Transforming the ever-increasing volumes of data into intelligent data is a challenge. The digital transformation has given rise to new approaches and algorithms in market research and data science has found its way into physics. New methods for evaluating data in real time are emerging - advertising efficiency research is becoming ever more comprehensive. Digital tools and technologies promise an efficient marcom mix, comprehensive tracking, real-time reports and all values combined on one dashboard.

Comprehensive Approach to Managing Online Campaigns

Alexander Horn, Research Consultant Media Insights at GfK Switzerland in Hergiswil, has been focusing on the topic of online campaign measurement for years. He spoke to Werbewoche about tracking methods, efficiency research tools and comprehensive reports.

Werbewoche: There is still a great deal of untapped potential in online advertising. Can the new tracking methods and efficiency research tools live up to this potential?
Alexander Horn: The measurement results have so far clearly shown that online advertising has significant potential for optimization. And this potential is, in fact, still greatly underestimated—both in terms of increasing reach and cost-efficiency. Clients who reallocate a portion of their current media mix to online marketing can reach a larger target audience more cost-effectively and efficiently. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a better distribution across the various media channels, generating maximum performance with minimal budget expenditure.

However, this also means that as many channels as possible should be taken into account.
The data can now be tracked across multiple devices (PC, smartphone, tablet), both in the browser and in the respective advertiser apps. In addition, we have a partnership with Facebook that, while it has been in place for some time, has now been further expanded. This is a clear indication that we are very active in this area and are also bringing additional partners on board to expand our comprehensive approach.

What is the current state of advertising effectiveness research in the digital sector in Switzerland?
We are currently devoting all our energy and time to consolidating the products in highest demand in order to develop a comprehensive product offering. This is currently one of our main priorities: a comprehensive approach to managing online campaigns. Essentially, this approach displays all relevant KPIs from the measured usage data and links them to stored structural data. The usage data includes, on the one hand, viewability measurement—that is, the visibility and duration of online advertising on the user’s active screen—and, on the other hand, the measurement of actual campaign contacts per person that occurred within the GfK cookie pool. This pool contains all structural data for over 21,000 individuals. This includes basic demographic information such as gender, age, region, household size, and employment status, as well as additional information relevant to planning, such as consumption data and media usage. For every contact with online advertising, we can identify the underlying demographic data. We bring these two elements—visibility measurement and contact and demographic data—together for our clients in a single dashboard. This provides, so to speak, a comprehensive overview at a glance, allowing users to immediately understand everything. This also makes it possible to compare multiple campaigns with one another.

And on top of that, you can also evaluate the campaign’s advertising impact. Our measurement technology makes it possible to identify which individuals were exposed to the campaign. These individuals are surveyed after the campaign period ends. This allows us to further determine how the campaign performed across various branding metrics. We use this classic test-and-control-group approach as an additional option to optimally combine the three impact parameters: target audience reach, optimal exposure and visibility, and creative evaluation.

The Link Institute, in collaboration with Adwebster, also takes this comprehensive approach, providing real-time sociodemographic data.
That’s right; apparently, a major innovation is being celebrated here. But we’ve actually had this product on the market for three years now. For us, it’s already a standard product that GfK has sold over 70 times. The key factor for the validity of the data is that the campaign is measured on both desktop PCs and mobile devices (smartphones and tablets)—something GfK has been able to do for quite some time. This distinction should always be taken into account when comparing offerings.

However, the announced real-time report includes one feature that sets it apart from your product: an intelligent integration of survey and behavioral data.
To analyze advertising effectiveness, it is essential to link measurement data with survey data, as the campaign’s impact cannot otherwise be analyzed at the level of actual contacts. The analysis of effectiveness is based on various contact classes. In our view, survey data is a useful but not truly relevant addition to a real-time report, since the measurement is already complete before the survey data is available. Instead, we place much greater emphasis on the integration of viewability reporting, which, starting in 2016, will be presented alongside contact and structural data within a single dashboard.

How does GfK measure viewability?
We work exclusively with Meetrics for viewability data—the only MRC-certified company in Europe. The American nonprofit organization Media Rating Council (MRC) has established a definition of when an ad format is officially considered viewable. Meetrics therefore measures the viewability of video and display ads in accordance with these standards.
Currently, a campaign’s viewability metrics are still reported based on GfK reports, but this will be integrated into GfK’s own dashboard in 2016. Although customers can book these measurements together, the figures are currently reported only in separate reports. With the new technical solution, all figures will then be visible at a glance.

