

How to know if your campaign’s brand lift is successful?
Do you really know how to create a successful brand lift and read the results? This article explains how to objectively prove the success of an advertising campaign, both internally and to your clients.
OVERVIEW
What is a brand lift?
Before going any further, let’s start with a quick reminder of what exactly a brand lift is:
When running an advertising campaign for you or your client, you change the perception and behavior of consumers towards the brand or product being promoted.
The brand lift is the “before/after” vision of this impact, measured by several specific indicators selected depending on the goal of your campaign: branding, performance, perception, attention…
The 3 key steps to a successful brand lift
A successful brand lift is above all one that delivers reliable results in which you and your clients can have full confidence. To ensure this, your brand lift should always follow at least these 3 steps to meet market standards:
#1 - Choose the right metrics based on your campaign goal
It is counterproductive to perform a brand lift on too many indicators at once. It will be more complex to understand and you risk drawing your client’s or your team’s attention away from the results that really matter to them.
We recommend basing your measurement on a consistent combination of 5 metrics related to your campaign’s main goal.
💬 Example:
If you’re launching a drive-to-store campaign to drive sales, choose metrics like visit intent, brand preference, or purchase intention. If they trend positively, then your campaign has successfully helped validate the goal.
#2 - Collect the opinions of people exposed to your campaign
A brand lift is always based on interviewing individuals exposed to the campaign. Their answers are then compared to those of a pool of non-exposed respondents, with similar socio-demographic characteristics.
The difference between these two populations and for each indicator is called the uplift. The brand lift includes all uplifts generated by your campaign.
The method used to target exposed people may vary slightly depending on the media used: DOOH, CTV, influencer, in-game advertising…
💬 Example:
If you’re launching a digital audio campaign, you need to be able to interview individuals who heard your commercial to ensure your brand lift is reliable.
#3 - Compare your results to a benchmark
A brand lift done properly must include a benchmark. This means that in addition to analyzing your own results, it is important to compare them with those of similar campaigns in terms of industry and media used.
This comparison process is the best way to prove the actual performance of your campaign against competitors.
💬 Example:
You launched a DOOH campaign to grow sales of your sneaker brand. The brand lift results show a 16+ point increase in purchase intentions. The result is positive, but is it really good? Comparing it to the DOOH benchmark of the apparel industry, you notice that the average uplift on this indicator is 21+ points. This is proof that your campaign can still be improved.
How to read your results compared to a benchmark?
🟢 You are above the benchmark if your result is over 3pts higher;
🟡 You are at benchmark level if your result is between +3pts and -3pts;
🔴 You are below the benchmark if your result is over 3pts lower.
Compare results of creative-related indicators
For indicators related to the creative aspect of a campaign (interest, attribution, perception…), we compare the results by absolute value, i.e. compared to the average of what we see on the benchmark.
💬 Example:
Your digital audio campaign for organic yogurt generated 21% interest from people who remembered it. The digital audio benchmark for the organic industry shows an average interest rate of 18% with memos. The brand lift on this indicator can be deemed to be at the level of the benchmark.
Compare results for impact indicators
For the impact indicators (preference, purchase intentions, intentions…), we compare the results from the gap usually found on the benchmark.
💬 Example:
Following your DOOH campaign for a home decoration brand, you notice a gap of up to 23 points between memos and non-memos on store visit intention. The average gap found on the DOOH benchmark for the home decoration and furniture industry is 18+ points. The brand lift on this indicator is well above the benchmark.
Note that in some cases, the results of a campaign can be positive even if the impacts are not above the benchmark.
This is the case for purchase intentions of leading brands already deeply rooted in the minds of consumers. The potential differences generated by a campaign will be lower if the level is already very high.
Make your brand lift a success with Happydemics
Happydemics is the leading advertising performance measurement company and a trusted third party approved by the top players in the advertising industry.
Our platform allows you to launch your brand lifts in just a few clicks using several indicator combinations specifically designed to meet each campaign goal.
With Happydemics, you can compare your results with 15,000 benchmarks across all industries and media.
Find out more about our Brand lift!


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