In 2017, the ARF organized a conference, hosted at Google, to consider the predictive accuracy of different methods of business and political forecasting. Given that pre-election polls had been widely blamed for failing to predict the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election, half of the ARF program was devoted to a post-mortem assessment of the polling methodologies — comparing the canonical methods with newer methods based on social media monitoring, betting markets, momentum analysis and modeling of social indicators. One…

The ARF and Sequent Partners paired to present the Attribution & Analytics Accelerator©, a rigorous four-day forum focused exclusively on attribution, marketing mix models and the science of marketing performance measurement. The boldest and brightest minds took the stage to share the latest industry innovations – real case studies were supplemented with in-depth discussions led by moderators who knew what to ask. The Accelerator featured high-profile experts and marketers on the front lines who debated new solutions and addressed unmet…

Building successful brands require a deep understanding of why consumers behave the way they do and the associated media drivers. The Advertising Research Foundation and the IPA /EffWorks Global 2020 partnered to share our most relevant research, case studies and keynotes from Marketing Effectiveness leaders. Topics discussed: The science of influencing choice and what that means for brands The revelation about search: a holistic view and strategic level look Challenging the marketplace to think about brand building, not just activation…

Since the onset of COVID-19, viewing patterns have changed dramatically. The biggest shift, however, has been an accelerated trend towards streaming. Shelter at home policies and health concerns about gathering in large public places, such as movie theaters, are the driving forces. The ARF’s OTT virtual event was dedicated to exploring recent trends as well as identifying the drivers of viewing behavior and the business of OTT in the “new normal”: How have viewing patterns and preferences evolved? What strategies…

CX in the New Normal Consumer behavior has undergone profound changes in 2020. Thanks to supply chain disruptions, the availability of beloved brands has been inconsistent, forcing consumers to purchase other items. Is the importance and marketing investment in brand loyalty now under question? E-commerce, already a growing trend, accelerated at warp speed due to safety concerns, and older generations have been key adopters. What does this mean for long-term viability of retail brick and mortar stores? Diversity and inclusion…

AUDIENCExSCIENCE 2020 provided a multi-dimensional perspective on the industry’s challenges and opportunities, as well as the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on measurement and growth. All ARF members now have access to key takeaways, videos and presentation slides from AUDIENCExSCIENCE 2020. At your own pace, view timely and thought-provoking sessions from some of the biggest names and brightest minds across our sector about ad effectiveness, targeting, privacy and more. VIEW LATEST INFORMATION KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AUDIENCExSCIENCE keynote speakers are making an…

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted consumer behavior and created difficult questions for marketers, such as: Are long-held marketing beliefs about brand loyalty still relevant? How should consumer marketing strategies be rethought? What does the widespread shift to digital mean for brands/retailers? July 27-28, the ARF hosted an entirely virtual event, where notable marketers and researchers shared their thoughts on what consumer behaviors will persist in the “new normal” and how companies can prepare. Presenters discussed e-commerce shifts, brand loyalty and…

For decades, marketers have relied on marketing mix models (MMM) to understand the ROI of each component of marketing spend. But in a new twist, COVID-19 is disrupting MMM with changes that don’t fit any previous observed pattern. Can MMM provide guidance based on recent history about whether to put the brakes on advertising, how to reallocate the dollars available, and when to resume it? How do we consider changes in product availability and consumer demand? How do we react…

Has advertising gotten weaker over the past 15 years, focusing less on creative and more on performance-based ads? This Insights Studio hosted one of the industry’s brightest minds, Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer at System1 Group and author of the best-selling book Lemon (IPA, 2019). Wood presented a unique combination of neuroscience, cultural history and advertising research to describe a change in advertising style that has occurred over the last 15 years and link this to falling advertising effectiveness. Wood…

Leveraging Human Psychology to Build Brands and Sales Why do people buy some products and not others? How do media messages influence a shopper’s buying choices? What makes buyers tick and what makes them click? How can marketers effectively harmonize emotion and action? What are best practices for combining big data and small data to understand and predict customer behavior? We (humans) like to think of ourselves as rational animals. Over the past two decades, the notion that humans are…