Tapjoy’s In-Game Ads Crush Mobile Industry Norms for Branding Metrics, comScore Finds

Aggregated results from 14 campaigns show significant increase for all upper- and lower-funnel metrics, including nearly 7x increase in awareness lift and 4x in message association lift over mobile norms

SAN FRANCISCO – Tapjoy, the mobile industry’s leading platform for advertising in mobile games, released the findings of an extensive study conducted with leading measurement company comScore in which Tapjoy’s mobile advertising products were found to be significantly more effective for driving lift in key brand metrics compared to mobile norms. The two-year study examined 14 campaigns from major global brands including Olive Garden, Dodge, LEGO, Sephora, Norwegian Cruse Line, am/pm, Citi, Huggies and more. The study found that exposure to Tapjoy’s opt-in, rewarded ad experiences in mobile games positively impacted both upper- and lower-funnel advertising objectives, including driving a 17 point lift in aided awareness and 23 point lift in mobile ad recall over the control groups.

Tapjoy’s opt-in, rewarded video ads, which are natively integrated into mobile games, were found to be particularly effective for impacting upper-level objectives including brand awareness, ad recall and message association. The study found that Tapjoy video ads outperformed mobile norms for aided awareness, mobile ad recall and message association by 7.6x, 2x and 5.3x, respectively. Tapjoy’s rich media ad experiences proved exceptionally strong for positively impacting lower-funnel objectives, showing a lift over mobile norms for brand favorability, likelihood to recommend, and purchase/consideration intent by 3.3x, 1.4x and 2.3x, respectively.

“These findings provide a clear indication of what many of us in the industry already know — that by integrating rewarded ad experiences into the mobile games that consumers love, brands are able to achieve a significant lift in nearly all important branding metrics,” said Julie Howell, Mobile Director – Carat. “These types of ads are so powerful because they put consumers in control, allowing them to choose which ads to engage with, at which time, in what way, and as a result they help forge a much deeper connection between brands and consumers than brands are able to establish through any other types of ads.”

The Tapjoy platform enables advertisers to integrate their campaigns into contextually relevant in-app moments when consumers are most receptive to engaging with their ads. The Tapjoy model, which allows consumers to earn in-app rewards such as premium content and virtual currency in exchange for engaging with targeted advertisements, not only drives performance for mobile advertisers but was shown in a previous study by Forrester Consulting to increase brand sentiment: the percentage of consumers who feel positive toward a brand almost doubles when the brand provides content for the app, sponsors the app, or unlocks experiences within it.

“The mobile ad market is growing quickly, but many advertisers are still trying to find the right formula to meet their branding and overall advertising goals,” said Steven Millman, SVP, Research at comScore. “This study with Tapjoy shows that mobile ads, when integrated into mobile games at contextually relevant moments with the right rewards, can deliver strong branding results that help advertisers meet or exceed their objectives. As more brands prove out the efficacy of their mobile ads campaigns, we should see this segment of the digital ad market realize its full potential.”

To view the complete report, please email [email protected].

Methodology

Tapjoy and comScore analyzed mobile ad campaigns conducted from 2014 – 2015 by 14 major brands. In order to measure the impact of exposure to the mobile ads, a test-control methodology was used for all 14 studies. Exposed respondents were recruited after they viewed the mobile ad in order to receive in-game rewards. Control respondents were recruited via the Tapjoy Marketplace; they also completed the survey to earn in-game rewards but were not exposed to the ad.

A total of 15,876 consumers who were not exposed to the ads completed the survey, while 8,454 consumers exposed to the ads completed them. To ensure that the control group was demographically similar to those exposed to the campaigns, the control group within each study was balanced to match the exposed group on age, gender and, in some cases, category usage. Each study was also weighted to have an equal effect on the overall results. The analysis was conducted at a 95% confidence level to measure significant lifts over the control group.

About Tapjoy

Tapjoy’s mission is to help advertisers engage with mobile consumers through an in-app mobile value exchange. The company’s rewarded advertising platform for mobile apps uses market leading data science and predictive analytics to drive deeper engagement and more targeted advertising with each and every user. Tapjoy’s SDK has been embedded in more than 270,000 apps globally and its global reach is currently more than 520MM monthly active users (December, 2014). Tapjoy is backed by top-tier investors, including J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rho Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, InterWest Partners and D.E. Shaw Ventures. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Atlanta, Boston, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tapjoy.com.