Strategically deploying ads for attention and alignment can increase ROI by up to 30 Percent
CHICAGO – As CPG companies look to eliminate waste in their advertising budgets, many are reluctant to sacrifice the efficiency afforded by programmatic ad buying, an algorithm that serves as a cheap cost per impression (CPM) means of reaching consumers. While it’s affordable, such an approach focuses solely on who views the ad and neglects to consider the likely mindset of the consumer at the time the ad is viewed. This may not be the most effective methodology. Marketers who instead mix in relevant context strategies can bolster sales lift and further increase return on investment (ROI) by up to 30 percent, according to a new IRI® marketing innovation report, “Cookies versus Context: How Contextually Relevant Advertising Drives Consumer Impact.”
“Cookies versus Context: How Contextually Relevant Advertising Drives Consumer Impact”
According to results from an IRI/The Advertising Research Foundation’s study, which included three major CPG brands across food and non-food categories and analyzed 20 breaks across individual campaigns, digital advertisements placed on websites with higher thematic alignment and high consumer attention result in higher ROI than less-aligned ad buys. Thanks to new innovations in automated advertising — including technology such as IRI Lift™, which allows real-time visibility into the digital media where context is boosting lift — advertisers are now increasingly able to emphasize attention and alignment strategies, to effectively increase ROI.
“For years, marketers have struggled to keep advertising costs down, and impact has all too often suffered,” said Bhanu Bhardwaj, senior vice president and principal of IRI Media Center of Excellence. “Technology has advanced to the point that marketers no longer need to trade efficiency for effectiveness. As context strategies increasingly move toward automation, the programmatic and contextual approaches are beginning to merge and ad buyers are able to reach target audiences with greater precision and at greatly reduced costs in the optimal context.”
“In an environment where we have an increasingly distracted consumer, we are seeing more and more evidence of the role that attention and receptivity can play in improving campaign ROI,” says Paul Donato, chief research officer for The Advertising Research Foundation. “This study plays an important role in advancing our understanding of that and especially the critical part that alignment plays in ad effectiveness.”
As detailed in the report, while content-relevant strategies are important, the fundamentals are still vital, and campaigns should be planned with the understanding that having the right target, message, timing/frequency and creative remain the foundational pillars of any successful digital advertising campaign. Adding context to these fundamental elements is the cherry topping to the mix.
About the Report
“Cookies versus Context: How Contextually Relevant Advertising Drives Consumer Impact” is a free report available from IRI. To download the report, visit: https://www.iriworldwide.com/en-US/Insights/Publications/Ad-Relevance.
Helpful Links:
IRI Lift press release: https://www.iriworldwide.com/en-US/Insights/news/IRI-Announces-Enhancements-to-IRI-Lift,-Launching-Lift-for-TV-Solution-to-Measure-the-Impact-of-Tele-en
IRI Point of View: “Personalized Targeting: Increase ROAS and Enhance Lift with Purchase-Based Targeting:” https://www.iriworldwide.com/en-US/Insights/Personalized-Targeting
About the IRI Partner Ecosystem:
IRI fundamentally believes that delivering differentiated growth for clients requires deep, highly integrated partnering with a variety of best-of-breed companies. As such, IRI works closely with a broad range of industry leaders across multiple industries and sectors to create innovative joint solutions, services and access to capabilities to help its clients more effectively collaborate and compete in their various markets and exceed their growth objectives. IRI is committed to its partnership philosophy and continues to actively enhance its open ecosystem of partners through alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliations. The IRI Partner Ecosystem includes such leading companies as 84.51°, Adobe, The Boston Consulting Group, comScore, Experian, GfK, Gigwalk, Ipsos, Mastercard Advisors, MaxPoint, Pinterest, Oracle, Research Now, Simulmedia, SPINS, Survey Sampling International, Univision, Viant and others.
About IRI:
IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events — a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation — is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com.
About The ARF
Founded more than 80 years ago, the ARF is dedicated to creating, curating, and sharing objective, industry-level advertising research to enable members to make a true impact on their advertising and build marketing leadership within their organizations. It has 400 members from leading brand advertisers, agencies, research firms, and media-tech companies. For more information, please visit www.thearf.org.
