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Five ways to use syndicated research to measure advertising effectiveness Experian Simmons DataStreamSM

An Experian Simmons white paper

Executive summaryAdvertising effectiveness measurement is a top priority for marketers, but measurementprograms have left much to be desired — until now. With the introduction of Experian SimmonsDataStreamSM, the industry’s first syndicated research service for measuring advertisingeffectiveness, marketers now have the ability to track their advertising campaigns on a weeklybasis. This white paper provides five examples of how Experian Simmons DataStream can beused to measure advertising effectiveness by monitoring shifts in consumer behavior, attitudes,opinions, and brand usage.

Five ways to use syndicated research to measure advertising effectiveness

Page 1 | Five ways to use syndicated research to measure advertising effectiveness

Rapid shifts in media and advertising consumption challenge marketersToday, media, marketing and advertising professionals are forced to operate in an extremelychallenging environment. Media and advertising consumption is constantly being transformed bynew technology. For example, consumers are now less faithful to one medium, switching freelybetween old and new formats, due in part to developments like the transferability of video acrossmultiple screens. In addition, new developments and rapid changes in consumer opinions,attitudes and behavior — heightened by the still hostile economic environment — make it difficultfor marketers to keep pace with their increasingly fragmented target audience.

Improving advertising effectiveness measurement is a market imperative The above-mentioned challenges have created an increased need for accurate, timely andrelevant consumer insights and advertising measurement data. Marketers must demonstrate thatmoney spent on marketing efforts drives measurable results.

According to Forrester Research, two of marketers’ top challenges are:• Measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of their media strategy. Media strategy effectivenessand efficiency measurement is top-of-mind for 86 percent of marketing leaders.

• Justifying their media budget decisions to management. Forty-six percent of marketing leaders listmedia budget justification as the third most important media planning challenge. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1: Marketing leaders rate media measurement and accountability as top challenges

Source: September 2009 Global Marketing Leadership Online Survey, Forrester Research, Inc.The Future Of Media Measurement, Forrester Research, Inc., January 2010

0 20 40 60 80 100

Measuring the effectiveness of mymedia strategy and its efficiency

Coordinating the traditional and the new mediaagencies I work with

Justifying my media budget decisionsto management

Choosing the right media agency

Television commercial clutter

The increasing cost of television

Television commercial skipping

I'm satisfied with my media strategy

“Please select the five main media planning challenges you've faced in 2009 among the categories below.”

Base: 79 marketing leaders (multiple responses accepted)

Measurement issues

An Experian white paper | Page 2


Current measurement programs come up shortThe measurement programs that marketers have been using to measure advertisingeffectiveness and to glean consumer insights have offered only a partial solution to marketersbecause:

• Advertising measurement custom studies are costly and limited. Marketers have resorted to custom studies in an attempt to gauge the effectiveness of their advertising and promotionalcampaigns. Such custom studies can cost up to six figures, and they are limited in time andscope. For example, these studies do not always offer access to competitive intelligence or theability to trend consumer data.

• Point-of-sale (POS) data lacks purchase motivators or media consumption variables.Syndicated services that offer POS data do not offer insight into other variables, such asconsumer purchase motivations, attitudes, behavior, and opinions on media consumption.

Five ways to measure advertising effectiveness with syndicated research: ExperianSimmons DataStreamExperian Simmons DataStream is the industry’s first syndicated service that enables advertisers,agencies and media companies to measure advertising effectiveness by linking consumerbehavior to advertising campaigns, promotions and media exposure.

This service provides weekly tracking of nearly 40,000 consumer variables, such as mediaproperties, consumer attitudes and brand preferences, from the Simmons National ConsumerStudy (NCS). It also allows users to plot trends on which they can overlay the timing ofadvertising and promotional campaigns. These breakthrough tracking capabilities help marketersunderstand advertising effectiveness by demonstrating the impact of their advertising activitiesin quantifiable terms. Below are five ways that advertisers, agencies and media companies canleverage Experian Simmons DataStream to make more informed business decisions and createhigh-impact media strategies.



