Advertisers considering the optimal reach and frequency for their campaigns need to also think about the cross-platform effects of frequency and carry-over, according to Comscore, which has developed a new metric to take account of these factors.

Writing in the current issue of Admap, which focuses on ad frequency, Sean Pinkney, director of data science at the measurement company, observes that many existing models “fail to fully capture non-linear and multi-dimensional effects of frequency and carry-over (decay) across the plethora of platforms that now exist”.

But Comscore’s research has shown that “the effect of the timing, platform choice and (possibly) non-linear interactions across different exposure points can be measured and teased out to inform the impact of individual platforms”. (For more details, read the full article: How to make sense of cross-platform measurement.)


 Specifically, the Comscore model jointly estimates the partial, potentially non-linear, effects from the frequency of exposure, the time decay between exposures, and the repetition wear out.

Not only does it measure campaigns that include digital, OTT, and/or TV placements, it can also handle varying types of measurement data, such as digital census data, set-top-box television viewing data and survey responses.

The resulting output is the Comscore Campaign Index, an index of performance relative to the best day over the campaign period, incorporating recency, frequency and the interactive effects in order to give deeper insight into a campaign than looking at recency and frequency independently.

So, for example, when the latter approach might signal a point at which impression volumes should be increased, the Index could indicate that in fact the campaign is becoming stale.

“The key takeaway is that these effects interact in ways that are highly variable, non-linear and, too often, puzzling to marketing managers,” says Pinkney. “This new measure provides an intuitive campaign index that distills the essence while removing the funk.”

A better understanding of cross-platform recency and decay effects also allows for the use of what-if scenarios to help with in-flight optimization.

“Knowing where to put your money, and how long your typical campaign effects last, allows you to make the optimal future decisions,” Pinkney advises.

This issue of Admap – Frequency: how much is too much? – features a selection of articles by thought leaders from across the globe. WARC subscribers can access the deck Frequency: how much is too much? which summarises the expert advice and key recommendations from all the authors.

Sourced from Admap