• Ad Effectiveness & ROI
• Article

Unpacking Ad Effectiveness: The Roles of Media, Creativity, Branding, Targeting and Premium vs. UGC Content

• ARF ORIGINAL RESEARCH

The ARF and MediaScience have conducted a comprehensive study to understand the relative contributions of media platforms, creative quality, brand recognition and targeting, as well as the impact of premium versus user-generated content (UGC) on overall advertising effectiveness. Using eye tracking, neurometric data and post-exposure surveys, the study examined ad effectiveness through consumer recall, recognition, brand favorability and purchase intent. Most prior research based on CPG sales concludes that creative is more dominant in the success of a campaign. This study, based on multiple categories and biometric and neuro measures concludes that media is just as important.

The study confirms key findings from prior research, such as the importance of media platforms (with podcasts and TV excelling in recall), high-quality creative improving sentiment, and targeted advertising enhancing engagement. It also supports the role of digital UGC in driving purchase intent due to its relatability. However, it challenges existing assumptions by showing no significant biometric differences between high- and standard-quality digital creative. Notably, UGC outperformed premium digital content in purchase intent and likeability, especially for unknown brands—a finding specific to mobile platforms where the comparison was conducted. These insights reflect shifting dynamics in ad effectiveness and the growing role of relatability and platform-specific optimization.

• Creative & Branded Content
• Article

How Offline Versus Online Promotional Media Affects Consumer Response

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

In the digital age, marketers are increasingly utilizing online sales promotions. However, this study hypothesized that offline (versus online) media more effectively induce consumer behavioral responses to sales promotion. Field and lab experiments supported this hypothesis, showing that sending print (versus online) coupons increased redemption behavior. This effect was mediated by cognitive engagement with the content and was more pronounced among consumers with low (versus high) brand attachment. These results were consistently replicated across different product categories.   This study provides behavior-based evidence supporting the effectiveness of offline media and highlights brand attachment as a new moderator of the effect. The findings caution against marketers’ overdependence on online sales promotion and suggest that offline promotional media can enhance consumers’ cognitive engagement with the content, leading to better behavioral outcomes.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

Marketing Analytics Accelerator: 2024

The Marketing Analytics Accelerator – the only event focused exclusively on attribution, marketing mix models and the science of marketing performance measurement – returned for its ninth year on November 13. The industry’s boldest and brightest minds joined us in NYC to share their latest innovations and case studies that will improve your business outcomes.

• Past Event Highlights
• Article

A Peek Behind the Curtain at Raising the Volume on Sonic Branding

• By Alexander Cammy, Creative Council Young Pros Officer

On November 7, the ARF Creative Council held an immersive event exploring the powerful role of sound in branding. At this event, the Council unveiled its thoroughly-researched white paper on sonic branding. Members of the Council provided a preview of the white paper. They covered what sonic branding is, how it has evolved, how it works at a neurological level, how leading brands have successfully used sound to build and reinforce brand memories, and how brands can get started on their sonic branding. Practitioners of sonic branding revealed how they go about creating sonic signatures and even played a possible sonic signature of the ARF. The event began with a quiz in which 10 audio clips were played and the audience was asked to identify the brand associated with each sound.

• Research & Data Quality
• Article

LOLA: Revolutionizing Content Experiments with LLM-Assisted Online Learning

In the rapidly evolving digital content landscape, media firms and news publishers require automated and efficient methods to enhance user engagement. This study introduces the LLM-Assisted Online Learning Algorithm (LOLA), a novel framework that integrates Large Language Models (LLMs) with adaptive experimentation to optimize content delivery. Leveraging a large-scale dataset from Upworthy, which includes 17,681 headline A/B tests, the study investigates three pure-LLM approaches and finds that prompt-based methods perform poorly, while embedding-based classification models and fine-tuned open-source LLMs achieve higher accuracy.

LOLA combines the best pure-LLM approach with the Upper Confidence Bound (UCB) algorithm to allocate traffic and maximize clicks adaptively. Numerical experiments on data from the website Upworthy show that LOLA outperforms the standard A/B test method, pure bandit algorithms and pure-LLM approaches, particularly in scenarios with limited experimental traffic. This scalable approach is applicable to content experiments across various settings where firms seek to optimize user engagement, including digital advertising and social media recommendations.

• Targets & Segments
• Article

Cause-Related Marketing Messages that are Customer-Centric have Greater Impact

• JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH

This study explores the effectiveness of cause-related marketing and how brands can enhance consumer trust by attributing their charitable actions to customers rather than the brand itself. The research shows that when brands share the credit for good deeds with their customers, it reduces perceptions of bragging and increases brand trust. This beneficial effect is particularly significant for brands with high integrity.

The findings are based on three studies involving American adults, which demonstrate that attributing donations to customers (versus the brand) reduces perceived bragging and increases donation intentions and brand trust. The study highlights the importance of brand integrity in moderating these effects.