Media24 has successfully challenged the conventional wisdom around ad frequency capping, revealing that higher frequency levels contribute to better campaign success.
In a comprehensive study conducted in partnership with global brand lift measurement company Brand Metrics, Media24’s aim was to understand the impact of increased ad frequency on brand perceptions and campaign performance.
The challenge
Faced with advertisers limiting ad exposure to avoid overexposure and potential negative impacts, Media24 questioned the standard practice of capping ad frequency at three. Believing that higher frequency levels could yield better results, Media24 set out to investigate this hypothesis and partnered with Brand Metrics to conduct a thorough analysis.
The analysis
Brand Metrics, known for helping premium publishers measure the impact of advertising on their sites, collaborated with Media24 in a four-stage analysis process. This involved examining nearly 500 campaigns across 19 major industry categories to determine the effect of different frequency caps on brand lift metrics, including awareness, consideration, preference, and action intent.
Dalene Muller, head of media intelligence at Media24, emphasised the importance of leveraging data and insights to help advertisers achieve their campaign objectives, stating, “Measuring the brand lift effect of campaigns at scale and conducting meta-analyses of the data provides us with an important knowledge bank to base our recommendations on.”
The results
Across the beauty, insurance and banking & finance categories, campaigns with higher frequency caps consistently outperformed those with lower frequency caps. In the beauty category, higher frequency campaigns saw an average total brand lift score 11.2% higher, while the Insurance and banking & finance categories experienced even more significant differences at 26.5% and 33.6% higher, respectively.
Janice Williams, head of AdOps at Media 24, commented, “This analysis proves that extending the frequency cap delivers better campaigns and metrics. We are now looking to promote these findings to our clients so they can apply them to improve their future campaigns.”
Looking ahead
Media24’s study provides valuable insights for advertisers and agencies when planning optimal frequency levels. While acknowledging that frequency caps can help manage budgets and prevent over-exposure, the research emphasises the potential trade-off in limiting a campaign’s ability to reach its full potential.
Craig Nicholson, sales director at Adspace24, Media 24’s sales division, highlighted the study’s confirmation of what many partners have experienced: “Increased frequency results in better performing campaigns and a measurable improvement in ROI.”
In conclusion, Media24’s research challenges the conventional three-frequency cap, advocating for increased frequency to unlock a campaign’s full potential and achieve new heights of success.
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