Brands should note that cross-media effects more important than ever

Brands have more options than ever before to plan across media, but as channels proliferate and audiences fragment, it is also imperative to plan across a variety of media options, according to the WARC Guide to Cross-Media Effects.

Why it matters

Research shows that cross-media strategies are key drivers of success, not only in delivering on reach, but in leveraging other trends across the sales funnel, such as the rise of digital commerce.

Takeaways

Generally speaking, using more channels in a campaign is better. Expanding the channel mix enhances effectiveness and can yield upticks in areas including ad recall, purchase intent and recommendation intent, according to research from Comscore.

Brands are not taking a thoughtful enough approach to channel selection. There’s no magic channel mix that works for every brand, but Kantar research found that there’s significant waste in media planning, with 20% of touchpoints creating 80% of the overall brand impact.

Optimizing across platforms should be a key focus for brands. Brand objectives shouldn’t only be about putting messaging in more places, but also about making multi-channel campaigns deliver more than the sum of their components in terms of brand impact.  

It’s important to examine and plan media through the lens of attention. This burgeoning area of research helps brands create attention strategies that can build effectiveness across platforms. 

Brands should keep an eye on new cross-media measurement initiatives. One promising initiative is the World Federation of Advertisers’ Halo Cross-Media Measurement Framework, which is currently being validated in the US and UK. With backing from major brands, agencies and media owners, it may begin to go in-market next year.

The big idea

Brands which take the full range of media options seriously, and plan and optimize across them, will set themselves up for successful brand outcomes.

WARC members can read The WARC Guide to Cross-Media Effects in full here.