Illustrative engagement. A representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work in advertising. It does not describe a specific client; outcomes are described qualitatively.
Industry overview
What is shaping advertising
Agencies and advertisers need to know whether campaigns will work before launch and whether they worked afterwards, across TV, digital and outdoor.
- Pre-testing reduces the risk of costly campaigns
- Brand lift is measured across channels
- Audiences are fragmented across platforms
Client background
A digital payments brand, working in India, five metros. This is an illustrative engagement: a representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work, not a named client project.
- Organisation
- A digital payments brand
- Sector
- Advertising
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Quantitative research, Data analytics & dashboards, Online surveys
Client challenge
The brand ran TV, digital and outdoor at the same time and could not tell which bursts were building awareness and which were simply being noticed by people who already used it.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: a monthly tracker for a challenger brand's advertising.
- Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
- Set up a repeatable measure the client can track over time.
Target audience
Scope: Around 600 interviews a month.
Audiences we typically reach in advertising
Target audiencesBrand managersMedia plannersViewers and readersAgency teams
Geographic coverage
Coverage: India, five metros. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.
- 1Brief
- 2Continuous online tracking
- 3Monthly dashboard
- 4Insight
We set up continuous tracking of awareness, ad recall by channel and consideration, linked to the media calendar, and reported it on a dashboard the marketing team could filter by city and age.
Quantitative researchData analytics & dashboardsOnline surveys
Sampling strategy
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- interviews a month
- 600
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
- Interactive dashboard for ongoing tracking
Key findings
- The tracker showed that outdoor recall rose fastest in cities with a metro rollout, while digital mostly reached existing users.
Tracking only pays off when it is read against the media plan.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: tracking only pays off when it is read against the media plan.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: the tracker showed that outdoor recall rose fastest in cities with a metro rollout, while digital mostly reached existing users.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The team rebalanced spend towards channels that reached new audiences.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interactive dashboard
- Continue the routine and review results every period.
- A natural follow-on question: did the campaign lift the brand?