Case study
Unleashing the Power of Creator Content
Nielsen + Whalar: Predictive ROI accurately estimates what creators bring to the Mix
Introduction
Measure the effectiveness of creator-specific campaigns
Whalar, a leading global creator company, specializes in unlocking the power of creators for brands in their marketing strategies. Whalar commissioned Nielsen to measure the incrementality and ROI of their creator-specific campaigns.
Objective
Quantify results quickly to maximize investments
The objective was to swiftly and accurately quantify expected ROI and Sales Impacts, with the end goal of optimizing media plans to maximize ROI potential from creator investments.
Challenge
Harness the power of Marketing Mix Modeling
Whalar sought a solution versatile enough to cover various categories, countries and brands of all sizes. Not only did they want to harness the power of a traditional Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) study, but they also required a highly accurate source for insight into optimization prior to campaign launch.
Solution
Use predictive analytics to identify optimization opportunities
Nielsen introduced Predictive ROI (PROI), an advanced solution designed to provide rapid and cost-effective ROI insights, even for emerging media types like creator content. PROI harnessed the power of Compass Planner, Nielsen’s premier MMM normative database, employing media saturation curves and campaign data from prior MMM analyses to forecast ROI and gauge effectiveness.
By leveraging Nielsen’s unparalleled MMM benchmarks and utilizing the synergistic predictive tool, Whalar empowered clients to gain immediate visibility into the anticipated ROI of their media plans and uncover opportunities for optimization, all before the campaign launch.
Key findings
$2.63
Strong ROAS
While the ROAS across the 6 measured campaigns ranged from $1.5 – $4.5, the average ROAS across the campaigns was $2.63.
9%
ROAS comparison
The average ROAS across the campaigns ($2.63) was only 9% different compared to total platform ROAS ($2.43) measured via a prior executed MMM. This reaffirmed earlier research by Nielsen, connecting the comparability of PROI results to MMM.
25%
Underinvestment in content creator campaigns
Historical execution levels were approximately 25% of saturation levels, indicating an underinvestment in content creator campaigns within advertiser marketing plans.
20%
Key performance drivers
Weeks on air and optimal weekly impressions emerged as pivotal drivers of campaign performance. An optimization scenario implemented on one of the campaigns revealed that doubling weekly support while maintaining the same number of weeks on air could increase ROAS by approximately 20%.
Results
Optimize quickly to maximize campaign performance
The study results presented a significant opportunity for advertisers to enhance their ROIs by optimizing weekly paid media weight levels and the length of time on air, as well as reallocating resources to maximize the potential of their creator marketing campaigns.
How it works
PROI, Nielsen’s leading advanced media performance measurement solution, enabled Whalar to engage in sophisticated budget allocation and planning through the use of machine learning algorithms to estimate the outcome of media plans for their advertisers’ brands in their markets. PROI unveiled an unmatched global scale with benchmarks across 5K+ models, 25K+ curves, and hundreds of categories in 50+ countries. Its advanced modeling capabilities and validation ensure accuracy and reliability, even with less data granularity, for Whalar’s multifaceted campaign.
Conclusion
Improve campaign effectiveness with Nielsen’s predictive analytics
Nielsen’s PROI solution demonstrated its effectiveness in providing rapid and cost-effective ROI insights for creator marketing campaigns. By leveraging MMM principles and historical data, the study shed light on the untapped potential of content creator campaigns, presenting advertisers with actionable recommendations to optimize their investments.
The biggest challenge facing the Creator Economy is determining the impact on ROI, quickly, and at scale. Since MMM isn’t always an option, Nielsen’s PROI solution is perfect for Whalar’s brand partners. It employs methodology by tapping into Nielsen’s vast MMM database to highlight the significant impact of Whalar’s creator campaigns.
Gaz Alushi | Whalar
President of Measurement and Analytics