative content. New research offers empirical evidence of such risks, including damage to consumers’ perceptions, and calls for brands to do more to protect themselves.