As industry execs pack their bags for Cannes Lions, bad measurement tools are undermining the very creativity we’re traveling to celebrate by incentivizing uncreative, underperforming TV ads.
Sound too harsh? Well, the good news is that we can fix it.
Right now, most advertisers use a combination of focus groups and surveys to inform their creative decision-making and measure the impact of their campaigns. And that’s a big problem.
These metrics primarily measure recall, which encourages advertisers to produce creatives that are memorable first and foremost — at the expense of being creative, interesting, or effective at driving the actual results that help companies grow their businesses.
The other issue is that surveys and focus groups are weighted to measure what people say about ads. If you’ve ever tried to start a new habit or kick a bad one, you know that even the best of us don’t always follow through on our stated intentions. As a result, marketers wind up stifling the creativity of their most creative team members and undermining their ability to produce great ads that move the business forward.
If we want to fix things, we need to start focusing on what people actually do in response to the ads they see, rather than what they say.
Metrics based on recall and consumer sentiment lead to lazy, repetitive, underperforming TV ads
If you know what you’re looking for, you can see the fingerprints of survey-based ad measurement all over TV.
Since survey metrics rely on recall, advertisers use shortcuts to drive brand recognition. Cheap jingles, corny catchphrases, and the same creatives played repeatedly until they etch themselves into our brains.
The problem is that these recall tactics frequently fail to communicate the brand’s value proposition or inspire their consumers to act. In fact, our research at EDO has found that when brands have just one creative on the air at a time, they’re less likely to generate brand searches, app downloads, and other consumer engagement actions that are highly predictive of future sales. As it turns out, variety is the spice of life and a key component of successful TV advertising. Creative agencies, rejoice!
Even when surveys go beyond recall and ask consumers how they feel about an ad or product, the problem remains: people’s behavior often deviates from their stated intentions. As psychologists have documented, even well-intentioned people lie to themselves all the time — and who among us has not been guilty of telling someone what we think they want to hear?
Measuring ads by action boosts creativity and campaign performance
To more accurately assess and optimize creative effectiveness, modern marketers need metrics that measure what consumers actually do after seeing an ad.
A few years ago, The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) found that across industries, a brand’s share of search — that is, its percentage of all online searches for brands in its category — had an 83% correlation with its market share.
And it’s not just the bottom line that benefits from better ad metrics — the right tools can help you unlock your brand’s true creative potential. Indeed, when we tested the predictive power of surveys by measuring the consumer engagement generated by 2,400 TV ads, we discovered something intriguing.
We found that surveys did a pretty job of predicting which ads would perform poorly in market. But what stood out is that there was virtually zero correlation between the ads that were the absolute most effective at generating consumer engagement and those the surveys predicted would succeed.
We hypothesized that pre-campaign surveys are based on norms — people say they like the ads that seem most like the “good ads” they’ve seen in the past. But the real home runs in-market are the ads that break the mold by showing consumers something they’ve never seen before.
When we use surveys and sentiment to predict how real human beings will respond to ads, our most ground-breaking advertising creatives wind up on the cutting room floor.
Creativity counts — in advertising, business, and life
As we head to Cannes for what is always an inspiring week, let’s make sure we don’t forget the reason for the season: creativity.
In “Creative Confidence,” IDEO partners Tom & David Kelly say that few tools are more important in life and business than the ability to step out of our comfort zones, tackle new challenges, and find creative solutions to the problems in front of us. When we cultivate creativity, we empower our team members to build stronger businesses and lead happier, more productive lives. Thinking — and being — creative is a skill set that’s much bigger than advertising.
The right creative and measurement approaches give our teams substantially more room to spread their wings, try new ideas, and build the creative confidence that serves all of us in the long run — all while doing what’s best for the bottom line.
That’s something I think all of us can raise a glass to on la Croisette.