Channel planning

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One Size [Does Not] Fit All Optimizing Audio Strategies for Success

What spot length works best? Audacy partnered with Veritonic to compare frequent radio listener responses to 15, 30 and 60-second ads across multiple categories such as auto, financial, retail and professional services to address this frequently asked question. Jenny Nelson (Audacy) and Korri Kolesa (Veritonic) presented the results of this study, which were measured by Veritonic’s audio score components such as attribute score, intent score and engagement score. This survey-based study of a panel of 2,400 radio listeners pointed to a variety of recommendations, such as initiating multiple 30-second ads instead of fewer 60-second ads, testing creative before launch and deploying a total audio strategy to reach omnichannel listeners.

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Concurrent Track Panel Discussion: Attention Measures

These presenters were all true believers in the value of attention.

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Attention Everywhere

The NBA tested an attention metric for digital media ad placements developed by Adelaide–called the AU–to increase tune-in to the NBA Finals and to improve its brand metrics. They leveraged the AUs of their CTV and digital placements to optimize a large campaign across CTV, digital, social, and OOH with over two billion video impressions. They also used the AUs, which they obtain in near real-time, to adjust those placements in-flight. They found that AUs lifted their KPIs and will incorporate them into their media mix models. Adelaide is also working with TVision to get AUs for linear television by daypart and genre. Their tune-in data was provided by SambaTV.

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Dentsu's Attention Economy Project: From Theory to Practice

Dentsu conducted multi-phase research on visual attention to advertising in the U.S. and U.K. across channels, platforms, formats and devices. For digital ads, they worked with Lumen, and for television ads, they worked with TVision. There were two components to the research–exploring how much attention consumers pay to advertising “in the wild” and exploring attention to ads in a structured design with forced exposure to pre-selected ads for varying amounts of time. They learned that, for example, uplift in outcomes was stronger for viewing of four seconds of a six-second ad than for four seconds of a 20-second ad. This research has provided Dentsu with an extensive data set on attention and an understanding of the drivers of attention that can be applied to future plans.

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NYCU: Advertisers' Top Issues for 2022

A survey of buyers and sellers reveals execs' concerns and priorities for this year. Cross-platform, integrated media issues this year will continue to drive the biggest changes, according to most of the media-selling and buying executives. That's according to a recent survey by media-buying and planning platform Mediaocean (conducted November 2021). Sixty percent, of the more than 250 media executives surveyed, say "improvements in integrated media/execution" will be the "most impactful." That's followed closely by 57% who believe "measurement improvement on non-cookie methods" will force the biggest shifts in the business. Further down the list at 31%, executives said improving "contextual targeting" will be key for change, while 28% cited better infrastructure of first-party data. From there we go to 28% artificial intelligence/machine learning, 45%, converging TV measurement/planning and 38%, improved emerging channels (immersive games, TikTok and virtual reality). The survey also found that most executives plan increases in their connected TV (CTV) advertising investment. At the same time, a majority express concern about CTV fraud and viewability.

Source: Friedman, W. (2021, January 6). Biggest 2022 Ad Issues: Integrated Media Planning/Buying, Measurement. MediaDailyNews, MediaPost.

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NYCU: Innovative Advertising Solutions

Two content providers are offering new, innovative ways to advertise on their platforms.

On another front, NBC announced two innovations: Pod Bounce Condenses the first ad break for viewers Highlight Ad A non-intrusive format during in-content moments that allows viewers direct engagement with brand messages

Source: Oscar, M. (2021, November 22). VIDEO, HocusFocus.

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NYCU: Measuring All Communication Channels

Marketing expert Brian Jacobs argues that we need to re-think marketing mix modeling (MMM) and focus on the need to measure all communication channels in a timely fashion – if possible. A quick scan of comments from today's media gurus turns up any number of clichés and platitudes around "business outcomes." It's as if the very notion that brands spend money to achieve something is a new concept invented by this generation.  The truth is that marketing mix modelling has been around for decades as a valuable input into decision-making. But the old MMM approach is creaking more than a bit in an age when the impact of commercial communication is often immediate, and when so many of the basic data building blocks are exclusively in the hands of the big platforms.  It's also not helpful that many conflate concepts like viewability and attention to give a false impression of effect, as Karen Nelson-Field's most recent column in Mediatel points out.  My Crater Lake and Company colleague David Beaton measures the business impact of all channels, including online. David uses a hub and spoke analogy to make the point that all models have to work with what they have; and that the data varies channel to channel.  Each channel used contributes to the whole. The model needs to take account of the fact that individual communication channels use multiple ways of measuring their particular contribution.  David's piece concludes that it's better to be 90% right and to deliver guidance in a timely fashion, than 100% right and tell everyone what they should have done, after they had done whatever they were going to do in the first place.  Organizationally, disaggregating into specialist units has led to us losing perspective, as anyone who has ever tried to plan a campaign using advertising, retail promotions, e-mail and PR will know. The fights internally for share of the budget, the irrational belief that advertising is by some divine right more appropriate than (say) an influencer campaign, instances like these can turn nasty.   We need to accept we're living in a world where we are expected to plan across all comms channels. All we need are the tools to help us do that using the evidence that we have.   The specialists' job is to make the most of the budget they're given to meet the objectives set. The planners need to think across all channels, without fear or favor. It's their job to make sense of it all; to act as integrators within a dis-integrating world.  Source: Jacobs, B. (2021, August 6). Measuring Everything That Communicates. The Cog Blog, Media Village Knowledge Exchange: Media Village.    

