Charles Kennedy, ARF West Member Engagement Officer, asked: Do we really need to know how advertising works? Don’t we already know how? But this is a period of disruption and advertising today is complex. There is a gap in measuring creative and a need for better, faster, more scalable solutions. There are also gaps in measuring marketing performance and a need for ground truths.
Horst Stipp, EVP of Research & Innovation: Global & Ad Effectiveness at The ARF, noted that we are going through tremendous changes –in technology, in shopping choices, and in society. One constant through the years is that good advertising makes an emotional connection with the consumer that creates good memories and leads to action.
The ARF’s Neuro study found that neuromarketing methods provide better, more detailed data on emotional reactions. If you add these to your traditional methodologies, you are more likely to end up with more sales from better advertising and better creative. The increased adoption of these methods are because: 1) Bio/neuro applications go beyond yes and no. They give detailed information on how to improve creative on the image, language, humor, music, and branding moments. 2) The methods give more insight on the emotional impact that drives attention and creates positive memories which lead to purchases. 3) Neuro/biometric methods are getting faster and more affordable.
Jasper Snyder, EVP of Research & Innovation: Cross-Platform & Media at The ARF noted that the increased complexity is creating costly measurement gaps. An ARF member survey suggests a gap between important channels and those that are measured well. The Measurement Mandate was declared to respond to the C-suite ask.
In February the ARF convened industry leaders and defined six ground truth experiments to deliver growth to the C-suite, including:
- Experiment A: Brand building vs. promotion
- Experiment B: _____Scan 2.0. Goal: To test and isolate the impact of investment across channels
- Experiment C: Interaction Effects of Cross-Platform Advertising
- Experiment D: Harmonizing Mobile Measurement
Breakout sessions for each of these experiments were held after the recap, and Jasper invited everyone to join the groups.
For more information on How Advertising Works, please visit: http://www.thearf.org/how-advertising-works/
ARF members can access the full deck by contacting knowledgecenter@thearf.org .
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