Interview: Ursina Maurer

On November 16, the GfK Insights presentation on the topic of digital research at the Park Hyatt in Zurich. Among other things, the conference will focus on an all-encompassing controlling approach for online campaigns, which shows both the viewability of the formats used and the socio-demographic structure of the audience reached. Participation in the event is free of charge, the number of participants is limited.

 

Transforming ever-increasing volumes of data into intelligent insights is a challenge. The digital transformation has given rise to new approaches and algorithms in market research, and data science has made its way into the field of physics. Digital tools and technologies promise an efficient marketing communications mix, comprehensive tracking, real-time reporting, and all metrics combined on a single dashboard.

To name just a few:
The Link Institute, in collaboration with Adwebster, has launched a programmatic integration of market research data and is now collecting sociodemographic profile data in real time. This is made possible by integrating the data into Adwebster’s online booking system, «Programmatic Media System.» This allows the data to be cross-referenced in real time and advertising campaigns to be optimized based on the insights presented in the real-time report. «The future of market research lies in the intelligent linking of survey data with behavioral data,» says Stefan Oglesby, CEO of Link Institut.
GfK shares this view. The company has been offering real-time evaluation of programmatic real-time reports and target-audience-specific data for several years now, as Alexander Horn, Research Consultant for Media Insights at GfK, points out. Viewability is also set to become part of a comprehensive report. Although the two data pools have not yet been combined into a comprehensive report, Horn says a tool for this purpose is currently in development, with programming expected to be completed next year. The comprehensive tracking tool will then be launched in 2016.
Accelerom also relies on comprehensive tracking. After several years of development, the company unveiled a 360-degree touchpoint algorithm earlier this year that calculates the optimal multichannel marketing mix. Intelligent algorithms from the fields of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and metaheuristics calculate standardized metrics for millions of combinations and compare their effectiveness—for example, across different target audiences, product categories, or countries. Here, too, the analysis goes beyond simply measuring ad impressions and clicks; it tracks what the target audience does throughout the customer journey across all offline and online touchpoints—that is, owned, paid, and earned. The analysis can incorporate up to 100 marketing and sales initiatives.
Adello also takes a comprehensive approach, combining data analysis with algorithms from the field of elementary particle physics. Just recently, the company was recognized by the «Silicon Valley Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum» (SVIEF) for a proprietary technology that advances mobile advertising through data science. The Swiss mobile technology company focuses on increasing the efficiency of mobile ads by using machine learning to identify the right customers for the highest ROI. This results in a win-win situation: Users see fewer ads, and advertisers gain more customers while maintaining the same advertising budget.

Christoph Spengler, Managing Director of Accelerom:
«There are plenty of tools for operational online campaign management, and this is already a global market today. The tools are constantly improving, and the market dynamics are enormous. In my opinion, research and analytics in this area will be heavily influenced by the major players, such as Google. The problem with advertising effectiveness research, however, is that in the dynamic multichannel world, it represents only a small slice of the pie and is generally limited to paid media. Furthermore, even at the media type level, comparisons cannot be made. How much is an online contact worth compared to TV? It’s clear that a significant potential for success is being overlooked by advertisers. This is exactly where the 360° touchpoint concept comes in.»

Felix Bernet, Head of Online/Media at the Link Institute:
«The LINK Institute offers cookie tracking for advertising effectiveness research in the digital sector, linking measured ad impressions with representative survey data from the actively recruited, high-quality LINK Internet Panel. The current profile data of real people reflects the sociodemographic structure of the individuals actually reached. By conducting a follow-up survey of individuals who did and did not come into contact with the campaign, the impact of a campaign on the relevant KPIs can be determined.»

Rolf Schmitz, CEO of NET-Metrix:
«Research into advertising effectiveness in the digital sector is becoming increasingly important in Switzerland as well, since the goal is to invest every franc spent on advertising as effectively as possible—especially when compared to other media formats. For this reason, the three research organizations—WEMF, Mediapulse, and NET-Metrix—have jointly launched a project to measure the reach generated by a digital campaign and its target audience structure across desktop and mobile platforms as a key component of a campaign’s success. Tests are currently underway with the goal of having such a system widely established on the market by early 2017. Other areas of advertising effectiveness research, such as measuring brand awareness or acceptance, are not the focus at this time but could be a step toward further expansion.»

Sandor Laczko, Country Manager, Adello Switzerland:
«There is currently a clear need in the Swiss market for studies that examine the impact of digital advertising activities. At the level of individual campaigns, we have long been measuring all technical KPIs in real time—such as viewability, view time, interaction rates, and conversion rates—and can optimize based on them. However, to be able to compare these results with other media formats, additional metrics must be collected, such as (aided) brand awareness, message association, brand favorability, and purchase intent. This involves using survey methods that, in some cases, automatically aggregate data. It’s clear that the costs for this are particularly high in a small market. That’s why we’re also working on solutions in Switzerland through various organizations such as the IAB and NET-Metrix. In addition, we’re developing a proprietary, empirical research solution with a partner.»