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NYCU: Paying for TV Ads with Stock?

Bloomberg reports on a new development in Europe: Broadcasters selling TV time in exchange for equity in start-up companies.   Bloomberg writes: For the better part of a decade, consumer-focused tech startups have followed a time-tested recipe for success: Pay Facebook Inc. and Google to get in front of exactly the right people, burnish your brand with aspirational Instagram posts, and leaven the mix with an occasional mail drop, newspaper or magazine campaign. Lately some ambitious newcomers have spiced up that formula with a medium often written off as far too 20th century—good ol’ broadcast TV—and they’re willing to hand over precious equity to use it. “There’s a limit to how seriously you’re going to take a business that you only see on Instagram,” says Ben Farren, founder of an online casual clothing company that has offered a stake in the company in exchange for as much as £2 million ($2.8 million) in advertising on ITV, the U.K.’s biggest commercial broadcaster. While some start-up owners question whether TV is the best way to reach their customers, others point to a positive experience: the broadcaster offered creative help and prime-time slots for its ads. The small start-up felt like a “special client.” Such deals can provide substantial benefits for broadcasters, says Vinay Solanki, who heads U.K.’s Channel 4 Ventures. “It’s beginning to be a proven model that solves a real problem, which is that there’s a lack of marketing capital for early-stage companies.” And the investments offer the possibility of close ties to the future stars of the tech world while increasing insights into ways TV can augment digital marketing. With many people now watching TV with their smartphone in hand, broadcast ads often deliver instant boosts to app downloads and website traffic, especially around major news and sporting events. Source: Blenford, A. and Levingston, I. (2021, June 22). Ad Spending: Startups Spurn Facebook (FB), Google (GOOGL) for TV Marketing. Bloomberg. (Note: Only subscribers of Bloomberg can read the full article) 

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NYCU: In Brief: Super Bowl Without Bud; Accurate Census Data; Inauguration Viewership

Super Bowl Without Bud P.S. – Sam Adams plans to spoof Bud’s Clydesdales in a Super Bowl commercial (but only in Boston and New York markets).   Source: Schultz, E.J. (2021, January 25). Budweiser to Skip Super Bowl for the First Time in 37 Years. AdAge.   

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Accurate Census Data  Many marketers rely on census data for accurate population data. So does the government --  and it’s required by the Constitution.  Undocumented immigrants will be counted in the nation decennial population count. Biden’s order overturns Trump’s attempt to exclude them from the 20202 Census.    Source: Janowski, E. (2021, January 25). Here's the full list of Biden's executive actions so far. NBC News.   

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Inauguration Viewership: Probably Close to a Tie   Live coverage of Joe Biden's inauguration as President of the United States on Jan. 20 totaled 33.67 million viewers across 17 TV networks. That’s an increase of 11.2% over the 30.37 million viewers who watched the last inauguration in 2017.   However, Nielsen noted that this year's estimates include both out-of-home and connected TV (CTV) audiences that were not factored in in 2017, and which likely boosted estimates by as much as 11%.    Source: Mandese, J. (2021, January 25). Official Nielsen Inauguration Estimates Show Biden's Up 11.2%, With A Caveat. MediaDailyNews: MediaPost.         

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NYCU: All About Incrementality & Attribution

From the Head of Strategic Analytics, Google Marketing: Regardless of your business or budget size, you need to understand the concept of incrementality and attribution. One of the business side effects of the pandemic is that it has shined a very bright light on marketing budgets. This is a good thing in any circumstance; your marketing should be earning its keep. And this scrutiny is particularly beneficial in times when companies might not be doing well financially. A focus on budgets means a focus on conversion. From there, it is a quick leap into an in-depth discussion on attribution and incrementality. And while those two often get lumped together, they’re not at all the same things.

• Attribution is simply the science (or, too often, the art) of distributing credit for conversions across your various marketing channels. When we do attribution modeling in tools like Adobe or Google Analytics, we are essentially saying that if there were four interactions with our owned, earned and paid media channels, before a last-click conversion from paid search, then the credit for that conversion should be distributed to all the interactions.

• The question Incrementality asks is, “How many of those conversions would have happened anyway, without any advertising spend?”

Incrementality is incredibly hard and complex to measure. Just think of all the data you need to collect to figure out the answer. Also, when senior leaders ask the incrementality question, they often mean something different.  But it is important to understand these concepts regardless of your business or budget size. Therefore, to help you get a better handle on it, let me share the three types of marketing incrementality and how each type can be used. (Note – you can read detailed descriptions of the three types by using the link at the end of the article).

1. Channel-silo incrementality
2. Cross-stack incrementality
3. Marketing-portfolio incrementality

Marketers running large campaigns across multiple channels often use marketing mix modeling (MMM). When done right, it’s good for evaluating media performance and optimizing budgets across media types for long-term budgeting decisions.  But I have my own issues with MMM. This is the approach I prefer:

• Use multiple machine learning–based algorithms to first understand the underlying relationships inside the data, and thereby removing human bias.
• Construct an influence graph across the entire portfolio, removing silo analysis.
• Understand conditional dependencies across all random variables to identify coefficients and do so over smaller datasets.

This MMM method is very scalable, smart and allows you to do both backward-looking analysis (how did we do) and forward-looking predictions (how much should we spend based on diminishing return curves). Source: Kaushik, A. (2021, January). Your measurement resolution for 2021: Get a grip on incrementality. ThinkWithGoogle.  

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