1. Demonstrate campaign impactIn 2009, Gatorade ran the “G Campaign” prior to and during the Super Bowl. As a result of thismedia campaign centered on a particular event, the percentage of Gatorade drinkers increasedby 15 percent for those who watched the Super Bowl. This is 5 percentage points higher than thepercentage increase in Gatorade drinkers who did not watch the Super Bowl. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2: 15 percent more Super Bowl viewers drink Gatorade after the “G Campaign”

2. Examine customer retention gained from advertisingIn December 2008, McDonald’s introduced McCafés in approximately 7,000 locations. At thattime, on average 17.1 percent of McDonald’s customers also visited Starbucks. Once theMcCafé campaign began in May 2009, the average number of McDonald’s customers who alsovisited Starbucks decreased by 2 percentage points, showing the immediate positive effect ofthe advertising campaign. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3: The McCafé campaign helps McDonald’s retain customers



3. Determine promotional effectiveness for customer acquisitionBefore the beginning of the NASCAR season in February 2009, the number of NASCAR fanswho visited Ask.com had decreased to an average of 4.4 percent. Once the NASCAR seasonbegan, featuring Ask.com as a sponsor, the number of NASCAR fans who visited Ask.comincreased to an average of 5.7 percent. (See Figure 4.)

Figure 4: 5.7 percent more NASCAR fans use Ask.com after Ask.com’s NASCAR season sponsorship

4. Determine the value of a media’s audience based on an advertiser’s target consumerEnvironmentally conscious consumers are an important segment for advertisers given theirpropensity to spend more on products and services that align with their attitudes. A mediacompany demonstrated its ability to reach this audience by showing that the percentage ofconsumers willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products is increasing among theirnetwork audience (Network 1) while it is decreasing among a key competitor’s audience(Network 2). (See Figure 5.)

Figure 5: The percentage of “Green Wallet” consumers increases by 30 percent among a network’s audience



5. Detect changes in consumer perception due to advertisingMercedes-Benz and Volkswagen ran advertising campaigns on a certain television networkbetween April and July 2009. During that time, the network’s percentage of car shoppingviewers with positive attitudes toward foreign cars increased by over 50 percent. (See Figure 6.)

Figure 6: The Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen campaigns have a positive influence on attitudestoward foreign cars

For the first time, a syndicated service measures advertising effectiveness In the past, marketers and their agency and media partners had to rely on advertisingmeasurement programs that lacked the depth and breadth of data for comprehensive analysis ofadvertising effectiveness. For the first time, through Experian Simmons DataStream, a weeklysyndicated service measures and evaluates advertising effectiveness by monitoring shiftingconsumer behavior, attitudes and opinions and tracking brand performance.



Supplemental material

Methodology The data source for the Experian Simmons DataStream syndicated service is the stream ofconsumer, media and lifestyle data that comes in on a daily basis for eventual incorporation intothe Simmons National Consumer Study (NCS). It has the same rigorous sample design, and itcontains most of the adult personal variables that are available in the NCS. Variables that are notavailable include statistically constructed psychographic scales or average issue audienceestimates.

The data is plotted on a trend line that allows users to view changes in consumer behavior andother variables along time. Stringent execution of sample management procedures and year-round data collection yield weekly samples that can be considered statistically equivalent and, assuch, comparable across time periods. The most recent data is available in the Experian SimmonsDataStream six calendar weeks from the time the question is fielded until the first one-weekestimate is complete.

About Experian SimmonsExperian® SimmonsSM is a research service offered by Experian Marketing Services. The SimmonsNational Consumer Study has been chronicling the American consumer for more than 50 years.From the products that all Americans buy and the brands they prefer to their Internet shoppingbehaviors, attitudes and lifestyles and the media that they use, the Simmons studies survey morethan 30,000 American consumers each year to deliver reliable national and local data. Learn moreat www.experiansimmons.com.

About Experian Marketing ServicesExperian Marketing Services helps leading marketers turn customers into brand advocates. Byfocusing on three core areas of excellence — data, platforms and analytics — Experian providesthe world’s leading brands with the insight, technology and expertise they need to effectivelytarget and engage their most profitable customers across the marketing ecosystem. We do thisthrough a full suite of marketing services, including email marketing, addressable advertising, on-demand data enrichment, modeling and analytics, strategic services, and consumer andcompetitive insights. Learn more at www.experianmarketingservices.com.



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