Comprehensive Approach to Managing Online Campaigns

Advertising effectiveness research is becoming more comprehensive, presenting all data at a glance in real time and calculating the most effective marketing communications mix from the pool of touchpoints. Announcements of new tracking methods and effectiveness research tools are becoming more frequent. WerbeWoche spoke with Alexander Horn, Research Consultant for Media Insights at GfK, about the current state of advertising effectiveness research and the specific areas of focus.

Werbewoche: There is still a great deal of untapped potential in online advertising. Can the new tracking methods and efficiency research tools live up to this potential?
Alexander Horn: The measurement results have so far clearly shown that online advertising has significant potential for optimization. And this potential is, in fact, still greatly underestimated—both in terms of increasing reach and cost-efficiency. Clients who reallocate a portion of their current media mix to online marketing can reach a larger target audience more cost-effectively and efficiently. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a better distribution across the various media channels, generating maximum performance with minimal budget expenditure.

However, this also means that as many channels as possible should be taken into account.
The data can now be tracked across multiple devices (PC, smartphone, tablet), both in the browser and in the respective advertiser apps. In addition, we have a partnership with Facebook that, while it has been in place for some time, has now been further expanded. This is a clear indication that we are very active in this area and are also bringing additional partners on board to expand our comprehensive approach.

What is the current state of advertising effectiveness research in the digital sector in Switzerland?
We are currently devoting all our energy and time to consolidating the products in highest demand in order to develop a comprehensive product offering. This is currently one of our main priorities: a comprehensive approach to managing online campaigns. Essentially, this approach displays all relevant KPIs from the measured usage data and links them to stored structural data. The usage data includes, on the one hand, viewability measurement—that is, the visibility and duration of online advertising on the user’s active screen—and, on the other hand, the measurement of actual campaign contacts per person that occurred within the GfK cookie pool. This pool contains all structural data for over 21,000 individuals. This includes basic demographic information such as gender, age, region, household size, and employment status, as well as additional information relevant to planning, such as consumption data and media usage. For every contact with online advertising, we can identify the underlying demographic data. We bring these two elements—visibility measurement and contact and demographic data—together for our clients in a single dashboard. This provides, so to speak, a comprehensive overview at a glance, allowing users to immediately understand everything. This also makes it possible to compare multiple campaigns with one another.
And on top of that, you can also evaluate the campaign’s advertising impact. Our measurement technology makes it possible to identify which individuals were exposed to the campaign. These individuals are surveyed after the campaign period ends. This allows us to further determine how the campaign performed across various branding metrics. We use this classic test-and-control-group approach as an additional option to optimally combine the three impact parameters: target audience reach, optimal exposure and visibility, and creative evaluation.

The Link Institute, in collaboration with Adwebster, also takes this comprehensive approach, providing real-time sociodemographic data.
That’s right; apparently, a major innovation is being celebrated here. But we’ve actually had this product on the market for three years now. For us, it’s already a standard product that GfK has sold over 70 times. The key factor for the validity of the data is that the campaign is measured on both desktop PCs and mobile devices (smartphones and tablets)—something GfK has been able to do for quite some time. This distinction should always be taken into account when comparing offerings.

However, the announced real-time report includes one feature that sets it apart from your product: an intelligent integration of survey and behavioral data.
To analyze advertising effectiveness, it is essential to link measurement data with survey data, as the campaign’s impact cannot otherwise be analyzed at the level of actual contacts. The analysis of effectiveness is based on various contact classes. In our view, survey data is a useful but not truly relevant addition to a real-time report, since the measurement is already complete before the survey data is available. Instead, we place much greater emphasis on the integration of viewability reporting, which, starting in 2016, will be presented alongside contact and structural data within a single dashboard.

How does GfK measure viewability?
We work exclusively with Meetrics for viewability data—the only MRC-certified company in Europe. The American nonprofit organization Media Rating Council (MRC) has established a definition of when an ad format is officially considered viewable. Meetrics therefore measures the viewability of video and display ads in accordance with these standards.
Currently, a campaign’s viewability metrics are still reported based on GfK reports, but this will be integrated into GfK’s own dashboard in 2016. Although customers can book these measurements together, the figures are currently reported only in separate reports. With the new technical solution, all figures will then be visible at a glance.

Ursina mason