AdIndexTM Methodology
Prepared by Dynamic Logic
Dynamic Logic AdIndex Methodology
December, 2000 Page 2 of 2
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3
II. Methodology .................................................................................................................. 3
Chart: AdIndex Methodology.................................................................................... 3
Tracking Technology...................................................................................................... 4
Survey Development....................................................................................................... 4
Recruitment Process........................................................................................................ 4
III. Analysis........................................................................................................................ 5
Table: AdIndex Impact Calculation............................................................................ 5
Graph: Impact of Frequency on Awareness and Click-Through ................................ 6
IV. Similar Off-line Measures ........................................................................................... 6
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AdIndexTM Methodology
I. Introduction
AdIndexTM is a patent-pending research application designed to measure the branding
value of online advertising campaigns. The product was developed in recognition that
click-through rates (CTR) are not the most appropriate metric by which to measure online
advertising effectiveness. This document is designed to provide a detailed overview of
the methodology used to measure advertising effectiveness beyond the click.
II. Methodology
Dynamic Logic measures consumer perceptions and attitudes toward an advertiser's
brand by capturing consumer opinions through an online survey. AdIndex gathers this
data while the online campaign is running. To isolate the impact of advertising exposure
on consumer attitudes (i.e. purchase intent, message recall, etc.), two groups of online
consumers are sampled at the same time and from the same Web sites on which the
campaign is running. As the only difference between the groups is the presence of the
advertising, any attitudinal differences between the two groups can be attributed to the
exposure to the specific online ad campaign.
Chart: AdIndex Methodology
Sampling for AdIndex is bifurcated, in that respondents are grouped into control and
exposed cells for analysis. The control/exposed methodology is dependent on (1) reliable
tracking technology to recognize a consumer’s ad exposure level, (2) an online
questionnaire development tool, and (3) a sound recruitment process to ensure a
statistically valid comparison between exposed and control groups.
The control/exposed methodology used by AdIndex varies significantly from the pre/post
methodology often used in advertising research. In the latter, two groups of consumers
are surveyed at two different points in time - typically before the campaign starts and
again after it is completed. If an advertiser rolls out an integrated marketing campaign
with media running across multiple channels, any differences in attitudes cannot be
2 categories of ads
Campaign ads
Control ads
Client Campaign
Every nth exposure
sampled
Every nth exposure
sampled
AdIndex
Statistically Survey
similar
samples
recruited from
the same sites
over the same
period of time
Recognizes
exposure
levels
including
frequency
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accurately attributed to one particular channel. The control/exposed system takes a
snapshot at one point in time, and enables AdIndex to isolate the independent
contribution of the online campaign on the consumer.
Tracking Technology
AdIndex uses a proprietary technology named AdScout™ to track exposure to online
advertising. When survey respondents enter an AdIndex survey, the system recognizes
whether or not they have seen any ads in a given campaign. In addition, the system
identifies the version of creative, frequency of exposure and time elapsed since last
exposure; the later two defined as frequency and recency.
The tracking technology does not require a specific third party ad server, nor does it rely
on the expensive and time-consuming practice of querying third party ad serving
databases.
Survey Development
The standard AdIndex survey system measures the following branding metrics:
- Brand Awareness
- Purchase Intent
- Brand Favorability
- Message Association
- Advertising Recall
Questions are created through an automated system that enables an online survey to be
developed quickly. While the survey is standardized, clients can customize questions that
are intended to drive segmentation of the results. These customized questions include
two category usage questions and one qualitative open-ended question.
All questions are asked in a "blind" manner where the advertiser is presented in a list
along with several competitors. This prevents the respondent from discerning who the
client is, which may bias the survey results. As mentioned previously, the survey asks all
branding questions in a standardized manner to enable cross campaign comparison and
comparison to a normative database.
Recruitment Process
Both samples of respondents are recruited via an online survey invitation; typically a
pop-up window or banner. For those in the exposed group, the pop-up is tied to the ads
in the campaign and launched for every nth visitor leaving the page where the ad is
served. Additional impressions are required to recruit the control group. Dummy
banners, usually Dynamic Logic banners, running in the same targeting footprint as the
actual campaign, launch pop-up invitations in a similar manner.
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Since both the control and exposed groups are recruited in the same fashion, at the same
point in time, and from the same sites, it statistically can be and is assumed, that they
have the same likelihood of exposure to alternate channel marketing efforts, such as
television, print, and radio. Known as the assumption of initial equivalence, the AdIndex
methodology controls for all other influences outside of the online advertising campaign
and therefore allows any differences in attitudes between the two groups to be attributed
specifically to the online advertising campaign in question.
In order to increase participation in the survey, the pop-up advertises an incentive to take
the survey; the most common is 1 in 100 respondents will win $100. Both the exposed
and control groups are offered the same incentive.
III. Analysis
Survey data is immediately loaded in an Oracle database after the respondent submits his
or her responses. The results are accessible through a password-protected online
interface. The client is able to filter the data by numerous criteria to assess how different
segments were affected by the advertising.
Table: AdIndex Impact Calculation
Banner Impact calculation is a measure of lift between exposed and control:
Impact % = (Exposed % - Control %) / Control %
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The comparison metrics are quantified by comparing the relative difference between the
branding levels of the control and exposed groups. The branding levels (for example, the
percent of exposed people who are aware of the brand) are tested to determine if the
difference between the two groups is statistically significant at a minimum level of 90%.
A one-tailed t-test is used to determine if the exposed group level is significantly higher
than that of the control group.
Graph: Impact of Frequency on Awareness and Click-Through
IV. Similar Off-line Measures
The primary difference between advertising research conducted via Dynamic Logic’s
AdIndex methodology and offline methods of research lies in actually knowing that
someone has been exposed to an advertisement.
Offline measures of advertising effectiveness often rely on recall. The “day after recall
measure,” closely associated with Burke Marketing Research, attempts to measure
exposure in a natural, realistic, in-home setting; also a goal of AdIndex. Advertisers,
looking to better understand the value of their television advertising, sample program
viewers the day after a television commercial airs to see if they can recall any
commercials seen the previous day for a particular brand. They are then asked if they can
recall anything about the commercial; what was said, what was shown, and what the main
idea was. The “day after recall measure” is the percent of those in the commercial
audience who were watching the show before and after the commercial was shown, who
remembered something specific about it such as the sales message, the story line, the
plot, or some visual or audio element.
50%
60%
70%
1 2 3 4 5
Frequency of Exposure
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
Brand Awareness
Click Through
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While this methodology is well established and has developed extensive norms over the
years, some critics cite that memory is unreliable. Often, people will claim that they have
not seen a commercial when they actually have. Conversely, some may think they saw a
commercial when they actually have not. A major advantage of AdIndex is that
researchers know who saw an ad as well as how many times they saw it due to the
AdScout tracking technology. |
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