Unlocking success in retail media: the power of brand lift measurement

In today’s competitive retail landscape, brands are investing heavily in retail media networks (RMNs) to connect with consumers right at the point of purchase. As brands increasingly shift their budgets to RMNs, measuring the effectiveness of these campaigns is crucial. One key metric that’s gaining prominence is brand lift. It helps brands understand the impact of their retail media campaigns on awareness, consideration, preference and purchase intent. But what exactly is brand lift, and why is it essential for retail media success?

What is brand lift?

Brand lift is a measurement that evaluates the effectiveness of a marketing campaign by determining how it influences consumer perception towards a brand. It assesses whether exposure to a campaign drives key brand metrics such as:

• Awareness: How many consumers became aware of the brand?
• Consideration: Did more consumers think about purchasing the product or brand?
• Preference: Did more consumers prefer the brand versus its competitors? 
• Purchase Intent: Did the campaign encourage a stronger intent to buy?

Brand lift has traditionally been calculated by surveying a group of people who were exposed to the campaign and comparing their responses to an unexposed group. The difference between these two groups reveals the impact of the campaign.

Why is brand lift measurement crucial in retail media?

1. Capturing in-flight performance
Retail media allows brands to target shoppers at the right moment: when they’re browsing, researching, or purchasing products. Brand lift gives marketers the ability to track these moments and measure changes in consumer perceptions delivered by the campaign. Having access to brand lift metrics allows brands to make adjustments and optimise strategies to improve the effectiveness of future campaigns. 

2. Justifying ad spend
With the increasing investment in retail media, brands need a clear justification for their ad budgets. Measuring brand lift offers a tangible way to demonstrate return on investment (ROI) beyond traditional performance metrics such as CTR or sales. Brand lift helps answer key questions such as: “Is this campaign effectively increasing brand awareness or loyalty?”

3. Differentiating in a crowded marketplace
RMNs like Amazon and Target’s Roundel are crowded platforms where multiple brands compete for attention. By measuring brand lift, brands can identify if their messaging is cutting through the noise and resonating with consumers. It provides a deeper understanding of whether the brand stands out from competitors or needs adjustments in positioning and targeting. 

4. Aligning media with business outcomes
Brand lift connects media performance with top-level brand objectives, helping businesses move from vanity metrics to meaningful outcomes. For example, a retailer might see increased traffic to their product page, but without brand lift measurement, it’s difficult to know if that traffic represents genuinely interested consumers who will move further down the purchase funnel. 

How to measure brand lift in retail media?

Measuring brand lift in retail media involves a combination of technology, data, and audience segmentation. Here’s a traditional, simplified process: 

1. Design the survey: Retailers and brands work together to design survey question(s) that capture key brand perception metrics. These typically revolve around awareness, favourability, and purchase intent.

2. Select test and control groups: The audience is split into two groups: one exposed to the campaign (test group) and one not exposed (control group). This helps in isolating the effect of the campaign from other variables.

3. Analyse responses: Survey responses are analysed to calculate the difference between the test and control groups, the results providing insight into the campaign’s effectiveness.

4. Optimise campaign elements: If a campaign isn’t driving the desired lift in awareness or intent, marketers can make changes, such as adjusting creatives, modifying targeting, or shifting budget allocation.

Challenges in brand lift measurement

While brand lift measurement offers significant benefits, there are some challenges:

• Attribution complexity: With multiple touchpoints in the customer journey, it can be hard to isolate the effect of a single retail media campaign. 
• Data privacy concerns: As data privacy regulations evolve, brands must be careful about how they collect and use consumer data for brand lift studies. Ensuring compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and other regulations is critical.
• Survey response bias: In any survey-based measurement, there’s always the risk of bias. Consumers might answer in ways that don’t accurately reflect their true perceptions or behaviours.
• Audience samples: finding enough people exposed to the campaigns can be difficult to achieve, especially with smaller campaigns.

The future of brand lift in retail media

As retail media continues to grow, so will the demand for advanced measurement tools. Brand lift measurement is evolving alongside technologies like AI and machine learning, allowing for more precise targeting, more nuanced insights and turnkey solutions. Platforms like Brand Metrics have extended their automated, panel-free measurement solutions from the publisher ecosystem into the Retail Media world, making brand lift a more easily accessible metric.

In conclusion, brand lift measurement is fast becoming a cornerstone of successful retail media campaigns. By focusing on brand perception and consumer intent, brands can go beyond sales numbers to truly understand the impact of their marketing efforts. For retailers, offering these insights will attract and retain advertisers in an increasingly competitive market.

Whether you’re a brand looking to sharpen your retail media strategy or a retailer aiming to provide more value to advertisers, understanding and leveraging brand lift will be vital to driving success in the ever-evolving world of retail media. 
Takeaway: Investing in brand lift measurement provides a clear path to aligning media performance with broader business goals. It’s a key to unlocking long-term brand value in the fast-growing retail media space.

Also published in: Modern Retail